Immortal Mine (39 page)

“Where you shot, honey?” she asks, her words
at odd with her tone.

“I’m not,” I say, and she opens her mouth to
call for the guard. “Please,” I beg, holding my hands up toward
her. “I don’t want drugs, either. My...
friend
, she’s
outside in the van. She’s been shot. Shane can help her, but he
needs equipment. Please, she’ll die. I have money.”

She looks skeptical, and I reach into my
back pocket, a look of threat and worry crossing her expression. I
hold one hand up in supplication, and pull my wallet out. I pull
out all the money within and drop it on the exam table. Her eyes
widen. She looks at the impressive pile of money before turning
suspicious eyes on me.

“
Please
,” I beg. “Please don’t let
her die.” I don’t add that
I
won’t let her die, even if it
means hurting her and the burly guy to get what I need.

“Bring her in,” she says.

“No, we can’t, we need to—”

“Bring her in,” she repeats firmly,
overriding my words. I stare at her, but decide it’s not worth the
fight. I nod. She steps to the door and commands the burly guy to
go out to the van to get them. I call Shane and tell him what’s
going on.

“Who’s Shane?” she asks as soon as I hang
up.

“My uncle,” I say. “He has some medical
training.”

“Uh-huh,” she answers, clearly not believing
me. “My name is Mary.”

“Sam,” I say, then hear the commotion of
Shane entering the clinic. I hurry from the room and see him
carrying Niahm in, her face more pale than I’ve seen it. He’s
followed closely behind by Stacy who looks terrified and worried in
equal measure.

“Good heavens. Get that child in here
quickly,” Mary says as she sees Niahm’s still form in Shane’s arms.
Shane carries her into the exam room and lays her on the bed. He
starts spouting off supplies he needs, and Mary seems to recognize
his knowledge. She doesn’t question, simply hurries to get what he
needs.

Shane pulls Niahm’s shirt up, exposing the
hole where the bullet exited on the front lower quadrant of her
abdomen, cursing under his breath. Stacy moans and moves to sit in
the chair in the corner of the room.

The clinic is poorly equipped, an old EKG
machine providing the information that her heart beats. A loud
beeping begins as Shane probes within, looking for any bleeding
that needs to be stopped. I step forward in alarm. Shane sticks a
stethoscope against her chest as Mary pulls out a mask and Ambu bag
and begins forcing air into Niahm’s lungs. Shane begins pushing on
her chest. My own chest tightens in response. I hurry to stand near
her head.

“Breath, Niahm, breath,” I plead. “Don’t
leave me now, please, don’t leave.” I continue saying this over and
over as Shane and Mary fight for her life. Finally they both stop,
and I look at Shane with terror spiking throughout.

“She’s breathing,” he says. I release the
breath I didn’t know I was holding.

“This girl needs a hospital,” Mary says.

“No,” Shane and Stacy say at the same time.
Mary’s brows raise suspiciously.

“There are some bad men after us,” Stacy
says urgently. “If they find her, they’ll finish what they
started.”

I decide Shane must have given Stacy a
little history while they waited for me. For Mary’s part, I doubt
it’s a strange story in this world she lives in. She shakes her
head and hands Shane some sterile gloves.

“Let’s get her sewed up, then,” she says.
“Otherwise, this little girl is going to bleed to death.”



It’s over an hour later by the time Shane
snips the final suture. Mary has placed an oxygen mask on Niahm,
checking the printout on the EKG machine occasionally. Blood and IV
solution drip slowly into her arm. Mary turns to the sink and wets
a washcloth, and begins cleaning the blood from Niahm. There’s so
much of it—too much.

Mary glances at her watch. “Well, the clinic
is closed for the night. Normally I’d kick y’all out, but I suppose
with this little deposit,” she pats her pocket which holds the
money I’d dumped on the table, “I suppose you’re trustworthy
enough.”

“Thanks, Mary, you’re a gem,” Shane tells
her, kissing her cheek, causing the tough Mary to blush. She waves
a dismissive hand at him and pulls her jacket on.

“You’re gonna want to lock the door behind
us,” she says. “I suppose you’ll still be here in the morning.”

“If we can move her, we’ll go,” Shane says.
Mary nods as if she’d been expecting that answer.

“Call this number,” she hands a card to
Shane. “Joran is the night watchman who comes by to check the
place. I’ll let him know you’re here, and that you’ll call if
you’re leaving. He can come lock up.”

“Thank you, Mary. You’ve been amazing.”
Shane squeezes her upper arm.

“You wanna come work here?” she asks, only
half-teasing him. “We always need anyone with any kind of medical
expertise.”

“I’d consider it just for you,” he says.

“Sure you would,” she laughs, following the
burly man out the door. I hear Shane lock the door before coming
back to where Stacy and I stand over Niahm. I have no doubt Stacy
is willing her to live as hard as I am.

“We should try to get some sleep,” Shane
says. Both Stacy and I give him a look which he interprets easily
enough. “Fine,
I’ll
get some sleep while you watch over her.
All we can do now is wait.” He pauses. “She’s lost a lot of blood.
I didn’t see much internal bleeding, but without the proper
equipment, I can’t say for certain.”

He crosses the narrow hallway into another
room and I hear the gurney creak as he lies down on it. I turn my
gaze to Stacy, who is pale and drawn.

“Stacy, you should try to sleep,” I say
gently.

“What about you?” she shoots back.

“I don’t need much sleep,” I say honestly.
“Shane doesn’t either. He’ll be back in here within the hour. We
can watch her.”

Stacy shakes her head. “I’m not going
anywhere, Sam. I would like some answers, though. For example,
where is Jean? Why isn’t she with you guys?”

I look down at Niahm’s inert form, washed
out and bloodless, her chest barely rising and falling. I’m not
sure how much she can hear, so I don’t want to say anything that
might interfere with her recovery.

“She created a distraction so Niahm could
escape,” I say.

“What kind of distraction?” she presses.

“She’s fine, I’m sure,” I say. I think if
they had her they wouldn’t have kept pursuing us.” It’s a blatant
lie, but I can’t say what I really believe, that she couldn’t have
possibly escaped.

“Why were they after her?” Stacy asks.

“Old enemies, I guess,” I say.

“So, we’re all enemies by association?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.” I know
the answers I’m giving her are incomplete, but I don’t have good
explanations for her without the full truth. “They haven’t seen you
though, so you should be safe.”

“But, why would they—” Her words are cut off
by the high pitched alarm of the ancient EKG machine going off.
Both our eyes fly to Niahm.

“Niahm!” I shout, searching out her pulse
even as Shane comes flying into the room. He puts the stethoscope
in his ears and curses loudly. He rips the oxygen mask from her
face, replacing it with the Ambu bag.

“Squeeze this every five seconds or so,” he
directs me. He begins chest compressions. Stacy pushes back against
the wall, horror on her face. She looks how I feel.

“Niahm, don’t do this,” I command roughly.
“You’ve gotta hold on. Please. Don’t leave me.” The last words are
whispered.

“Stacy, roll that cart over here,” Shane
yells. Stacy immediately does as she’s told, rolling the red cart
that, ill equipped as it is, holds the keys to bringing Niahm back.
“You’re going to need to take over for Sam,” he says. “Samuel, get
over here and do chest compressions.”

Stacy takes the bag, calm now. I hurry over
and begin pressing down on Niahm’s chest, cringing with each
compression, feeling the hairline cracks in her ribs at my touch on
her bare skin. Tears run freely down my face and I don’t care.
Shane fills a syringe and plunges it into the IV line. Nothing. He
grabs the paddles and yells, “Clear!” as he shocks her. Nothing. He
repeats everything he knows, jaw clenched as each new procedure
yields no results in the flat line printing out of the machine.

“Stop!” Stacy screams. I look at her, see
that her own face is covered with tears. “Don’t do anything else to
her.
Please.
”

“No,” I yell, refusing to stop now—or
ever.

“Samuel,” Shane says. “There’s nothing
left.” He reaches out to touch my shoulder. I shove him with both
fists, sending him flying across the room, crashing into a mobile
shelving unit before turning back to Niahm. Stacy is backing away,
eyes glued to Niahm’s face.

“Keep going,” I shout at her, but she
ignores me. With a curse, I lean down to blow air into Niahm’s
lungs. Then Shane is leaping at me, tackling me to the floor, Stacy
screaming. I fight with all I have, but he manages to restrain
me.

“She’s gone, Samuel. There is
nothing
left.”

“No.” This time it comes out as little more
than a wailing moan, and I have a glimpse of what it must have been
like for Niahm, thinking I was dead on the floor of the motel room.
Suddenly, Stacy is in my arms, and with Shane holding both of us,
we allow our grief to explode in the room.

“Samuel.” Shane’s voice penetrates the
horror filled fog I’m hiding in. “Samuel, there’s still a chance.”
I try to decipher his words. Still a chance to what?

“Samuel.” I look up at him. He pulls me away
from Stacy and into a standing position. Stacy watches us from her
supine position, sobs hiccupping from her. “There’s still a
chance
,” he repeats with an eye flick toward Niahm. I look
at her myself, forcing my eyes to go to her still form.

Stacy seems to comprehend his meaning before
me as she pushes herself up. “What do you mean, Shane? You mean
there’s still a chance for her to live? What?
How
?”

Suddenly his meaning comes clear, and I gasp
in a breath as I go to Niahm.

“What are you talking about?” Stacy demands
loudly. “Tell me!”

Shane looks at Stacy, then moves to the
opposite side of Niahm. I take her hand in mine, searching
desperately for
anything
. All I see is blackness. Stacy
shakes my arm.

“Sam! What is he talking about? Are you some
kind of... vampire, or something?” That gets my attention and I
look at her. There is fear and disbelief in her eyes, but also
hope. “If you are, Sam, and you can... I don’t know, bite her or
whatever to save her, then do it.”

“I’m not a vampire,” I say.

“Then what?” Her voice brooks no refusal to
answer.

“We can’t die,” Shane says. Stacy’s gaze
flies to Shane.

“Why?” It’s an odd question. She should have
been asking
what?
in disbelief.

Shane shakes his head. “We don’t know,
really. There isn’t any magic trick, or—”

“Then why do you say there’s a chance? Can
you give her something?”

Shane shakes his head again. “No. If she’s
immortal, she’ll wake on her own.”

“If she’s... ” Now Stacy’s voice reveals her
skepticism. “Why would you even think she’s... you know, what you
said.”

“Her eyes,” I answer. Stacy’s gaze returns
to me, and I swipe the contacts from my eyes. She gasps as she sees
my eyes that are so like Niahm’s.

“Yours, too?” she asks Shane.

“Yes. And... and Jean’s as well.”

“Her
grandma
?” Stacy’s shocked. “Jean
is... um, she can’t die either?”

I nod. She looks at Niahm.

“So, what do we need to do? How do we save
her?” She’s all business.

“We can’t do anything but wait,” I say.

“We need to get out of here,” Shane
says.

“How long?” Stacy asks.

“It can take as long as three days.”

“
Three days
?” Stacy looks at me
again. “Did she know? About you, I mean?”

I nod. “I showed her.”

“You showed... wait, let me guess, this
would be about a couple weeks ago when she spent the night crying
and wouldn’t tell me why?” I nod and she says, “So is that why she
broke up with you?”

“No,” I admit. “Something else.”

“Something you’re not going to tell me.”

“No,” I say. “Not now. Now we need to get
her out of here. We need to go somewhere safe while we wait.”

Shane drops another pile of money in the
drawer with a note for Mary to replace the supplies we used,
apologizing for leaving such a mess, and instructions that they
need to update some of their equipment, which he will arrange to
have sent as soon as he can. He goes out and pulls the van around
to the front door after calling Joran to let him know we’re
leaving.