Chapter 7 - The Blood on the Floor
Z
The trauma bay at Pine Valley General was a blur of fluorescent lights, shouting surgeons, and the sharp, metallic smell of fresh blood.
Because I was a hospital staff member, I refused to leave the surgical waiting area. I sat in my blood-stained scrubs, my hands still covered in Wade’s dried blood, watching through the small square window of Operating Room 3 as a team of five doctors fought to keep him alive.
"Nurse Sarah?"
I looked up. Shelby was standing in the doorway of the waiting room. She looked exhausted, her face pale, but she was holding Liam wrapped in a clean, warm hospital blanket. A police officer stood discreetly in the hallway outside, offering protection.
"How is he?" Shelby asked, her voice trembling.
"He lost a massive amount of blood," I said, my voice cracking with emotion. "He took a bullet to the flank that nicked his liver, and two knife wounds. They've already given him four units of blood. They're trying to stop the internal bleeding right now."
Shelby walked over and sat beside me, placing her small hand over my bloodied ones. "He did all of this for us... for a baby he barely knew."
"He knew him," I murmured, staring at the tiny face of baby Liam, who was sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware of the war that had been fought over his life just two hours ago. "Wade didn't see a stranger. He saw a second chance."
The double doors of the operating room suddenly swung open. Dr. Harrison, the chief trauma surgeon, stepped out, pulling off his surgical mask. His face was etched with deep exhaustion.
I jumped to my feet. "Doctor? How is he?"
Dr. Harrison sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "He’s a fighter, Sarah. I’ve never seen a man take that much physical damage and keep a blood pressure. We managed to repair the liver laceration and stop the arterial bleed in his shoulder."
A massive wave of relief washed over me, so strong my knees almost gave out. "Is he stabilized?"
"He's stable, but he's not out of the woods," Dr. Harrison warned sternly. "He’s in a medically induced coma in the ICU. The next forty-eight hours will decide if his body can handle the shock. And... there’s another issue."
My heart instantly tightened. "What issue?"
Two men in sharp, tailored suits stepped into the waiting room from the main hallway. One held a leather briefcase; the other wore an official badge pinned to his lapel—Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"Sarah Miller?" the lead agent asked, stopping in front of us. "I'm Special Agent Vance—no relation to Marcus—with the FBI's Organized Crime Task Force."
"This is an ICU waiting room," I said defensively, stepping in front of Shelby and the baby. "He just came out of surgery."
"We know who Wade Holden is, Miss Miller," Agent Vance said calmly. "And we know what he did tonight. What you don't know is that Wade Holden wasn't just a volunteer nurse's assistant. For the last five years, he has been acting as a confidential informant for the federal government to bring down the Iron Scars."
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I froze, staring at the agent in absolute disbelief. "What?"
"Wade Holden gave us the ledger that allowed us to arrest twenty-four members of the Scars tonight," the agent revealed quietly. "Including Marcus Vance. But because his identity as an informant is now compromised, Wade Holden is in immediate danger. The moment Marcus posts bail—or the moment his associates figure out where Wade is sleeping—they will send someone to finish the job."
