by Jeremy Lock
“Oh fuck!” he thought.
“Jeff, Jessica! Get out here now! It’s safe!” he screamed and went to his old friend.
He quickly checked for a pulse and found one, although it was weak.
“Please help him!” the girl cried as she lay cuffed on the ground.
Jeff and Jessica arrived a moment later and looked. “Oh my god, Sean!” Jessica screamed.
“He’s got a weak rapid pulse. Mark! Get the medical bag!” Jason screamed.
Jason picked up Sean in a cradle carry and literally ran him into the house. Jeff took charge with looking at Sean’s wound while Jessica started 2 18 gauge IV’s in each of Sean’s arms and starts 2 bags of Normal Saline solution to boost his blood pressure. Jeff threw on a pair of sterile gloves out of the trauma bag and started exploring the wound. Jeff literally stuck his fingers into the wound and started exploring the wound path. Allie gasped when she saw it.
“Allie, could you go upstairs and watch the security camera?” Jason asked her but Allie just continued to stare at Sean.
“Allie!” Jessica yelled.
Allie looked at her.
”Please go upstairs and watch the cameras.” Allie didn’t respond but turned around and headed upstairs.
“I’m going to find out what happened.” Jason said as he headed out the front door to the truck. Cassidy was still lying there, handcuffed and crying.
“What’s your name?” Jason asked as he pulled the girl to a seated position.
“Cassidy” she replied trying to compose herself.
“How do you know Sean?” he asked.
“He saved me in Virginia and was bringing me to someplace safe.” Cassidy replied.
“How did he get shot?” Jason asked.
Cassidy explained how they had left Virginia the night before and how they were trying to get stuff out of the storage unit when the shooting started. Jason listened to her story and believed her until he heard a rustle in the wood in front of him. He looked up and began to raise his rifle when he heard someone shouting from the house. Jason brought the figure into his scope and moved his finger to the trigger when he heard a crack of a gun coming from behind him. He saw the man in front of him stop running and then put his hands up. As soon as the man’s face became clear in the scope he knew who it was.
“Hold fire, Hold fire!” he shouted and looked back to the house.
Allie stood on the balcony sighting down her rifle; tears were visible from where he stood.
“Allie its ok, its Mr. Henderson!” he shouted. Allie visibly relaxed.
“Bill its ok, come on over.” Jason shouted and the man began walking towards them holstering his pistol.
“Jesus Christ, Jason. What in the Hell is going on here?!” Bill shouted clearly startled.
“Sorry Bill, were all a little on edge here, one of my friends just came in with a bullet in him.” Jason replied.
“Is that what all the ruckus was? I heard the truck roaring past my place and then the horn beeping and people shouting so I came up here to see if you needed some help.” Bill said.
“I appreciate it Bill, but were ok, we just weren’t expecting him to show up and we didn’t know the girl he was with. But if you know if there’s a doctor nearby I think we could use him, my buddy is hurt pretty bad.” Jeff replied.
“Don’t know any Doctors round here.” Bill said walking up and looking at the girl cuffed on the ground.
“I see you also gave her a nice welcome.” Bill added.
“Yeah, well times are a little crazy” Jason said as he helped Cassidy to her feet and cut off the flex cuffs.
“Sorry about that, I didn’t know you.” Jason said.
“Is Sean ok?” she asked.
“I don’t know, why don’t we find out. All three of them walked into the house.
“What the fuck is going on out there?” Jeff asked as they walked into the house.
Jason saw Mark standing by the door with his gun in hand.
“Well, Bill came over when he heard the commotion and we gave him a real nice greeting” Jason said and Bill snorted.
“Last time I try and go help a neighbor.” he added with a chuckle.
Allie came walking down the stairs with her head hung low. “I’m sorry Mr. Henderson, I thought you were a bad guy. I didn’t try and hurt you though, I was just trying to scare you, I didn’t hurt you did I?” she asked with tear in her eyes.
“Well you certainly scared the crap out of me little lady. I’m gonna need clean underwear when I get home” he said with a chuckle. “Don’t you worry, I’m ok.” He added.
Allie was crying and Jason went to her.
“You did real good Allie, just like I taught you. You did perfect.” he said giving her a hug.
“Why don’t you and Mark head upstairs for a little while until we get Sean all patched up, ok?” Jason said.
“Is he gonna be ok?” Allie asked.
“Your mom and Jeff are the best. If anyone can patch them up they can, ok?” Jason replied.
“Ok” Allie replied and Mark brought her upstairs.
“How’s he doing” Jason asked Jeff.
“He’s bleeding internally and I don’t think I can stop it. We need a surgeon. Neither of us have any training in doing this.” Jeff replied.
“Where am I going to find a surgeon?” Jason replied not expecting an answer.
“I think I might know” said Bill. “You have a running truck, right?” he added.
“Yeah my truck works, where are we going?” Jason asked confused.
“Come with me.” he said heading out the front door.
Jason looked at Jeff and Jeff nodded, he had to go. The jumped in Jason’s Suburban and headed down the road. Bill gave Jason directions and 2 miles later Bill told Jason to pull into a small farm.
“Doctor Teddy!” Bill yelled and waited for a reply.
The front door opened and Jason was totally shocked. Jason had expected Dr. Teddy to be an old retired man who would need a wheelchair. When he saw the tall, thin attractive woman in her late 20’s he was completely shocked.
“Dr Teddy, we need your help, we got a man shot and he needs a good doctor.” Bill said.
“I don’t have any equipment here at the farm.” she said.
“I got just about anything you need, within reason.” Jason added.
“Ok, let’s go” Teddy said as they got into the truck.
“So what do we know about the patient.” Teddy asked.
“He’s a 29 yr old male, no pertinent medical history. Shot in the lower left quad of his abdomen, thru and thru, BP was 86/54, pulse 110 and respirations of 24 when I left. He’s getting a bolus of normal saline.” Jason concluded.
“Are you a paramedic or something?” teddy asked.
“No, I’m just a Jail Guard but I’ve got EMT experience. My wife is an ER nurse and my friend Jeff is a paramedic, they are with the patient now, his name is Sean.” Jason replied.
“Is he conscious?” she asked.
“Not when I left.” Jason said as they flew down the back roads.
Minutes later they returned to the house and headed inside. Dr Teddy introduced herself and the look on Jeff’s face was priceless but he quickly recovered. The doctor quickly began assessing Sean and quickly determined that there was internal bleeding, although slight, from the liver.
“I’m going to have to operate to stop the bleeding.” she stated.
“Ok, what do you need?” Jessica replied.
”A Scalpel, a suture kit, Beda dine, forceps and a clean place to work. Also were going to need something to knock him out completely and antibiotics.” Teddy stated and Jessica frowned.
“We’re good on the equipment and we can make an OR in the kitchen, but the pain meds and antibiotics are going to be an issue.” she said.
“What do we have to work with?” Teddy asked.
Jessica went to the medical kit and pulled out the drugs they had.
“I have e
nough Augmentin for a full course but that’s about it. As far as pain meds I have some tordol, dilaudid and some Percocet and vicodin pills.” Teddy frowned.
“The augmentin might be good enough but it’s a pretty weak antibiotic, the pain meds aren’t going to be worth much, we may have to hold him down and just take the edge off but that’s not the way I’d like to perform the surgery. Too easy to cut the wrong thing if he fights us.” Teddy said.
“What about some heroin?” Jeff asked.
The whole room turned and looked at him in shock. Jason was the first to speak up.
“Why the fuck do you have heroin?” Jason asked.
“I pulled it off the dead gangbangers I had to kill the day of the pulse.” Jeff replied defensively.
Jason analyzed his face for a moment, being the cop he was, and decided Jeff was telling the truth.
“Ok, do you know what kind of dosage would work?” Dr Teddy asked.
“Well, I figure we start with one bag and go from there. If he reacts to you opening him up we give him a little more. I have narcan in case we screw up and give too much.” Jeff replied.
“I think it could work, but I’m not really comfortable with it” Jessica added.
“I don’t even know how to cook it other than what I’ve seen on TV, I don’t want to mess this up.” She added.
“I don’t see us having a better option, do you?” Jeff questioned and no one had a response.
“I think that will work. Jeff I assume you have a good idea how to cook it up?” Dr. Teddy asked.
“I’ve seen enough of it that I’m comfortable trying” Jeff replied. Dr. Teddy turned to Jessica.
“Ok, I want the OR setup in the kitchen, we will drape it off and the 3 of us will be the only one going in. We all need to scrub in. Additionally I want the surgical equipment and the narcan setup and waiting for us on the counter in case something goes wrong.” Teddy stated with finality.
Jessica agreed and Jeff just nodded like a monkey, he was clearly smitten with the young doctor.
“One more thing” the Doc added
“The Augmentin might be ok, but since we are making a makeshift OR I don’t think it’s going to be enough. If you want your friend to live you might want to come up with a plan to get a stronger antibiotic like Levaquin.”
They all got to work. Dr Teddy supervised the project but certainly wasn’t hands off. She scrubbed down the table and the counter top in the kitchen with bleach and water while other equipment was being setup and moved. Jason brought in some shop lights and was going to set them up but Dr. Teddy made sure they were sterilized before they were allowed into the room. Once the drapes were setup and Sean was placed on the table no one was let into the OR accept her “surgical team”. Everything was re-sterilized and they all scrubbed in. A camping stove and spoon were sterilized and used to cook up the heroin. Jessica setup the blood pressure cuff on the patient’s right side. Jeff would monitor Sean’s vitals every 5 minutes during the surgery and Jessica would assist Dr Teddy. Jeff started cooking the bag of heroin and then drew the drugs up into a syringe. He handed it to Jessica who assured there were no air bubbles and then looked to the doctor. Teddy nodded and Jessica pushed the drugs in. Sean’s unconscious body noticeably relaxed, which they all took as a good sign. Jeff kept close attention to Sean’s breathing. Heroin was a respiratory depressant and that would be the first sign of an overdose. Outside of the OR everyone was just milling around. Jason went outside to have a cigarette and Bill bummed one off of him.
“Martha is gonna kill me when she smells this on me.” Bill said as he drew a long pull off the cigarette.
“I quit 3 years ago so she would stop pestering me.” He added with a chuckle.
“Well I’m sure I’ll be quitting soon too, I only have 2 cartons left, then its cold turkey” Jason added as he laughed as well.
“So where did you find the doc?” Jason asked Bill.
“You sure you really want to know?” Bill asked.
“Of course I want to know” Jason replied.
“Well, since things are already underway in there I guess I can tell you.” Bill said.
“People aren’t the Doc’s primary patients” he said looking at Jason.
“What do you mean?” Jason asked clearly confused.
“In June when my mare had a complicated foal delivery Dr Teddy came out to the farm and performed a c-section. She’s very a very gifted surgeon.” Bill added.
“She’s a Veterinarian?!”Jason almost screamed.
“Shhh…” Bill replied.
“No sense getting everyone worked up now. Don’t worry, she extremely good.”
“Goddamn it Bill. You should have told me.” Jason said angrily.
“You didn’t have any other options. Don’t worry; your friend is in very good hands.” Bill replied.
“I hope so Bill, I really hope so.” Jason said.
Cassidy spent the first few minutes sitting in the living room waiting and then began pacing, Jason could tell she was worried and decided he needed to do something to calm her down.
“Cassidy” he said softly. She looked to him.
“They are going to be a while, don’t worry he is in very good hands. Let’s take a walk. I need to talk to you about a few things and I can show you around.” Jason said.
“Ok” Cassidy said quietly getting up.
Jason brought her outside and showed her around the property while they discussed how Jason and Jeff met Sean and their years of prepping together. Jason didn’t press Cassidy for details of her life. He wanted to distract her from current situation not bring up more bad news. Next he brought her inside and showed her the surveillance system and introduced her to Allie and Mark officially. Allie was visibly upset with the events of the day and clearly Cassidy saw it too. Cassidy was clearly an amazing girl, seeing Allie upset she started talking to her and soon they were off to Allie’s room for “girl talk”. Jason had volunteered to take over watch of surveillance with Mark.
“I’m gonna go make some coffee. Are you good here” Jason asked Mark with a yawn.
“I’m good, how much sleep did you get?” Mark asked.
“Not enough, Mark. Not enough” Jason said as he walked downstairs.
He found Bill napping on the living room couch and sat down next to him after starting the coffee.
“You look tired” Bill said opening one eye.
“I look tired? You’re the one sleeping on the couch!” Jason added with a laugh.
“Yeah well I’m an old man, I’m allowed.” Bill added chuckling.
“Well I’ve gotten 2 hours sleep in over 48 hours. I don’t know how much longer I can keep it going.” Jason said with a yawn waiting for the coffee.
They both sat there in silence for a moment.
“Bill, you know what going on out their right?” Jason asked.
“Well I was on the force and deployed to the riots in Newark back in the 70’s. I suspect that will look like a bump in the road.” Bill said.
“It’s probably worse than that already in Newark.” Jason replied.
“Probably” was all Bill could say.
“Why don’t you and your wife come and stay with us? It’s gonna get dangerous and I could certainly use another competent brain up here. I could tow your travel trailer up here and you guys would have some privacy. I could really use more people.” Jason asked.
Bill thought for a moment before replying. “Jason, I appreciate the offer. I really do. But my daughter and my grandkids live about an hour west of Philadelphia and I plan on going down to them. My son in law is a pussy banker and he’s not going to have the stones to protect my baby. I know it’s crazy and probably a bad idea but I have to do it.” Bill added.
Jason understood and simply nodded. “I could use your help though Jason.” Bill said.
“What can I do?” Jason asked openly.
“I got the old Nova in the garage running but it’s too small to put all of our stuff
we want to take. I got that small utility trailer for my truck but I don’t have a hitch on the Nova. You think you could figure out something with that?” Bill asked.
“Doesn’t seem too tough, if you can bring the hitch from your truck up here with the Nova I can probably weld something up. I don’t think my MIG welder will work but I can always use the torch.” Jason said.
