World in Tatters Ch 16

George runs off up the stairs while Alice and I get Mateo into the house. We take him to the dining room and hoist him up onto the table. In the glowing light of the gas lamps, this is the first time we’ve been able to get a good look at the wound in his leg.

One shot to mid-thigh. By the fact that he’s still alive, the bullet obviously missed the femoral artery.

“Alice, let me see one of your knives.”

“Here.” She hands me a small folding knife. I flip it open and start cutting away at fabric surrounding the entry wound. The bleeding has slowed to only a trickle, but Mateo has already lost too much blood to be coherent.

Suddenly, George comes thundering down the stairs followed by a thin, dark-skinned, middle-aged woman. Rowena pushes her way past George into the dining room, immediately beginning her examination.

“What happened to this man?” The woman’s voice is calm and demanding. She’s clearly no stranger to this kind of carnage.

“He was shot the leg. I don’t know what caliber bullet, but the entry wound is pretty small.” I respond, frantically cutting away the rest of Mateo’s pant leg.

“Is there an exit wound?”

I slide my hand below his leg, feeling for any sign that the bullet left his body. “I don’t f…wait. Yeah. Just behind his knee.”

“I need needle and thread. You remember where it is, Alice?”

With only a nod, Alice runs off into the other room and starts rummaging through cabinets in search of the sewing kit.

“What can I do?” George yelps.

“We’re going to need something to clean the wound. Soap, water, clean towels. And something to sterilize the needle. Something with high alcohol content should do.”

“We got that moonshine fro…”

“Perfect. Please get it.”

George kneels down in front of an old looking cabinet at the other side of the room. He throws it open and pulls out a glass jar full of clear liquid. After handing it over to Rowena, he bolts off into the kitchen.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Steven. I take it, you’re Rowena?”

“That’s me. What about your friend?” She keeps talking to me while going about her work. She meticulously inspects both sides of the wound.

“Mateo. But I barely know the guy. Just met him yesterday.”

“Well, he’s lucky you were there. Otherwise, he would be dead.”

“I don’t know about that.” I mutter.

Alice comes rushing back into the room having found the supplies she was looking for. At the same time George comes in with a bowl of water in his hand, towels slung over his shoulder, and a bottle of detergent under his arm. Rowena takes the towels from her husband, grabbing one and placing the rest on the table next to Mateo.

Looking me in the eye, “We’ll start with the entry wound. Get it stitched, then flip him. We need to work fast.”

“Got it. Tell me what you need.”

Rowena dunks the towel into the clean water, wrings it out and hands it to me. “Clean the blood from around the wound. We need to be able to see it clearly.”

“Got it.” I calmly and swiftly clean the affected area, mopping up blood.

Rowena opens up the jar of moonshine and dips one of the fresh towels, “George, hold his shoulders. If he wakes up, this won’t be pleasant. Alice, take this, and sterilize the needle.” Turning back to me. “Move your hands, and hold his legs down.”

She slowly pores some of the potent liquid into Mateo’s wound. Mateo abruptly wakes up screaming, flailing against our grip in a fit of pain before collapsing back to the table unconscious.

“Check his pulse.” At Rowena’s command, Alice picks up Mateo’s wrist, placing two fingers just below his hand.

“It’s there, but it’s weak.”

Rowena picks up the needle from where Alice had set it down. With deft and practiced hands, she threads it, doubling the thread before bending the needle a little bit. She takes a deep breath and begins sewing the first wound closed.

Her hands are quick, confident. Everything about her skills makes me curious about what this woman must do for a living. She dexterously pulls the wound closed, tying off the thread once she’s satisfied.

“Knife!” I pass her Alice’s folding knife. She wipes the blood and fabric off on the alcohol soaked towel, before slicing the thread. “Alright. Flip him.”

In a coordinated effort, the three of us roll Mateo up onto his side while Rowena sterilizes and rethreads the needle. We roll his hips and leg over, revealing a nasty looking exit wound. Luckily, the wound itself isn’t all that large. George and Alice keep Mateo’s torso and head up, keeping weight off his chest so he can breathe. Rowena and I go to work on the new wound repeating the process.

I quickly get the area around the wound clear of blood. Rowena pores the moonshine of the second wound. This time, Mateo doesn’t even flinch. Small miracles. Rowena goes to task, rapidly stitching up the back of Mateo’s knee.

When she’s finally done, Rowena collapses into one of the dining room chairs, hands and gown covered in Mateo’s blood. “You need to bandage that before it gets infected.” The tone of her voice dramatically shifted. The urgency and vigilance replaced with exhaustion, but there’s an edge to it I can’t quite place. “There’s some gauze and stuff in the cabinet next to the sink.”

“I’ll get it.” By the look on his face, I’m sure George also detected Rowena’s displeasure.

For a moment, Rowena just sits there in the chair staring at the blood drying on her hands, jaw clenching and unclenching as though she’s trying to find her words. Alice and I gently roll Mateo back onto his back, being careful not to stress the stitches. When Alice sees the tension building in Rowena, I don’t think she knows what to do. So, she picks up the water bowl and carries it over.

Rowena slowly begins washing her hands, feebly scrubbing away at the blood. I place the last clean towel on the floor next to her. I feel like I should say something. You could cut the tension in her with a knife.

“Rowena, thank—”

“Don’t speak.”

“Rowena—” Alice tries.

“You either.” Rowena takes a deep breath before removing her hands from the bowl and picking up the towel. “Your friend lost a lot of blood. He’s going to need a transfusion. I don’t have anything here to do that. Do either of you even know what this man’s blood type is?”

“We just me…” The sharp glare in my direction tells me I should close my mouth. Instead, the two of us just shake our heads.

When George comes back in with the bandages, he and I take the time to properly dress the wounds. I dab the corner of one of the towels in the moonshine, cleaning it one more time before wrapping the leg in gauze. Rowena is still just sitting there, her dirty looks burning holes in Alice and me.

“Now, which one of you is going to tell me what’s going on?” Alice and I share an uncomfortable look, not sure if we should say anything. “You can speak now.”

This time it’s Alice who speaks up. It’s probably best if I let her explain our situation to her friend. “It’s a long story, Rowena. We wouldn’t have come here if we had any other choice. I never wanted to get you and George involved.”

“Well, now we are involved, so explain.” Pausing for a moment to scowl at Alice. “Or you can clean your friend’s blood off my dining table and get out.”

“I don’t even know where to start.”

“They were after me. The guys who shot Mateo were after me. We think they’re Hattiesburg militia. Special ops, bounty hunters…something. We were on a job with a resistance cell, but they didn’t seem to care about the others.”

“I guess, that’s where to start.” Alice mutters.

“And why exactly are Hattiesburg special ops after you, Steven? You did say your name is Steven, right?” Her voice turning accusatory.

“Yes, ma’am. Honestly, I’m not sure why spec ops would be involved. All I know is that there’s a bounty on me and my sister. Alice brought me into the city to figure out who’s after us and why. So far, we’ve just been left with more questions.”

“So what makes you think they’re special ops and not just your standard bounty hunters? There are a lot of those around.” Came George’s response.

“Well, the fact that they’re carrying guns inside the city tells us they’ve got deep connections. They couldn’t get that kind of permit otherwise.” Alice answers his question. “Plus, we have it from a good source that there’s a detachment of special ops already here in town. But for all we know, it could be bounty hunters. We don’t have enough information, and that’s part of the problem.”

“You said you were working with the resistance. Why?” Rowena’s scowl softens some. Maybe she feels some sympathy for us.

“Well, normally, we wouldn’t. I try to avoid working directly with them whenever I can. It leaves us too exposed. But a friend in the resistance said he had a contact that might be able to help us out. We just had to complete this job first, but when we went to go meet him the other day, we found him dead in his pub. Killed, we assume, by the same people who tracked us down tonight. The job was the only lead we had, so we went to another friend and her crew. The job went without a hitch until those guys showed up.”

“Yeah, and I also found out that the guy who’s been letting us stay at his hotel was taken.” I add.

“What? Alexandre?! What happened?” I hadn’t exactly gotten the chance to tell Alice about my late night trip to the inn. I mean, we didn’t get a chance to talk when I got back, and with the job and everything, I guess I kinda let it slip my mind.

“I don’t know for certain what happened. But when I went back to the inn the other night, I found that his room had been broken into, and he wasn’t there. I found a little bit of blood, but that was it.”

“Are you serious? You’ve known this for two days, and you didn’t say anything?”

“I…It’s only been a day. And we’ve been a little busy.”

“Enough.” Rowena interjects. “We still need to get your friend a transfusion if you want him to live.”

Sheepishly, Alice turns back to her. “I know a place we might be able to get the supplies. And the blood. It’s not far from here. It’s a clinic run by a friend. I’ll go get them and come back.”

“No, you won’t, Alice. If they’ve been tracking the two of you, it’s not safe for you to leave this house.”

“I’ll go. I know the things you’re going to need.” George’s voice is deep, resolved.

“I’ll give you the address.” Alice replies. “I don’t know if anyone will be there. Corina and the others were headed to a safe house when we were attacked. The clinic was a backup location. So, they may have headed there if they heard the gunshot. You’ll know if you see a horse and carriage outside.” George hands Alice a notepad and pencil. She takes a moment to write the address and rip the page. “If Corina’s crew is there, you’ll need something to prove you’re with us.” Alice reaches behind her and pulls one of her knives, handing it to George with the paper. At first glance it appears it’s a simple blade, but when the light of the gas lamps glint off the shiny surface, I can see some sort of engraving. “Show her this.”

Without another word, George takes the note and the knife, tucks them away in his pocket, and heads out into the night.

A few moments of awkward silence pass among the three of us. Rowena is the first to speak. This time her tone is almost…motherly. “I’m sorry about your friends, Alice.” A bit of an edge returns to her voice. “But you really shouldn’t have come here. You put George’s and my lives at risk. You know we love you, and would gladly take that risk, but our home is surrounded by militia loyalists. You two made a lot of noise coming here tonight. If you’re right, and the people after you are as connected as you say, they could track you here. And they would have a lot of backup.”

“We didn’t know where else to go. And we were as careful as we could be. I’m pretty sure we weren’t tracked.”

“And what if you’re wrong?”

“Row, we’ll be out of here as soon as we can. We only needed a safe place to patch up Mateo. Once he’s awake, we’ll leave.”

Rowena puts her head in her hands, leaning forward in her chair. “That’s not what I mean. You can stay here as long as you need to.” Looking up with a gentle smile, making eye contact with Alice, “You are always welcome in this house, no matter the circumstances. You two have been through a lot, and you look like you can use some rest. Alice, you can take the bed in the spare room upstairs. Steven, you can have the couch in the living room. I’ll stay up with your friend until George gets back. Now go get some sleep. We’ll talk more when you’re rested. If you need any extra blankets, there’re some in the hallway closet.”