Ahana had prayed almost non-stop since Kumar had cornered her in the way. And the fact that Vikram was here, too, made her feel even worse.
Ahana didn’t doubt for a minute that Kumar had been driving the car that slammed into his wife. Aisha had clearly been trying to get away from him. Hadn’t Kumar admitted that much already?
This was her fault, Kumar was right about that. Ahana should have spent more time with Aisha the night she’d come in for her broken wrist. Ahana should have convinced Aisha to get away from Kumar right then and there. Ahana could have taken Aisha to a safe house, at least for the night.
But she hadn’t. And now she and Vikram were both in danger. Trapped in a corner where Kumar could easily kill them. The fact that Kumar hadn’t shot either of them yet was nothing short of a miracle. Maybe his being desperate act was actually working in their favor. He didn’t seem to be thinking too clearly.
The door leading in from the way was slowly opening about an inch or so, and she realized one of the Shahil’s team was standing there. From the angle of the door, he wouldn’t have a good shot at Kumar, but just knowing the cop was there helped steady her nerves.
“It’s not too late, Kumar. Put down your gun and come outside. We understand this is all just a big understanding.” The voice outside sounded like Dr.Aman . “Come out while you still can.”
“No! If you come in here, I’ll kill them both!”
The door from the main part of the ER opened even wider, and Ahana tensed as she saw Deputy Shahil kneeling there, wearing full cops gear. Despite the awkward position, Shahil pointed his handgun at Kumar. Ahana thought she was prepared for the sound of gunfire, but the blast made her jump.
Kumar screamed and swung around, shooting wildly before he went down hard. The next few seconds passed in a blur, but suddenly the gunfire stopped and the nightmare was over.
“I have him,” Deputy Shahil said as he stood over Kumar, who was bleeding profusely onto the floor. Kumar’s gun was on the other side of the room far out of reach.
“Get him up on a journey.” Vikram said. He shoved the metal tray aside and rose to his feet, pulling her up, too. “Are you all right?” Vikram asked in a low tone, his warm, brown eyes gazing down at her.
“I think so my love Vik...” Her hands were still trembling, so Ahana clutched them together.
Thank you for saving us, Lord!
“Run and get Jeevika to come and help me with Kumar,” Vikram said, moving away. “He needs medical attention. You can cover the patients on the teams until we’ve finished.”
Ahana could barely wrap her mind around the fact that Vikram was going to help fix Kumar’s gunshot wound. But then Ahana realized they simply couldn’t let him die, no matter how much Vikram might have deserved it. So if Vikram could do it, so could she. “I’ll help you.”
“You don’t need this, get Ahana,” Vikram repeated, heading over to where the Shahil’s team was handcuffing Kumar Sha to a new journey of life. There was so much blood that she knew there wasn’t time to waste.
Ahana went over and grabbed something, knowing that they’d need access in order to give badly needed blood and fluids. The rest of the ER staff poured in to assist once the team had given the all clear.
Soon Ahana and Jeevika were working as a team, pumping four units of O-negative blood in at a time through a rapid infuser.
“Call the trauma surgeon on call,” Vikram ordered. Shahil stared down with obvious concern at the open wound on Kumar’s lower abdomen where Deputy Shahil’s bullet had penetrated deeply into his skin. “I can’t stop the bleeding, and he needs to get to the bleeding stop now in less time otherwise...!”
A nicked artery certainly explained the massive blood loss. Ahana didn’t allow herself to think about anything that happened before, focusing solely on saving Kumar’s life.
Even though Ahana knew he’d end up in jail if they managed to succeed.
Ahana heard Jevika making the call to the surgeon. “Dr. Rahul is on his way in.”
Vikram grimaced and began packing the wound. “I hope he gets here in time.”
“Do you need anything?” Ahana asked after she finished hanging four more units of blood. Kumar’s vitals were low but stable, at least for now.
Vikram gave her a grim nod. “I’ll try my best to patch him up at least until he can get to the...?"
Ahana pulled a sterile vascular tray off the shelf on the back wall and quickly opened it up as Vikram pulled on a new set of sterile gloves. The vascular tray wasn’t really equipped for a large-vascular injury, but it was better than nothing.
Ahana handed Vikram instruments and lap sponges as he worked to stem the bleeding enough to see what he was doing. Vikram placed a few sutures, and the blood gushing out slowed to a trickle. Vikram put more sutures in and then stepped back. “That’s all I can do for now.”
Fifteen minutes later, Dr. Rahul strode in and took command of the situation. Within moments, she and the transporter wheeled Kumar over to the OR. Dr. Aman followed alongside, unwilling to let his prisoner out of sight.
“I’m afraid you can’t go in there,” Ahana warned, putting a hand on the deputy’s arm. Ahana wasn’t sterile, either, and neither one of them would be allowed any further. “You’ll have to stay out here if you really want to wait.”
“You can be sure I’ll wait for him,” Dr. Aman muttered. “Although, frankly, it’s a waste of time patching him up since he’ll be spending the rest of his life in jail.”
Ahana didn’t have an answer for that and was ashamed to admit she’d had the same thought earlier. But the source of the injuries didn’t matter; as health care professionals, they were obligated to save lives to the best of their ability. Even Kumar’s. “There’s a coffee machine over there. Help yourself,” Ahana murmured.
