She shakes her head as she assesses the extent of my injuries—a long shallow cut to my ribcage, a bruised or cracked rib on my left side, and several places where Duane's birdshot didn't quite miss, not to mention extensive bruising.
"You don’t fight off eight armed dickheads and not get hurt a little," I say by way of explanation. "Not too bad, though. Been through way worse."
"No kidding," The medic says. "I see the evidence." She looks up at me. "You've been through some shit, huh?"
I shrug. "A bit." I look at Noelle, my heart filling with gratitude and awe—she fought like hell to save herself, but her first thought was for me. "Better now. Got an angel looking out for me. A reason to live a good life."
The medic sees my look, and her face melts into a sappy grin. "Awww, my god—if that's not the sweetest thing I've ever heard."
After more stitches, she pokes and prods. "Well, you've got a banged-up rib, but I don’t think it’s broken. You’ll be sore for a while, though. You really should get it X-rayed, but since I assume you won’t, just keep an eye on it. If it gets hard to breathe or anything, youhaveto go in. A cracked rib can break all the way, splinter, and puncture your lung. To be clear, that's averybad thing. It's not something you can just shrug off."
I tap my ribcage on the right side, where I have a scar. "I'm aware."
Noelle frowns at me. "You've had a punctured lung?"
I nod, shrugging. "Sure. Wasn’t fun, but I survived. Thus my dislike of hospitals.”
The medic snorts. "A punctured lung wasn't fun. Jesus. Who are you, man? The Incredible Hulk?" She pats my arm very gently. "You're good to go, big fella. Try to go easy on that rib, okay?"
I nod. "Thanks, doc."
She smiles up at me. "I'm a medic, not a doctor, but you're welcome." She looks at Noelle. "Get him home and take care of him."
Noelle nods. "I will."
I look at Noelle, noticing a smear of blood at the back of her head; I meet the medic's eyes. "Can you look at her, too, please? She's bleeding from the head."
“Sure, no problem.” She moves around behind Noelle, putting on a fresh pair of gloves and gently probing the injury with professional fingers. "This is okay—just a small contusion, no longer bleeding.” She moves around to look at Noelle. “Any dizziness, blurred vision, or nausea?"
Noelle shakes her head. "I was dizzy and blurry when it happened, but not anymore. Cracked my head on the ground when he threw me down."
After applying antiseptic ointment, the medic takes Noelle's hand. "Do you need a rape kit?"
Noelle shakes her head. "No, he didn't get that far, thankfully." She looks at Panzer, watching us from the back of Riley's truck. "Thanks to him."
I growl. "You fought him off, like the badass you are."
She smiles at me, soft and sweet. "It's over now. I'm okay."
After checking her out, the medic strips off her gloves and announces that we're both good to go.
The officers, having finished their assessment of the scene, clap me on the shoulder and shake my hand. "We're adding guncharges," Sheriff Mannix says. "None of the guns here are legal. We’ve got him on a laundry list of shit. He’s going away for a good, long time." He looks at Noelle. "We'll need your statement regarding the attempted rape, but that can wait."
She shakes her head. "No, I'd rather get it out of the way now. I just want to go home and get cleaned up."
“Okay." He pulls out his notepad and pen. "Can you tell me what happened? I know it’s hard, but I need as much detail as you can provide."
She squeezes my hand, her eyes going vacant as she recalls. "I work at Lux Locks Salon on Main Street."
Mannix nods. "My sister goes there. Loves it."
She grins. "Oh! Callie Mannix. I know her."
He smiles, nodding. "That's her. " The grin fades back to the professionally blank face. "So, you left work…"
"That garage is going up, so we've had to park next to the First Federal there on First. I cut through the alley." She points at Panzer. "Bear has been insisting I take him to work. He was growling as I approached the car, but I guess I didn't think much of it. I should have—he never growls without a reason. I guess I just figured it's a creepy alley, and he saw or sensed something he didn’t like.” She shakes her head. “Anyway. I got Panzer into my car, and I was about to get in when Mom called—Mom! Oh my god!” She claps a hand over her mouth. “I was on the phone with her when he grabbed me. I must’ve dropped the phone—she probably heard everything! She must be worried sick!"
"On it," The other officer says. "I'll send someone over to explain." He paces away and mutters into his radio.
