Family

Richard

It feels unreal. It can’t possibly be real. The mind rejects such things. This isn’t reality. It is the stuff of nightmares.

The awful sight of James as the bullet impacts. His body jerking and jolting as he takes the shot intended for Charlotte. The agony and the shock when he cries out as he falls, unconscious, to lie in a pool of his own blood; a pool that spreads and grows, fed by the spurt of red where Corby’s bullet speared into his flesh.

Michael, gasping for breath, his blond hair dark with sweat, and eyes opaque with shock from the failure of his desperate attempt to bring Corby down before he could fire the shot.

And Charlotte, howling in horror and disbelief, on hands and knees, covered in blood, James’ blood, as she clutches and scrapes at his body.

Is he dead?

No….

The blood is pumping….

I have never seen Charlotte in anything like this condition. Always before, no matter how dire the situation, she has handled it. More than handled it. She has risen above and been the victor.

But right now, utterly panic-stricken, she is completely out of control.

In the time I have known her she has faced down terror, assault, rape, possible murder charges, and never has she backed down. But with the fall of her beloved Master, she has all but lost her sanity.

Reality clicks back and time moves again.

Snatching for my phone, I call the emergency services….

Michael strides across the room. “Charlotte don’t fall apart now! This is not the time.”

She pays him no heed, shrieking denial, screaming over James, spattering herself in even more of his blood where it spurts from the wound in his leg.

Michael brings his palm across her face, and it’s no love-tap. He slaps her, hard, jolting her back to the real world. “He’s just taken a bullet for you. An artery’s been cut. If we don’t stop the bleeding, he’s got minutes.” She stares at him, the white of her eyes highlighted against her blood-stained face.

The voice on the end of my phone comes through, “Fire, police or medi….?”

“Medical emergency!” I snap. As I rattle off the details to the operator, Michael continues to calm Charlotte. “Through everything that’s happened, you’ve kept your head. Don’t lose it now. Keep thinking straight, for him.”

she freezes over. Devoid of expression or tone, she says, “What do

pressure point on James’ thigh. “Press there, hard, and keep pressing.” Then to me, “We need

ambulance on its

blood flow. All the while I keep talking, first to the operator who answered my call, then as I am

breath, his eyes opaque with anxiety. He swings to me. “Richard.

medics on board. Talk to me. They’ve got questions. I’ll

“Shoot…”

asking what medical

a first-aider for a fitness

Could have fooled me….

into rags and making a pad of the fabric. He speaks to Charlotte. “When I say, lift your hand. I’ll push this in there, and then

I’m doing?”

of blood to the wound, from the side nearest his heart. One, two,

her hand and he pushes the pad into

he is looking around the room, jabbing instructions at Elizabeth. “That chair. Yes, that one…

placing them

comes a voice over

room, broken only by Charlotte’s

“Don’t let him die….”

touches her face. “He’s my

chop chopping of rotor blades, I dash out. The medics exit the ambulance at a

“In here,” I yell.

straight for James, one stopping to look at the blood-soaked Charlotte, but

blood,” explains Michael,

face-mask and breathing equipment. Another checks pulse

wound, slicing open the clothing. As he takes a scalpel from his case. Michael pulls Charlotte to himself, spinning her and pressing her face into his chest.

quickly but irregularly with his heartbeat. Then, as the medics move to lift him on the stretcher, the

the white-faced Michael hanging

the medics leans forward over James' chest, his weight on the heels of his hands as he almost bounces the rhythm to try to restart his heart. The line remains flat and

on chest and ribs. The third fiddles with the controls of

clear,” yells the

others stand back. “I’m

“I’m clear.”

and jerks. All eyes turn to the monitor,

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