Tough Love

Chapter One Hundred Eighteen

Chapter One Hundred Eighteen

Ash's P.O.V.

As soon as I see Eli swaying, I'm by his side. I knew something was wrong. Eli never looks that out of it after a raid. I should have listened to my instincts, instead of chalking it up to this one being particularly stressful for him. I catch Eli before he hits the floor and as I lay him on the ground, I feel a wetness on my hand. When I pull my hand away, it's covered in blood.

I look up at the Cap and nearly shout, "Get a bus! Now! He's been hit."

I grab Eli's shirt and rip it off him so I can assess the damage. Arrow is at my side in an instant, and the Cap is on the phone now. He tells me a bus will be at least ten minutes.

"Get it here sooner. He must have lost a lot of blood."

As I look at the wounds, I let out a long string of expletives.

Arrow says, "What's the damage?"

"Two GSW's. No exit wounds. This idiot knew about them because he's tried to plug them. I don't know what type of bullets Ivankov used, but they must be similar to hollow points, otherwise it wouldn't have gone through his vest."

"Hollow points would have torn him to shreds. You've seen the damage they do. It's not a hollow point."

"Something like it though. We need to stem the bleeding. Anderson, go to the ladies' restroom and get me some tampons. We need to plug these holes."

He looks shocked at my request, but Arrow shoots him a stern look and he quickly scurries away. We used tampons in the Army to stop bleeds. That's what they were originally made for, actually, in one of the World Wars. I shake my head, focusing my thoughts again. These wounds don't look good. That bus needs to hurry up.

"Hawkins, get downstairs and show the medics up as soon as they arrive. Cap, are you going to call his parents?"

"Yeah, I'm on it now. Where's Dani?"

"With his parents."

The medics show up not long after I've put the tampons in Eli's wounds. I explain the situation, hand him over to them and ride with them to the hospital.

The medic that's riding in the back, gets a line into Eli to give him fluids and then says, "Good call on how to stem the bleeding. Did they teach you that in cop training?"

"No sir. The Army. Actually, this guy taught me. Be honest, how's it looking?"

"I can't say, I'm afraid. There are no exit wounds, so unless the doctorcan find the bullets on closer inspection, he'll have to go in forsurgery. Does he have any family?"

"Yeah,they've been called. They're meeting us there...."

Eligroans and tries to sit up. The medic starts to place his hands on Eli's shoulders, but I know this isn't a good idea, so I quickly say, "You might want to back off a bit. I'll make him stay there, but he's not with it right now and he'll probably be back in his last memory. Trust me when I say you don't want to be the guy touching him if that happens."

I stand over Eli and almost shout, "Hey, LT. Can you hear me?"

He sounds frantic when he calls out for Dani.

"You're in a bus, LT. You got shot. Dani's on her way to the hospital with your parents. You have to stay still and let the medic do his job. Can you do that?"

He lets out what I assume is supposed to be a chuckle and he asks, "Are you the CO now?"

"While you're shot? Yes I am. So listen to me and do as I say."