“O pos,” Chief Adams said.
“You sure?”
“I’m sure,” Adams said. “I know him like a brother.”
“Good,” Thomas replied. “Let’s get him on the stretcher. Then I’ll run some blood and intubate.”
Ghost was lifted onto the stretcher as the medic pulled out a unit of O positive blood. Since almost anyone could take O pos, he had carried it down to the room just in case. He had other types in a cooler in the chopper. He put a blood pressure cuff on the guy’s arm and shook his head at the reading.
“Okay, easy with the stretcher,” he said to the four infantrymen that had accompanied him into the bunker. “And keep your eyes on where you’re going, not the view.”
“The girl goes, too,” Chief Adams said. “And the two girls with her. Her name is Rachel, I don’t have a last. No idea of her medical. Call the two girls with her Bambi and Thumper.”
“Ooo-kay,” Thomas said, shaking his head. “Lift away, boys.”
The stretchers were carried, carefully, up the stairs and then across the open area to the waiting choppers. Bambi and Thumper each gave Meat a quick kiss and then donned the BDU tops, buttoning them hurriedly. They barely had time to scramble into the chopper before the pilot revved the engines and lifted off the ground.
“Is he going to live?” Britney asked.
“Maybe,” Thomas said. “His blood pressure is so low, though,” he added, giving the liter of blood a squeeze. He had one more liter of O-pos and after that he’d be pumping in water where blood should go.
He slid an oxygen tube up Ghost’s nose, then a breathing tube down his throat. He ran a cervical collar around his neck, for what good it would do, and checked the bandages.
“SEALs,” he muttered, looking at the tampons and pads. He put pressure bandages on each of the wounds, right on top of the field expedient bandages. When he was done he checked for a pulse again and blanched.
“Crap,” he muttered, pulling out a field defibrillator.
“Can I assist?” Bambi asked.
“You trained?” Thomas asked. “Not right now. Clear.” He placed the pads on Ghost’s body and set the sensor in place, hitting the on button of the defib kit then sitting back.
“Aren’t you supposed to…” Thumper said.
“Wait.”
“Checking for pulse,” the machine said in a female voice. “No pulse. Charging, charging, stand clear, CLEAR.” There was a sharp whine from the machine and Ghost’s body jerked but didn’t arch convulsively. “Checking for pulse. Pulse forty-five.”
“It does it all,” Bambi said. “I’ve never used one, but I’ve heard of them.”
“I’m leaving it in place,” Thomas said, going back to his bandaging. The liter was about out, so he changed it for a fresh one and ran another IV, after three sticks, to start a standard glucose drip. Anything to get the damned BP up. “Crew chief! How long?” he yelled.
“Twenty minutes,” the crew chief yelled back over the thunder of the chopper. “There’s a field station set up.”
“He doesn’t need a field station,” Thomas snapped. “He needs a damned class one trauma center. If we can’t get some more blood in him, his heart is going to collapse.”
“No pulse,” the machine said. “Charging…”
“Miss, we have to go now,” Reynolds said as carefully as he could. He’d hardly noticed the girl in the back of the room, huddled in the corner, until the rest of the girls were filing out. She had a blank stare that he’d seen in seriously shell-shocked firefight survivors. He knew she wasn’t seeing him, except, possibly, as a male shape.
“Chief,” he called. “See if Babe is still around.”
“I’m here, sir,” Babe said. She was still stark naked but seemed to hardly notice anymore. The SEALs, despite the lieutenant’s warning, had been solicitous to a fault. Yeah, they looked from time to time, but not in a bad way. Like Ghost, she felt she could trust them. But the girl in the back corner clearly could not. If she even noticed.
“Hi,” Babe said, squatting down. “What’s your name?”
The girl looked at her in fear, then shut her eyes and huddled into the corner.
“Okay,” Babe said. “Wrong question. I know why it’s the wrong question, even. It was stupid. But, listen to me, we’re getting out of here. They’re not going to hurt us anymore. We’re safe. The Army’s here and the SEALs and they’re all good guys that aren’t going to hurt us. But we need to go.”
“Chief,” Reynolds called. “Go get one of those BDU tops for Babe and this lady.”
“Roger,” Chief Adams said, striding out of the room.
“We can sedate her,” Reynolds said.
“They gave us drugs to bring us over here,” Babe responded tightly. “If you want her to totally panic, come at her with a needle. If you want me to totally panic, bring out a needle.”
“Gotcha,” Reynolds said, squatting down. “What can we do?”
“If we can get some clothes on her, maybe she’ll calm down,” Babe said.
“I was next,” the girl whispered.
“What?” Reynolds said. “Honey, you’re safe. The bad men are all dead. You’re safe. Please, let us get you out of here.”
“I was next,” the girl said again, looking at the far wall. “I sat next to Rachel. She was my friend.”
“Oh, crap,” Babe said then swallowed. “When they were done with Rachel, she would have been next.”
“I liked Clari,” the girl said, tears forming in her eyes. “She was my friend, too. And they… they…”
“Clothes, boss,” the chief said, shaking his head. “Miss, you’re about the age of my daughter. Could you maybe put on some clothes? I know she started getting funny about being naked when she was ten. And I surely would like to get you out of here. There’s a plane waiting to take you back to the United States. Your family is waiting. Could you please come back to us?”
The girl seemed to focus for a second and then shut her eyes, crying.
“Don’t like to look at the room, do you?” the chief said, handing Babe a jacket and cradling the other one in his arms. “Can you let Babe put this on you?” he asked.
The girl nodded and Babe slid her arms in the sleeves, then buttoned up the front. Then she laughed.
“It’s… a little big,” Babe said, rolling up the sleeves so that the short female’s hands would show.
“Miss,” the chief said, gently. “I know you don’t want a man touching you or even being near you. But getting out of this place with your eyes closed will be tough. Did your daddy ever carry you piggyback?”
“Yes,” the girl said, quietly.
“No man can hurt a girl that’s piggyback,” the chief said. “If I turn around, will you climb on my back? I can carry you out of here. I can carry you all the way home if that’s what it takes. I can carry you around the world, if that’s what it takes. You just say the word. I’ll carry you anywhere, because you look a lot like my daughter and I’d want somebody to help her if she was hurt and scared like you are.”
The girl nodded, her eyes closed.
“I’m going to turn around now,” the chief said, suiting actions to words, “and Babe is going to help you up on my back. Can Babe do that? She’s a girl, just like you.”
“Okay,” the girl said in a small voice.
“Come on,” Babe said, taking one arm and lifting it up so it touched the chief’s shoulder. As soon as the girl’s hand touched, she leaned forward and swarmed onto the SEAL’s back, wrapping her legs around his waist and grabbing his neck so hard it choked him.