For the longest time, Annie, thought Turner Barratt was dead. His weight was pushing her into the debris beneath her—and he wasn’t moving. They were pressed almost chest to chest—and she couldn’t tell if the man was breathing.
She worked her left hand free from where it was trapped, ignoring the way her arm screamed in protest. Her arm wasn't broken, but she'd done some tissue damage. Maybe. A hairline fracture wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. She worked her fingers under the mayor's chin and felt for a pulse.
She held her breath until she felt it.
It was there. Steady and strong.
Thank God. He was alive.
He shifted at her touch. The flames of three hells shot straight through Annie's right shoulder. She screamed. “Stay still! Don't move, please! Stop moving!”
Turner stilled. “Annie? Are you ok, honey? Tell me where it hurts.”
“No. I’m not ok.” She gasped it out, feeling with her left hand. Something was sticking out of her right shoulder. And it was sharp. Thin. About half an inch in diameter. “I'm pinned to the floor, I think. I’m stuck. Impaled. I think it went…all the way through.”
And she wasn’t getting loose. It…held her in place. If she moved, she would do far more damage.
But there was debris pinning her from above.
She fought the panic as best she could. She could bleed to death, if they didn't end up crushed. She’d seen impalement injuries many times before. She’d seen people get up and walk away from them before, too. If the proper first aid was received at the time. She could survive this—she just had to get through. She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking of each of her children’s faces. One by one. Until she felt strong enough to do what she had to. She would get back to them somehow. Even if she was mostly in pieces. She would get back to them. “I...we need some kind of light so I can see. I'm a trauma nurse. I know what to do, but I need to see.”
He shifted carefully. She felt every millimeter he moved. “I have my phone.”
Light nearly blinded her. Annie forced herself to stay as still as possible. His curse had her closing her eyes to fight the tears. She hadn’t missed the panic in his tone. It was a sound she was so intimately familiar with. She dealt with panic every night in the ER. “How bad?”
“Honey, I think you're right. You're pinned. And I don’t know how to fix this. You need to tell me exactly what to do so I can help you until someone comes to get us out of here, ok? We’re ok. I’m not going anywhere. We’ll fix this.”
Annie had difficulty focusing on the man's words. Pain. Shock. Her whole body was outside of her control. She pulled in as deep a breath as she possibly could and tried to focus. She knew what to do for impalement injuries. She just had to focus, to think. To get through. She could do this. “Listen...can't move it at all. I could bleed to death. Right now, the object is acting as a barrier to slow bleeding.”
“Can I move off you? Would that help?”
“I don't know. Can't jar this side. Don't jar it, please.” She didn't know if she said the words aloud, but she thought them. Fought the pain as long as she could. “Please...FCGH. My friends will...I need Iz…Nik…Please…”
The debris above them shifted, tightened around her. The pain in her shoulder intensified.
Annie let the pain take her. It was all she could do.