Fleur Di Lis

Chapter Fourteen

Nate and Michaela rushed down the hallway.  I trailed behind, my human stamina not being enough to catch up with them as they raced to Luca's rescue.  When I finally reached the living area, Michaela and Nate were already hard at work; Nate was kneeling by the injured man's side, a furrow on his brow, whilst Michaeala cradled his head, humming a soft tune whilst tears flowed freely down her face.

As I moved closer to inspect what was going on, I recognized the man from the photos in the bedrooms, laughing alongside Michaela, Nate and Dana.  His dark hair and coffee-colored skin were shining with sweat, his eyes an odd mix of hazel and gold.  His torso was covered in blood, and three perfectly-rounded bullet holes sat on his side, the blood gushing.

"Nate..."  The man, Luca, gasped.

"Hey, now," Nate soothed.  "Don't talk right now, buddy, alright?  We'll get this sorted out for ya, don't you worry.  Everything's gonna be okay."

"How bad is it?"  Michaela asked, her voice trembling with tears.

Nate said nothing; he simply looked up at his cousin and shook his head ever so slightly so that Luca wouldn't notice.  Michaela let out a small gasp, her face crumbling.  I knew that look; it was the look of knowing that someone they loved was going to die right in front of them, and knowing that, no matter how hard they tried, they could do nothing about it.  I'd had that same experience once before.  My stepfather took my mother down from the rafters and tried resuscitating her in front of me, knowing it was no good.

"What's happened?"

Nate looked up at me, startled, then composed himself.  "He's been shot, three times in the side.  Looks pretty damn nasty to me."

"What can I do?" I knelt beside him in order to get a better look at what we were dealing with here.  From this angle, I could see the butts of two bullets clearly; but they were in silver instead of normal brass.  I frowned.  Why the hell shoot somebody with silver, if ordinary bullets would do the job just as well?

I turned to him.  "Silver bullets?"

Nate nodded once, looking resigned.  "Yeah.  Luca's a werewolf.  Silver is fatal to him when ingested.  Bullets are a sure-fire way to get him out of the picture, and leave us without protection."

"Werewolves exist too?"

"Yup."  He flashed an apologetic look in my direction, and I scoffed.  Of course they did.  Vampires and witches existed, why not werewolves too?

"Of course." 

"Baxter," Luca groaned through gritted teeth, bringing me back to reality.  I noticed that his canines were sharper than a human's.  Almost dog-like, I thought.  Huh.  "The bastard... Came from... Nowhere...  I..."  He gulped, taking a raspy breath before continuing.  "I...  Couldn't...  React...  In time."

"Baxter?"  My heart dropped to my stomach with dread at the mention of his name.  "Holy shit -- he's here."

"Luca's pack chased him off after the shots were fired," Michaela reassured me.  "We've checked everywhere; he's not here."

"But, as soon as I get these damned bullets out of him, we're leaving," Nate decided, glancing at me.  "I'm not taking any chances."

"You'll get burnt," Michaela pointed out.  "Silver burns us, remember?  And kills people like Luca because they prevent him from healing; that's why he's in so much pain.  It's like shooting him over and over again."

I shrugged.  There was only one thing for it...  "I'll do it."

Nate gave me an incredulous look.  "You?"

"Why not me?"

"You don't have any medical experience, for starters.  You could make him worse, maybe even kill him.  I don't want that on your conscience."

I glared at him.  "You think that just because I'm a cop, I don't know how to take bullets out?"

"We're wasting time," Michaela snapped just as Nate opened his mouth to protest.  "Nicki, if you can do it -- fine.  Nate can help, he used to be a doctor, back when the American Civil War happened.  He could talk you through it, right?"

"That was a long time ago," he muttered, defeated.

"Whatever," I shifted to get comfortable.  "I need tweezers, alcohol, and a lot of cloth.  Stat."

Nate left my side and was back instantly, holding everything I needed; a big bottle of surgical spirit, a pair of tweezers still in their pouch, a roll of gauze and a white cloth, including a glass bowl to put my alcohol in.  He placed them by my side and began to pour the spirit into the bowl, dipping the tweezers in them to sterilize them.

I exhaled, picking up the tweezers.  "Okay, hold him down.  This is gonna hurt like a bitch."

Licking my lips, I dug my tweezers into the first wound, causing Luca to cry out in pain and twist.  Michaela held him down with all of her weight.  The lips of my tweezers firmly gripped the first bullet, and I yanked it out, dropping it on the cloth beside me.  Blood started pouring more freely, and I quickly packed it in with gauze to stem it whilst I took the second bullet out.  That one was easier; it had just been buried in some fatty tissue and was relatively easy to yank out. 

The third bullet was a bit more tricky; it had gone through deeper, and was now stuck in an artery. 

It was the only thing keeping him alive.

I exhaled.  "We got a problem."

"What?"  Nate asked.

"This one's through an artery," I reported.  "If I pull this out, he might bleed out."

"He's a wolf," Nate reassured me.  "You'll be only killing him if you keep that thing in there.  You're doing good.  Just, get it out."

I still wasn't convinced.  I had too many people die on me because a bullet hit the artery and it was pulled out without question.  The clean-up was equally as messy.  But, they were human.  He may have a point as far as lycanthropy was concerned.  Maybe it would work.  I just had to trust in what he said, and go for it.

"Okay."

Like clockwork, as soon as I pulled the bullet out, the blood sprayed everywhere like a hose being turned on.  I forced gauze into the bleeding as quickly as possible, hoping and praying that it would work.  Miraculously, it did; after about five seconds of projectile bleeding, it stopped.  Warily, I took the gauze away, and was stunned by what I saw.

The artery had sealed up itself. 

In fact, all three wounds were beginning to seal over and heal.  He may be left with scarring, but apart from that...  He was going to be okay.

He was saved.

I looked up at Michaela, grinning.  "He's gonna be okay."

"Oh, thank God."  She leaned over, planting kisses all over his face.  "Next time you try to be heroic, dodge the bullets this time, you jerk."

He let out a weak chuckle.  "I'll try."

I began wrapping the rest of the gauze around his waist like a bandage, and tied it at the wounds in his side.  "Keep this on for another couple of days," I advised.  "Should be right as rain in no time."

"Thank you," Michaela smiled at me.  "Thank you so much."

I smiled back.  "No problem.  Just...  Play nurse with him for now, alright?"

She chuckled.  "I'll try."

"Great," Nate rose gracefully to his feet.  "Now that he's alright, we better get moving."

"Where are we going now?"  I asked.

"To the only person I know who can put an end to this whole fiasco once and for all," Nate said darkly.  "We're going to New Orleans."