Page 64 of Cash

Brick hesitated to let go again, but let go he did, and he scooted back a little to give Fanny some room.

Fanny lifted up the bloody dish towels, and he frowned at the wound. “Definitely stabbed. Big blade.” He probed the gash with a gloved finger.

Jules groaned quietly, but otherwise didn’t stir.

“It’s pretty deep,” Fanny said urgently. “It may have hit his femoral artery.”

“Okay, so fix it,” Brick demanded.

“Here.” Fanny nodded at the wound. “Go on and put pressure back on this. I need to start an IV and check his blood pressure. If he’s lost enough blood to pass out, he’s in hypovolemic shock.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“It means there’s not enough blood in his body to keep pumping to his heart.” Fanny grabbed some sort of packaged needle and a tourniquet, wrapped the tourniquet around Jules’s thick bicep, and probed at the crook of his elbow.

The room spun, and Brick thought he was going to throw up.

Fanny didn’t have to give him any additional details. Brick knew exactly what it meant if there wasn’t enough blood to keep Jules’s heart pumping.

There was a knock at the door, and Brick prayed it was Cutter. He didn’t dare move from tending to Jules’s wound, instead shouting, “Come in!”

It was Cutter this time, and he made a face when he saw the scene before him. “Ah, fuck.”

Fanny had gotten the IV in and was hooking up tubing to a bag of fluid. “Hey, Cutter. Come here. Hold this.”

“I wasn’t here. You guys never saw me, do you understand?” Cutter continued to scowl as he took the bag from Fanny, holding it up in the air.

Fanny ignored him, grabbing a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope from his bag.

“Got it. You were never here. You’re a ghost,” Brick muttered. “You’re a phantom. Whatever.”

“Exactly,” Cutter said sharply. “And I meant what I said. He dies, it’s on you. I am not getting more fucking involved than I already am, and I will make sure you go down for it.”

Brick wasn’t about to argue with how insane that was, not to mention terrifying, and instead replied, “Thank you.”

“Huh?”

“Thank you for helping. Okay?” Brick swallowed thickly. “No matter what… You know, no matter what happens.”

Cutter’s hard expression softened, and he nodded. “Yeah. Sure thing. You, uh…” He cleared his throat. “You know who did this to him?”

“No. Do you?”

There was a loud hiss as the blood pressure cuff released that drew their attention away, and Fanny clumsily dropped the stethoscope around his neck. He pushed Brick out of the way to check Jules’s wound again.

“His pressure is fine,” Fanny said. “Whatever was compromised has clotted off.” He released the belt around Jules’s thigh.

Brick cringed, expecting blood to come gushing out again, but none did.

“Is he gonna make it?” Cutter asked sharply.

“Yeah,” Fanny replied. “I don’t think he’s actually in hypovolemic shock.”

“Then why the hell did he pass out?” Brick asked.

“I… I don’t know.” Fanny wiped at his brow. “Without bloodwork, I can’t say. But he’s stable, his vitals are all good, and the bleeding’s stopped, okay? I can stitch him up, and then we just wait for him to wake up.”

“He didn’t say anything to you?” Cutter asked Brick.

---