by Julia Derek
Chase opened his mouth to say something, but the train came crashing into the station then, drowning out his answer. As it pulled to a stop, I helped him to his feet and we got into the closest train. Fortunately, there weren’t many people inside as it was so early on a Saturday, and the ones that were there didn’t pay us much attention. I made Chase sit down on one of the seats right where we were standing, then I sat beside him. He was getting weaker and weaker.
“What train are we on again?” Chase asked, his breathing shallow instead of heavy now. His eyes were looking increasingly glazed. I didn’t like it one bit.
I looked up at the sign that displayed what train we were on. “We’re on the F train.”
“Okay, let’s get off on Lex and 63rd and we can walk up to Lenox Hills Hospital. It’s on 76th and Lex I think. They have an emergency room.”
I put a hand over his to help him stem the blood flow; clearly it was needed. “Walk? I don’t think that’s a good idea. 63rd to 76th is like 13 blocks. Isn’t there a connecting subway we can take?”
The vast NYC subway system was still like a jungle to me.
“We can probably take the six train,” Chase mumbled.
With each station we passed, he seemed to be getting paler. We were both pressing hard against the wound, me using both my hands by now, but it didn’t seem to be enough to stop the blood from flowing out. I had to do something. I searched the train to see if there was anyone around whose jacket or otherwise I could borrow. But everyone was blatantly ignoring us or looking at us like we were crazy homeless people, so I decided it was better to skip that. I looked down at my skirt. It reached almost all the way down to my knees. I could stand to make it several inches shorter. Getting a good grip in the middle of the part that Chase had split in two, I ripped off the lower half, turning my skirt into a mini one. I bundled up the material in my hands.
“Remove your hand,” I told Chase. As he did so, I pressed the skirt bundle firmly against his wound and that did seem to work better than our hands. For now.
Chase smiled weakly at me. “Good call, Elle. With an extra bonus of letting me get a nice view of those hot legs of yours. Makes me a lot more energetic suddenly…”
He winked at me.
I smiled back at him, encouraged that his head was still clear enough for him to be able to be cheeky. “Whatever it is I can do to help, let me know. Well, within reason, of course.” I gave him a fake stern look.
He chuckled in response.
“So it seems like we really managed to get away, huh?” I commented. “If they were on the train, I’m sure we’d have noticed by now.”
“Yeah, I’m thinking that too.”
“Do you think they saw us disappear down the subway station?”
“It’s possible. I couldn’t see anyone else come out of the house when we turned the corner. But they might’ve come right after. Or the guy with the moustache might’ve hidden behind the cars, which meant he saw where we went. That street we were on was straight and long, so even if they were far away when we got to the entrance, they might have spotted us run into it.”
“Yeah, it was a very long street.” My legs still felt rubber-like after our sprint.
“But I didn’t see anyone come down the stairs while you were worrying about my wound, so I’m pretty sure we’re safe right now.”
I allowed myself to relax a little. Even if Chase was shot, we had gotten away. We would be okay. Everything would be fine. As long as we found a hospital within the next hour, Chase would be fine, too. There was no reason to think we wouldn’t, I told myself to remove any disturbing thoughts that the train might experience technical problems or otherwise be delayed. In my short time in the city, I had come to learn that it was common for subway trains to have problems. But today that wouldn’t— couldn’t —happen. Because Chase and I would both be fine at last.
“When we get to the hospital, we need to call the cops,” I said to Chase.
“Definitely.”
The train came to a stop and I checked the station name.
“Where are we?” Chase asked. The skirt bundle was getting a little bloody now. I pressed my lips together, trying not to worry about that too much.
“21 St Queensbridge. Is it much farther?” I held my breath as I waited for his answer.
“Nah, I think two more stops and we’re there.”
I exhaled. “Oh, great! Do you think you can last that long?” I grabbed his arm and added playfully, “Don’t you dare say no.” I didn’t want him to realize just how worried I was for him
He raised an eyebrow at me at the same time as he mustered a wry little grin. “Uh, yeah. Do you think I’m some kinda wimp? Remember, I was raised the hard way. Unlike you. We Ewings don’t fall apart that easily.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Well, thank God for that.” Inwardly, I couldn’t help but smile. With an attitude like that, I didn’t have anything to worry about. Chase would definitely survive until we found a hospital.
“Seriously, Elle, I’ve been through worse. Remember how I told you my teeth are fake? Well, most of my front teeth, that is.”
“Yeah. You got them knocked out when you were playing ice hockey, right?
“Yeah. It can get pretty rowdy during games. I don’t know if you’ve seen what fights on the ice look like.”
“No, actually, I haven’t. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve even watched a hockey game once.” I felt like the most sheltered person in the world right then. How could I not have seen a single hockey match in my almost 24 years of age?
“Well, when this is over, I’ll take you to one. You can’t go through life without having watched a game of ice hockey. They’re the best.”
I laughed, relieved that he seemed so energetic still. “Okay. If you say so.”
“I absolutely do. Anyway, I’ve been through a few of those hockey fights. Knocked out teeth and broken noses and ribs on several guys. Fortunately my own nose never broke in any of the fights. Lots of guys tried, but I guess my nose is made of some unbreakable material.” He nodded toward his wound. “This is nothing compared to those fights.”
“Good thing you know how to fight. Was that how you took down that goon finally?” It struck me that maybe it wasn’t a smart idea for Chase to be wasting his energy talking to me. He should rest and use his strength to get to the hospital. So I put a finger over his mouth. “Don’t answer that. You need to relax and save your energy so we can get you to the hospital.”
He removed my hand with his free one.
“I think I’ll be fine, Elisa.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Are you sure?”
“Yep. But to make you stop worry so much, I’ll whisper. Whispering doesn’t take much energy, right?”
“I guess that’s true. Okay, tell me what happened then.”
“Well, that dude might be built like the Hulk, but he doesn’t know how to use all that brawn. It didn’t take long before I was able to tell that. But I’m not so stupid that I was gonna mess with a guy with a gun in his hands. It doesn’t take much skill to fire and potentially kill someone with a gun. Especially not if that gun is pressed into your side, like it was when they took me. So I knew I needed to disarm him before I got into it with him. And for that he needed to be off his guard and right next to me. Finally he was when he was beating up on you again.”
Chase’s face darkened and looked at me intently, his eyes having turned to lead.
“There’s nothing I detest so much as a man beating up on a woman, especially one who’s already down like you were. It must’ve hurt so much when he kicked you liked that. Yet you didn’t make a sound.” He ran a knuckle along my cheek. “That was so strong of you.”
I shrugged, a little embarrassed by the unexpected compliment and Chase’s sweet gesture. “I figured it was best that I didn’t make a sound or we’d be back to square one.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right about that. You’re a brave woman, Elle.
A brave, brave woman.”
I stiffened and averted my eyes from Chase. If only he knew just how brave I wasn’t. How, if I was a truly brave person, I could have stopped a teenage girl from lying dead in the ground right now. I could have stopped another from blaming herself for her death and made that girl’s life a hell of a lot nicer not only when she was at my school, but also in the years that followed.
My cheeks heated as those thoughts were going through my head. I didn’t deserve such nice words from Chase. And the worst part was that I wanted him to keep thinking I was this brave woman, even though I so wasn’t. So I made myself smile as I turned to face him again and simply said, “Thank you.”
Chapter Eleven
When we reached the subway station where the hospital was located thirty minutes later, Chase was close to passing out he had lost so much blood. I was literally dragging him toward the subway exit, holding his arm around my shoulders, when a black guy with dreadlocks and round John Lennon glasses offered to help us up the stairs. He told me his name was Mike. I don’t think I had ever met a nicer person. Soon, the three of us were outside the station and on our way to the emergency room, which was thankfully only a block away. Mike, who’d removed his sweatshirt to press against Chase’s wound to stem further blood flow, was carrying Chase with little help from me to the busy entrance. We needed to get Chase inside those sliding glass doors and up to the triage nurse as quickly as possible so she could see what dire state Chase was in.
It didn’t take long before we got the attention of the triage nurse on duty, a spunky redhead with lots of freckles on her nose and eyes that seemed to be bulging out of her head they were so big and round.
“He’s been shot and lost tons of blood,” I explained to her when she asked what had happened. “He’s in really, really bad condition.” Judging from the way Chase just passed out in that moment, I’m sure she didn’t think I was exaggerating the situation only to get ahead of other people in need of care. The triage nurse told a couple of emergency room workers in green scrubs to bring over one of the rolling stretchers that were lined up along the spacious, well lit corridor. After they had put Chase on a rolling stretcher, the nurse took his vitals, ripped up his shirt where the wound was and eyed it quickly. She grabbed the first guy and said in a flat voice, “He’s a level two. He’ll need a blood transfusion. Take him to the third OR on the second floor and I’ll see to it that a team gets there.”
The two guys in scrubs nodded and proceeded to roll the stretcher into a nearby elevator. As the elevator doors slid shut and Chase was out of sight, I turned back to the nurse to ask her what it meant to be level two. Was it very serious or would Chase be okay shortly? But she was already gone, dealing with the next people who had approached her, a man holding up a woman who was green in the face and generally having a hard time standing up.
“He’ll be okay,” Mike said beside me as I kept trying to get the nurse’s attention, hoping that she’d be done with the couple soon so I could get a chance to talk to her. I had totally forgotten about him in the midst of all the commotion inside the deep emergency room area. I turned to face him and grabbed his arm hard.
“Do you really think so?” I implored, hoping he had better knowledge of emergency room levels than I did. “What does level two mean? And why are they taking him to the OR? All he needs is a little blood, right? He’s not in that bad a shape, is he?”
Somehow, I had a feeling that Chase was in really bad shape. The way the triage nurse had clenched her jaw at the sight of his wound had suggested this.
“I really have no idea,” Mike said, “but I think if he was about to die, she would have classified him as either a level one or a level five. I can’t remember which one is the most serious. I’m sure it’s not two, though.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “Oh, God, please let him be okay…” I was saying this more to myself than to Mike. I really didn’t think I could handle it if Chase died. It was hard for me to even think in those terms.
“I really think he’ll be okay,” Mike replied. As I looked at him again, I saw that he was eyeing my hand on his arm. I let go of him.
“I wish I could stay here with you,” he continued, “but I have somewhere to be.”
“No, that’s okay. I totally understand. You’ve done more than enough for us. Thank you so much.” I smiled wide at him, truly meaning every one of those words. If it hadn’t been for Mike, I honestly didn’t think I would have been able to get Chase to the emergency room at all.
“Is there a way I can reach you so we can give you money for your sweater?” I asked him. “It’s completely destroyed from all the blood.”
He shook his head and smiled, waving his hand at me. “Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t one of my favorite shirts. I’m just happy I could help you. Truly, I’m sure your boyfriend will be fine. I’ll definitely keep my fingers crossed for you two.”
“Um, thanks…” I was about to tell Mike that Chase was not my boyfriend, only my boss, but then I decided that it didn’t matter. Besides, Mike obviously needed to leave, so I shouldn’t bother him with nonsense talk.
“Well, I’ll be leaving then,” he said.
“Go, go!” I was almost pushing him now I was so embarrassed to have kept him when he’d already done so much for us. “Thank you again for all your help!”
I waved good-bye to Mike. Then I turned back in the direction where I’d last seen the triage nurse to see if she was free now. She had moved on to another person, a bald and chunky man who was talking rather animatedly with her, waving his arms. I could relate to how he must be feeling, even if I didn’t know what his problem was. It seemed very urgent given the way he was gesticulating so heatedly.
I searched the big hospital space for someone else who could explain to me what the deal was with Chase. I pushed away any thoughts of him being near death. That would not happen, so why was I even thinking in those terms? Not long ago he had been full of life, laughing as I struggled to get him to the uptown train that would finally take us to the hospital. Someone who acted like that wouldn’t all of a sudden turn around and die thirty minutes later, right? Absolutely not. I wasn’t worried that the thugs would come barging in through the hospital doors and try to abduct me again anytime soon. Not if we’d gotten this far away from them. That was another reason it was great that New York City was so incredibly big, not to mention full of people even though it was only nine in the morning on a Saturday. It was very easy to get lost in the crowds in such a place.
Surely it would take a while for our abductors to figure out where we were.
I finally connected with a petite woman in scrubs. “Talk to her,” she said when I told her what I wanted to know, nodding at a counter behind which a heavy-set woman sat. I ran over there, annoyed that I had to wait in line behind four more people who also wanted to talk to this woman. But it didn’t seem like I had another choice but to wait for my turn, so I remained there, pacing in place and biting my nails. Civilians and people in scrubs kept running around me, some of them screaming, others crying. It was definitely a madhouse, but I’d rather be in this madhouse than in the one I’d just left.
After an eternity it was finally my turn to talk to the woman behind the counter, a nurse I realized from her nametag. I took a deep breath and tried my best to calmly explain the situation to her and then I asked what it meant to be classified as level two.
She looked down at some papers that had recently been handed her. Her eyes returned to me.
“Is the man you’re talking about named Chase Ewing?” the round-faced woman asked in a hurried voice.
“Yes! That’s him. Will he be okay?”
“We don’t know. All I can tell you is that the doctor in the OR changed his status from level two to level one.”
“That’s good, right? Level one is better than level two, right?” My voice sounded shrieky to my own ears.
The way the woman was looking at me then told me all I needed to know. Fe
ar seized me and I felt suddenly faint.
“No, unfortunately it’s not,” she said. “It’s the most urgent category. They’re resuscitating him as we speak.”
I was sure I had actually fainted and was having a nightmare right then. “ What? Are you telling me that he might… die?” I could barely get the word out I was so upset.
“There’s always that possibility.” She looked at me with some compassion finally. “I think he’ll be all right, honey. He’s in good hands. Why don’t you go up to the waiting room on the second floor and I’ll make sure the doctor tells you as soon as he knows more. Are you his wife?”
Wife? What made her think that? I wasn’t wearing any rings. But then I realized that it was good that she thought that, so I moved my head in a faint nod to indicate yes. If I was just some acquaintance—which I kind of was—who’d brought him in, I probably wouldn’t get to see him again when he was done in surgery. Only family would get to see him. And it would take even longer before I found out how he was doing.
He’d better not die on me!
“So you’re his wife then?” the nurse repeated. “His most immediate family?”
I nodded with more vigor this time, glad I hadn’t blurted out that I was only working with him. Then it struck me. Family… I needed to call my mom and brother and tell them I was all right. They must be totally freaking out, even worse than I was doing right now. I sucked in a breath to pull myself together. I needed to keep myself together a little while longer.
“Is there a phone I could use somewhere?” I asked the nurse while she was scribbling something on a paper. I contemplated telling her that I had just escaped my kidnappers, which was why I didn’t have a cell phone. But at the last second I decided that that would only complicate matters, not to mention that I didn’t think she’d believe me anyway. Chase and my story was just too weird to be believable. She’d probably think I was high or something, maybe even revoke her offer of letting me know how the operation had gone despite me being family.
