Page 49 of Patch's Bride
He slides an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth and fiddles with the handle on the small oxygen tank. He opens the tank and sets a low flow. Lila closes her eyes and breathes through it. The number on her oximeter climbs, and color begins to flow back into her cheeks.
We hear footsteps upstairs, along with what sounds like conflict.
Rigs murmurs, “Sounds like the cops have arrived.”
“Let’s give them a minute to flush out all Vincent’s men, and then we’ll get the women out.”
Rigs jumps up to close and lock the door when we hear a gunshot. When Patch is finished with Lila, he picks her up and asks his brothers, “Are we ready to get the hell outta here?”
Tank jokes, “Hell yeah. I’ve been dying to get out of this hellhole since I got here.”
Siege lifts his hand and speaks into one of the comm devices their security firm uses. After a minute his hand drops. “Smoke says it’s all clear. Law enforcement has them all subdued.”
Patch lifts Lila into his arms, and I tuck the blanket snugly around her body. She folds into him without a sound. “Let’s get you back home,” he tells her.
She nods, smiling up at him. “My home, right?”
“Yeah, the one where your medical team can take good care of you.”
The others surround us as we move out of the room and into the long hallway. We take the stairs up to the first floor. When we reach the back hall, Tank scouts ahead and comes back to report, “Smoke and our police contact have rounded up all the stragglers and herded everyone outside. It should be safe to move around. Detective Jenkins wants to talk to us for a second.”
We walk out to find Vincent and his men in handcuffs, sitting on the ground. Vincent is bleeding from what appears to be a gunshot wound to his shoulder. He’s pressing a wad of cloth against it, grimacing.
A second patrol car is parked in the driveway, with its lights still flashing. Vincent and his men look shell-shocked, like this is the last thing they expected to happen. I just wish I could go over and beat Vincent with my shoe or something for all the trouble he’s caused Lila. Vincent and my stepdad turned her world upside down for no reason other than to get their hands on me. That blows my mind.
Thankfully, there is an ambulance with the door standing open. Patch strolls forward and lays Lila on the gurney. Two paramedics swarm her. They elevate her head and tape the tube at her nose into place so it can’t slip as she moves around. Patch updates them on her medical history and her condition.
Seeing my sister alive, talking, and getting proper medical care seems like a dream come true, considering we were totally at Vincent’s mercy just a little while ago.
While the paramedics take a few minutes to assess Lila, Detective Jenkins comes over to question me and Patch’s club brothers. He jots down the information we give and has us sign it, making it clear that they might need to ask us more questions as the investigation progresses.
We jump into the ambulance, and the two paramedics ride in the front. It seems bizarre to me, but it’s probably because Patch is a doctor. Patch keeps one hand on Lila’s wrist and the other on a rail to brace himself. He keeps his eyes on her breathing, like he’s counting her respirations.
“She’s doing well, no need to take her to the ER. Her oxygen sats are almost back to baseline,” he says with a smile.
Lila’s eyes find mine. “You were right. He came for us.”
“I told you he would. And you were a trooper through all this,” I tell her. “I’m so proud of you, Lila.”
We reach her care facility, and it seems like all the medical professionals are gathered to greet her. A night nurse holds the door open, and a second nurse stands ready with gloves and a mask. The gurney rolls straight through the lobby and into their version of an emergency clinic.
The night nurse tells Lila, “Girl, we’ve been missing you around here. It’s way too boring without you.”
Lila perks up, clearly liking this nurse a lot. “Yeah, I know, Barbara. I have some really good stories to tell too. You’re gonna love them.”
“I’m sure I will. Nobody around here loves a good Lila story better than me. And you sound like you’ve had a thrilling adventure.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Lila says with a happy sigh.
I can kind of see why she loves this facility. The people are nice and genuinely interested in the residents’ lives. Their heart seems to be in the job they do.
Patch gives a verbal report, the same way he did with the paramedics. He hands over the oxygen and recommends a plan of care for the next two hours. The attending on call accepts it with a nod.
I stand back, happily watching my sister get the care she deserves. When everything is taken care of and Lila is placed in a holding bed overnight in their special acute care wing, Patch walks over to me. “Come on, let them do their work,” he says. “Lila wasn’t the only one who’s been through hell today. You need a break from all this to focus on yourself.”
I happily comply. We walk out to the parking lot, where his whole club is waiting patiently. One of his club brothers even brought his bike.
Siege asks, “Is everything okay with Lila?”
