Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 68500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Felix told me what Carter had told him, and that was that all the things that had been going on in Dallas lately could be contributed to those two gangs.
He’d warned us of the possibility of the gang war spilling into the ER.
But I’d hoped and prayed it would never happen.
Turns out, it did happen.
And they were right in front of us, fighting and screaming.
Heart utterly pounding, I rounded the counter.
One girl, who looked to be a hapless coincidental initiate into this fiasco, tried to creep away. But the man at her side, wearing a bright orange bandanna around his head, snatched her up by the hair and hauled her toward his side.
“Call 911,” Felix murmured as he moved toward the group. “Ask for Carter to be informed. And whatever you do, don’t get in the middle of them if they start fighting. Fall back.”
My stomach sank as he started to walk toward the group.
Orange and teal, neon green and blue, and then some regular colors were mixed into the crowd. But it was more than obvious that if I was going by colors on people, there were four Breakers, and six West Backers in the hallway. And then there were eight non-gang related people.
All of them were screaming and yelling.
Yet, no one had brandished a weapon yet, so there was that.
I reached for the phone on the counter and called 911, then told them everything that was going on.
When I’d relayed all of that, I asked to be sent to Quincy, and they sent me over within seconds.
“Quincy Carter,” Quincy answered tersely, sounding miffed.
“Quincy, this is Valhalla,” I said, not wanting him to confuse me. “There’s a… They’re here.”
I could hear something drop, and then what sounded like a rolling chair being forced backward into a wall.
“The hospital?” he asked.
“Yes,” I answered.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He paused. “Can you get into a room?”
No.
I would not leave Felix outside.
“I’ll see what I can do,” I murmured as I hung up the phone.
People started poking their heads out, and I made wide eyes at each of them, urging them to get back into their rooms.
They went.
All except for one.
Nash.
He’d come in for a possible concussion after a training run had sent him into a concrete wall ‘on turn three’ according to Nash.
He stayed where he was, had his arms across his chest, and stared as he took everything in.
It was then that I felt maybe I didn’t know Nash anywhere near as much as I thought I did.
Because when I looked at him now, I saw dead eyes.
I saw… nothing.
Shivering, I turned my attention back toward the group at large to see Felix there now, standing in front of them, with his hands in the air.
“Everyone needs to calm down and break it up!” Felix yelled to get their attention. “What’s going on?”
Other doctors were there, too.
But they weren’t wading in like Felix had.
Mostly because every last one of us on shift today was a female, and with men as big and as mean looking as them, we knew when to stand back. We weren’t dumb.
The crowd dispersed somewhat, and that’s when I saw the two people in the middle, both covered in blood.
One Breakers, and one West Backer.
Both looked… bad.
They were barely standing.
“Each of you,” he pointed at them. “One go to trauma room four, one go to trauma room nine.”
“Where’s that at, bro?” the one on the left asked.
“Back hall, farthest room.” He pointed.
That was the psych room.
We barely ever used it unless it was an emergency… like, say, now.
“And me?” the other one asked, looking like he was about to fall down.
Before Felix could answer, he did.
“If he fuckin’ dies, you’re fuckin’ finished!” I heard yelled.
Then there was movement.
The non-gang members pushed back into the back of the hallway, leaving only the rival gang members in the middle of the floor.
“It’s my fuckin’ brother! Save him!” one yelled.
Felix went to step forward, and then a knife appeared in the closest West Backer’s hand.
In that moment, the only thing that I noticed, before it moved, was the way the fluorescent lights in the hallway reflected off of it.
Then it was coming down in an arc.
But the rival gang member wasn’t there.
Felix was.
The knife went in through Felix’s left, upper chest. Then up.
Right toward his heart.
“NO!” I screamed, voice so loud it hurt my own ears.
“Oh fuck, we gotta get out of here!” one said.
Then there was no one left but the gang member who fell to the floor.
And Felix, bleeding out next to him.
Felix twisted and fell to his back, his hand over the knife wound in his chest.
His eyes were wide and pinned directly on me.
The moment the doors closed, one of the nurses who had functioning brain cells ran and pressed the lock button on the doors.