Ahana and Vikram worked on Aisha for a solid hour before they deemed her stable enough to transfer. Ahana watched the flight team wheel Aisha away and silently prayed.
Dear Lord, please keep Aisha safe in Your care.
“Ahana?” Vikram’s low voice broke into her prayer. “Are you all right?”
Suddenly, she wasn’t. Ahana had to get away, just for a few minutes. “Excuse me,” Ahana murmured, slipping away.
Ahana stepped outside, staying beneath the overhang so that she didn’t get drenched by the rain. What had happened to Aisha? Had she tried to escape Kumar on foot? Had Aisha been on the road, helpless as he drove directly at her?
Squeezing her eyes shut didn’t help erase the image she could see so clearly in her mind. Maybe it wasn’t Kumar, Aisha tried to tell herself. Maybe Aisha had been running from her husband and dashed onto the road, directly in the path of an on-coming car.
Ahana took several deep breaths, trying to calm her ragged nerves. There wasn’t anything Ahana could do to help Aisha right now. Ahana and Vikram had done their best, placing a breathing tube and a central venous catheter before pumping several units of blood into her system.
The rest was up to the trauma team in Bela Nagar and God.
Feeling calmer, Ahana turned to go back inside, shivering when a blast of cold rain hit her back, soaking through the thin fabric of her scrubs. The trauma bay was empty now and had already been cleaned up, which made her feel guilty. It was almost four in the morning, the most difficult part of the night shift, and Ahana realized she must have stayed outside longer than she intended.
Time to stop worrying about Aisha and to focus her attention on the handful of patients who still needed care on her team.
Ahana was about to head through the trauma bay when suddenly the ambulance bay doors opened behind her, letting in a blast of cool air. Ahana jumped around in surprise and nearly tripped over her feet when Ahana saw a disheveled man standing there holding a gun.
“This is all your fault,” Vikram said in a harsh tone, waving the gun in her general direction. “Aisha’s gone, and it’s all your fault!”
Kumar Sanket Sha. Was he intoxicated? He certainly acted like it; his eyes were bloodshot and his gait unsteady. Aisha swallowed hard and tried to edge behind one of the metal bedside tables, not much protection against a bullet. When Kumar came farther in the room, she fought a rising panic.
Where was everyone? Couldn’t they hear Kumar?
“Don’t move!” Kumar threatened. He took a step toward her, and she couldn’t help shrinking backward, dragging the metal bedside table with her.
And this time when he raised the gun and pointed it directly at her, his hand was far too steady.
Vikram glanced impatiently at the clock on the wall. Where was Ahana? It wasn’t like her to take such a long break in the middle of her shift like this. He’d always been impressed by what a hard worker Ahana was.
But he also knew just how upset Ahana was at seeing the extent of Aisha’s injuries. The burn from two nights ago had been weeping and was covered in dirt and grime from the highway. Aisha had also sustained several broken bones, a head injury, and a potential ruptured spleen. It had been a long time since he’d seen anyone so badly hurt. And knowing Ahana, she was likely blaming herself even though there was absolutely nothing Ahana could have done to prevent what had happened.
