Chapter fourty-two: we're all in this together

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XLII

The automatic doors jam halfway open, screeching against the frame as wind screamed through the lobby

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The automatic doors jam halfway open, screeching against the frame as wind screamed through the lobby. Rain lashed sideways into the building like knives, soaking the tile. Thunder shook the walls, rattling IV stands and flickering the overhead lights.

Leo was barely conscious, his body limp and shivering as Vincent carried him in both arms, soaked in blood and rain. Rylee rushed ahead, her soaked sneakers squealing across the tile.

"Somebody help! We need help!" She cried frantically, hair stuck to her cheeks, eyes wide and glistening with panic.

Melissa McCall rounded the corner fast, eyes sharp, a radio clipped to her scrubs as she scanned the chaotic hallway. The second she spotted Leo, her face dropped.

"What happened?" She demanded, eyes flicking to the wound pressed under Vincent's blood soaked towel.

"Gunshot," Vincent replied with a grunt, his voice tight and cold. "Upper abdomen. No exit wound."

Melissa's breath hitched. She stared at Leo for a second too long, then straightened with purpose.

"Get him to the room all the way down the hall—now. We don't have time," she ordered, already moving.

"Rylee, grab saline packs, antiseptic, and a cauterizer from that cart! Top drawer—red box!" She shouted, her voice echoing down the hall.

"On it!" Rylee yelled back, spinning on her heel and disappearing into the supply corridor, soaked from head to toe.

The wind howled just outside the cracked window. A tree branch slammed into the glass with a deafening thud, spiderwebbing it, but not breaking through. Lights flickered as Leo's blood spilled freely, soaking through the towel, pooling on the gurney.

"Lay him down. I need that shirt off. Now," Melissa ordered, her voice sharp as a scalpel.

Vincent ripped the fabric open with both hands, tossing the shredded remains aside and the buttons fly everywhere. Leo groaned weakly, his body twitching in pain.

"Okay, sweetheart... hang in there. I've got you," Melissa murmured, her tone suddenly soft as she brushed a damp curl from Leo's forehead.

"You've done this before?" Vincent asked tensely, his brow furrowed with suspicion as he hovered by her shoulder.

"There's a lot of things I've been doing that I haven't done before lately," she answered shortly, already pulling on gloves.

"S-Stiles..." Leo croaked out, barely audible. "Is he...?"

"He's okay," Vincent said quietly, leaning down beside him. "You just focus on breathing, kid."

Rylee burst in, soaked and out of breath, arms loaded with supplies. She slid to a stop beside the tray and dumped everything down.

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