Page 39 of His Savage Bride
We pull into the hospital’s parking deck a few minutes later and Joey circles it a few times until he finds a spot large enough for our SUV. Once we’re parked, Trenton and Joey lead the way towards the main entrance of the hospital. We first have to pass the emergency room entrance, and while walking past an ambulance that’s parked at the admitting bay, Joey comes to an abrupt stop and turns back towards Maximo and me.
I don’t know what has caught his attention at first until I look back and hear an engine roaring and the sudden sound of brakes squealing as a white cargo van pulls past us and comes to an abrupt halt.
“That’s her!” Joey says just as the rear doors fly open and two men with rifles leap down from the back. He has just enough time to draw his pistol from his suit coat when I see the flicker of flames from the barrels of the rifles and the thunderous retort of gunshots.
Joey staggers backwards and drops his gun as Trenton backpedals, shoving both Maximo and me back behind the ambulance.
“Get down!” Maximo roars at me as he shoves me in the chest, causing me to fall flat on my ass. He crouches down by me and shoves me under the ambulance as his free hand draws the revolver he always carries. Trenton has his gun out as well and is returning fire over the hood of the ambulance.
“Stay back, goddammit!” Trenton yells at Maximo. I see one of the shooters from the van stagger backwards and collapse as Trenton keeps firing. Then I watch in terror as Maximo gets to his feet and advances around the ambulance. I can hear his revolver as he opens fire and can see the other shooter fall to his knees, still firing his rifle. Maximo keeps shooting until his gun clicks empty.
As I scramble out from underneath the ambulance, Maximo drops to one knee, then topples over onto his side. A bright pool of blood immediately begins spreading from underneath him as he clutches at his right hip.
“Fuck!” Trenton roars as he keeps firing until the slide on his pistol locks open, signifying his magazine is empty too. The van’s engine roars again and the tires squeal as it begins to pull away. Trenton runs over to where Joey is lying, but instead of checking on his friend he snatches up the pistol lying beside him, then fires at the fleeing van until that gun runs out of bullets too.
As the van screeches away and careens into traffic, I rush to Maximo’s side. He’s on his side with his arms wrapped around himself, and his face has turned ashen. “Are you all right?” Maximo manages to gasp as I move his hands away from his lower belly, trying to see where the blood is coming from.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” I babble. “Oh God, Maximo. There’s so much blood! Where is it all coming from?”
“Caught a bullet…here,” he gasps. He pulls his bloody hands back enough for me to see that his pants are sticking to a wound high on his right hip. As he shows me more blood pours from the wound, and I grab his hands to press against it, using my own to add more pressure.
“Get some help! Trenton, damn you, go get some fucking help!” I screech at the man, who has walked back towards us and is standing over Joey.
“Yeah, yeah, of course.” Trenton shakes his head as he lays the pistol down on Joey’s chest, then runs inside the emergency room.
“You’re going to be all right,” I tell Maximo. “Please, God,” I add my plea as we try to hold in the blood spilling from him.
“Constance, listen to me,” Maximo manages to choke out. “Take my phone. It’s got Irina’s number. You know…you knowwhat to do.” His voice becomes a whisper as his head falls limply to the side.
“I need help!” I scream towards the emergency room. “Someone, please!” It feels like an eternity passes as I keep pressure on Maximo’s hip, but in reality, it’s only seconds before people come flooding out of the automatic doors.
Security guards with drawn pistols, the ambulance personnel with a gurney, nurses, and a woman who must be a doctor swarm around me and lift Maximo from the pavement, rushing him inside. I’m left leaning against the ambulance, gasping for breath.
“Ma’am, are you injured? Ma’am?” one of the nurses demands as she confronts me.
“No, I’m…I think I’m fine,” I tell her while staring in wide-eyed horror at my wet, blood-slicked hands. “It’s his blood. It’s his…” I feel a racking sob rip through me, and a burst of tears that I can’t control.
Trenton appears at my side and throws an arm around me. “You’re okay though, right? Tell me you’re okay, Constance. Maximo will kill me if anything happens to you.”
“There was so much blood.” I clutch at Trenton’s suit coat, leaving awful smears and stains on it and his shirt. “No one can lose that much blood…” I trail off as another sob rips through me.
“Don’t talk like that,” Trenton says. “Maximo’s a tough bastard. My boy Joey, though…” he lifts his arm to draw my attention to where they are lifting Joey’s body onto a gurney. As they lift him, I can see the awful crater where the side of his head used to be. “Dammit, Joey.” Trenton sniffs as his own tears threaten to fall. “He was my best friend.”
“I’m so…so sorry, Trenton.”
One of the hospital security guards approaches us and looks the two of us up and down. “You two sure you’re not hurt? Atleast come inside and get checked out. I’ll need you to stay with me while the police get here and figure all this out. Do either of you know what the hell happened?”
“Ask them.” Trenton waves a hand towards the two bodies lying in the street that are both being worked on by the hospital staff. “They just pulled up and started shooting at us.” As he talks, Trenton gives my arm a gentle squeeze, then glances down at me.
I got the message immediately. It’s one Maximo had made clear previously. We don’t get the police involved any more than absolutely necessary, and you certainly never tell them your business. “I don’t know,” I manage to tell the guard through my tears. “I don’t know anything.”
“Well, come on inside. I’ll show you where you can wash up and wait until the police arrive. They’ll have more questions for you; I have no doubt.” He turns to lead us inside, and I follow along behind him half-blinded by my tears. I don’t know what else to do, or where else to go. Without Maximo by my side, with him possibly dying right now, I have no idea what comes next.
After leading us to a large, single-occupancy family bathroom to clean up, the security guard helping Trenton and me walks with us to a small office. It’s lined with monitors showing various camera angles throughout the hospital. “I talked to my boss,” he advises us as he waves towards several empty chairs lined up along the wall. “I’m going to isolate the footage of the attack while he deals with the police. He’ll bring them here to talk to you after they’ve secured the scene. Do you two need anything while I work on this?”
“I need to know where Maximo is and that he’s going to be okay,” I reply.
Trenton doesn’t say anything but instead takes a seat and hangs his head to stare at the floor.
