“Thank you for your concern.” Glancing at the pictures on the monitors, she asked, “Can you help the boy in the photo?”
“I’ll do my best. Where is he?”
“Upstairs with the paramedics and a doctor I trust.”
“Take me to him.”
33
As she entered the bedroom, Sin saw the paramedics unpacking their supplies.
“If there is nothing else you need us for, Dr. O’Rourke,” one of the medics said, “we need to get back to the station.”
“Thank you for help. I’ll make sure your superiors are made aware of your assistance.”
“That’s appreciated.”
When they left the room, Aimee went to Savio and pried open his eyes. “He doesn’t have much time.” She opened her satchel and began to remove bottles.”
“Deb picked up the bottles, not knowing what the labels on the bottles were. “What is in these?”
Aimee glanced back at the doc and said, “I appreciate all you’ve done, doctor, but your presence is no longer needed.”
“I’d prefer to stay, he’s still my patient.”
Sin nodded at Aimee. “Priestess, let her stay. I assure you she won’t get in the way.”
Deb cut her eyes at Sin. “I can speak for myself.” She then addressed Aimee. “Priestess, I am an advocate of alternative medicine. With your permission, I’d like to observe.”
“Very well, but I insist you don’t interfere.”
“Done.”
Sin glanced over at Dominic and Aria who were standing off to the side. “Aimee, this is the young man’s aunt and uncle, Mr. . . .”
Aimee cut her eyes towards them. “Please have them wait outside.”
Sin didn’t bother to ask why, she just gently placed her arms around the couple and led them from the room.
With everything under control, Sin led Dominic and Aria down the hall to a spare room. “I’ll make sure Dr. O’Rourke and Aimee come get you if . . . when Savio’s treatment is finished.”
She then met Troy in the hall. “There is nothing else we can do here. Let’s head down stairs and grab an espresso, it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting any sleep tonight.”
Returning downstairs, Sin didn’t see Jason. “Where did Agent Sawyer go?”
“He said he needed to make a call,” Becca said.
“He’s down on the beach,” Carmelita added.
Spotting Jason on the beach, Sin could tell by his gestures that he was in a heated discussion with someone. She waited for him to hang up and made her way to him. “Who were you talking to?”
“Director Smith has been calling me, non-stop. I wanted him to know that Becca was okay.”
“I told you, no phone calls.”
“Agent O’Malley, I appreciate all you’ve done, but I still have a job to do.”
“Did he tell you that he was in the Keys with President Lancaster?”
“No.”
Sin didn’t pursue the conversation any further and accompanied Sawyer back to the house.
Deb watched as Aimee checked Savio’s pulse and looked at the monitor that was displaying Savio’s vitals. “His O2 concentration is dropping. We don’t have much time,” Aimee said.
“Can you walk me through what you have planned.”
“The herbs he was given were breathed directly into his lungs. They tie up the oxygen receptors in his alveoli. The oxygen you’ve been giving him is prolonging his life but not for much longer. I need to try to administer herbs that can hopefully counteract those he was given straight into his lungs.”
“How? His throat is so swollen, we weren’t able to intubate him at the hospital.”
“I’m going to insert a port directly into his lungs and administer them directly, bypassing his upper respiratory system.”
“What!”
“You said it yourself, his airway is constricted. I can’t provide enough of the herb in the time we have left any other way.”
“Jesus, I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but can I be of assistance?”
“Insert a port into the lower lobe of his right lung while mix the herbs.”
“You seem to know a lot about medicine,” Deb said as she grabbed a scalpel. “Do you have any formal training?”
“I graduated from American University School of Medicine in Saint Maarten, but my heart wasn’t in it. After graduating I decided to follow my mother’s lineage and become an Obeah Priestess. Now,” Aimee said staring at her, “If you don’t have any further questions, please make the incision.”
Not asking any more questions, Deb made a small incision on his side between his ribs and placed a port where Aimee suggested. “Done.” She turned to see the priestess grinding the contents of the bottles with pestle and mortar. Once they were ground to a fine powder, she watched as Aimee started to chant in Patois as she pulled a match from her pocket and lit the ground herbs. The smoke was thick, sweet smelling, and white.
“What is that?”
“With any luck, an antidote.”
“What do you plan on doing with it?”
Aimee didn’t answer. She placed her face close to the smoke, breathed in, covered the end of the port with her lips and blew.
As soon as the smoke entered Savio’s lungs, his eyes snapped open, his mouth gaped wide, and a piercing yell escaped his bluing lips. His eyes then rolled back into his head and he went flaccid.
“What the hell did you do!”
“In order to save him, I have to kill him.”
“You what!”
“It’s the only way,” Aimee said. “The herbs will kill the ones he was given. With any luck, his alveoli will attach to the ones I gave him, restore the capability to bind with oxygen and return his body’s natural balance.”
Just then the monitor went from a beeping of the EKG to one long, sustained high-pitched screech.
“Shit, he’s flatlining,” Deb said. She reached for the paddles to shock his heart, but Aimee stopped her.
“Give the herbs time to work.”
Against her better judgment, Deb hesitated before shocking Savio. She began to sweat as she watched the EKG for some sign of life. Thirty seconds went by with no change. She white-knuckled the paddles, yelled “clear,” and elbowed her way past Aimee. Just
