Page 125 of A Wolf After My Own Heart
opened the back of her nonbulance, then came back lugging a large, blaze-orange duffel bag. “Help me with him, Oz.Move, gang.”
“Why?” But he knelt as Lila examined the worthless shithead. Judging by her expression, she didn’t think much of the whistling noise Turtleneck’s chest insisted on making. Someone must have rolled him on his back, God knew why.Let him bleed out.
She unzipped the bag and Oz saw it had been divided into sections, with Velcro straps holding items in place as she spread the bag open. “Why do you have an EMT’s kit? It’s not an ambulance. You’ve made that super clear.”
Around them, the fights had finished, though Gulo was still flailing. All at once, everyone quieted down, the way a lull sometimes falls over a party, so Annette’s growled “Gulo, stay down. If you shift,Ishift” was nice and loud. Oz almost hoped he would. He’d never seen a werebear and a werewolverine face off before.
Magnus squatted beside them. He was agreeably blood-spattered, having taken care of some of the reinforcements Team Turtleneck had been counting on. “C’n I help, lass?”
Lila had put on gloves, then grabbed a pair of utility shears and was cutting through Turtleneck’s turtleneck. “Yeah. Call a real ambulance.”
“Two minutes out,” Gomph rumbled, standing over them.
Lila never glanced up, just slapped her hand over the wound. “Oz, glove up. Then check the left-hand pocket closest to you. That noise you heard? That’s a sucking chest wound.”
“Are you gonna try to stitch it closed?”
“No. See, what’s happening is the bullet popped his lung, so air built up in his pleural cavity, that’s what’s making the sound. Berne, help me get him on his side.” He did, while Gomph got the observers to take a few steps back. “No exit wound, okay. Roll him back, nice and easy…good. Okay, so we have to keep air from going in while letting extra air out. Oz, see the QuikClot in my bag? Red, white, and blue packet? Great, open it, and when I move my hand, you’re gonna slap it directly over the wound. Ready? One…two…three.”
Torn, Oz obeyed. He was pleased to help her, but unhappy about helping Turtleneck. Still, he wasn’t going to argue. And while Gomph could pull strings for him, it wouldn’t do to push it by ignoring Lila (as if that was possible) and letting the guy drown in his own blood.
“Good, now grab the tape. Berne, I’m gonna tape down the dressing, then tape all the way around his chest. He’s sweaty and bloody, tape doesn’t like sticking to either. So too much tape is almost enough. Okay, I want you to roll him on his side…now.”
Lila finished just as more paramedics came through the door.
“They might as well have stayed home,” Oz said, stepping back to give them room to work.
Lila stripped off her gloves while rattling off everything she did to the paramedics now examining Turtleneck. Then she turned to Oz. “Bite your tongue. That was the first time I did that in the field. Nobody was happier to see those guys than me. Y’know, since the patient is unconscious.”
“Jeez, really? Your first chest suck?”
“Never call it that again,” she said, trying not to laugh.
“You sure didn’t show it. You’d make a great teacher.”
“That’s the secret,” she replied, serious now. “You can’t ever show you’re scared. Even if you’re positive you just peed a little.”
“Well done, miss.” Judge Gomph was looking Lila over. “Who are you, please?”
“Your honor, this is Lila Kai.” From Annette, who rushed over to stick her nose in because she was Annette. “My mother’s new neighbor, and our great friend and ally.”
“Newneighbor?”
“It’s been a busy week, sir,” Oz admitted.
“I look forward to hearing about it, Mr. Adway. And when you can, say hello to Mama Mac for me.” To Lila: “Nice to meet you, Ms. Kai. I have several hundred questions.”
“Hello,” Lila said faintly, because everyone was intimidated when they met Gomph the first time. “On a scale of one to ten, with one being ‘pshaw, no big deal’ and ten being a stint in prison for attempted manslaughter, how much trouble am I in?”
“Three,” Gomph replied, but going by the man’s smile, Lila didn’t have too much to worry about.
Chapter 56
“Oz, your poor hands!”
“You know they’ll heal.”
“Well, yeah,” Lila replied, exasperated. “Most people do. That doesn’t mean you have to suffer unnecessarily. Why should you have to healandfight off an infection? Plus, Macropi will kill every one of us if she finds out you got hurt.”
