Ethan rocketed up and took control of the switchblade, wiping the blood splatter off her face. “Kinsey, are you okay?”
She didn’t respond. She was breathing hard; her eyes were wide. A trail of blood oozed out of Miguel’s head, forming a crimson river, slowly flowing towards Kinsey’s feet. She stepped out of the way of the blood, and it was then the magnitude of her actions sunk in. She began trembling so hard her teeth chattered.
Ethan opened the backpack and retrieved a bottle of whiskey, thankfully still intact. He unscrewed the top. “Kinsey, take a sip of this.”
She shakily turned her head to face him. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.
Ethan gently placed her hand on the bottle and brought it up to her mouth. “Take a sip. It’ll help.”
“I’m not old enough.”
“You are now.”
Kinsey took a sip then another, swallowed, and coughed. The shock of the whiskey burning her throat knocked her out of her trance. Her arms and face were dotted with blood spatter. Her shirt had streaks of blood on it. “I think I’m going to vomit.”
“You’ll be okay,” Ethan said. “Can you concentrate on your breathing?”
Kinsey nodded her head.
“Kinsey, look at me.” Ethan put his hands on her shoulder. “You saved my life. You saved your life. Don’t forget you did what you had to do.”
“I don’t know what came over me. I only wanted to stun him. I don’t know why I kept hitting him.” Kinsey pleaded with her eyes for Ethan to provide her some wisdom.
“If you hadn’t intervened, we’d both be dead. This is a glimpse of what I warned you and your family about. You understand now, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“Good. We need to get back to your mom. Are you alright to walk?”
“Yes. I’d like to wash the blood off my face and arms though. If my mom sees me like this she’ll freak out.”
“Be quick about it. I’ll wait right here.”
Chapter 15
“Becca, this is going to sting.”
Ethan had instructed Kinsey and Tyler to hold their mom’s leg steady. Once he started pulling on the shrapnel, Becca would be lucky if she didn’t pass out because he doubted she’d ever experienced pain like this before in her life.
Becca was on the floor lying on her back. Kinsey had rolled a discarded jacket into a makeshift pillow and placed it behind her head.
“You ready?”
“Just do it,” Becca said.
“Here, Mom,” Kinsey said. “Take a few sips of this. It’ll help. I know.”
“You still haven’t told me why your shirt has blood on it.” Becca unscrewed the top and sniffed the whiskey, letting the aroma steady her nerves. She gulped a big swallow, shuddered, then handed the bottle to Ethan. “That’ll take the edge off anything.” Becca addressed her daughter. “Kins, I haven’t forgotten. You’ll need to tell me what happened.”
“Once we get the shrapnel out of you and get you bandaged, I’ll tell you.”
“Pinky promise?” Becca asked.
“Pinky promise,” Kinsey agreed.
“Get ready,” Ethan said.
Ethan used bottled water and a handful of foaming soap from the bathroom to clean the wound. His training indicated whiskey should be the last resort in cleaning wounds due to the propensity of damaging exposed tissue and hindering the healing process.
“You holding up, Becca?” he asked.
“Good enough. I’ve been through childbirth. Twice. I can do this.”
Ethan kept his thoughts to himself. Jerking out shrapnel from flesh was unnatural compared to nature’s way of propagating a species. Regardless of the painful childbirth Becca had experienced, what he was about to do would be torture.
“Tyler, hold her feet. Becca, you hold you mom’s leg above the knee. I’m going to be as quick as possible.”
Ethan poured whiskey on the pliers to disinfect it, slinging off the excess liquid. “Becca, tell me something about your life while I get ready.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Anything. Tell me about your parents. Where did they meet?”
“Oh, it’s a funny story. My mom was a librarian working for a big oil company in Houston. This was a while ago, when libraries existed,” Becca explained. “My dad used to go to the library to check out books even though he wasn’t a big reader, just so he could talk to my mom.”
While Becca chatted about her parents, Ethan nodded to Kinsey and Tyler, motioning for them to get ready. Becca hadn’t noticed the silent communication. Ethan placed his hand near the wound, clamped the pliers down hard on the shrapnel, and jerked it out in one smooth movement. He immediately placed a clean bandage on it.
“Oh my God!” Becca spat, her chest heaving. She pounded her fist on her thigh in an effort to distract herself from the pain. The instantaneous pain caused her eyes to water and for the pain receptacles in her body to explode like the apex of a firework’s display. Stars appeared before her eyes and the world around her became fuzzy.
“Mom! Don’t pass out.” Kinsey jostled her mom’s shoulder.
“It’s over,” Ethan said.
“Mom, it’s over,” Kinsey repeated.
“I’m going to wrap this then change it tomorrow. It’s important to keep the area clean.”
Becca opened her eyes and focused on the people near her. “Did you get it?”
“Yes. You did good,” Ethan said, reassuring her.
“My leg is throbbing.”
“You’ll feel better soon. Take another shot of whiskey. It’ll help with the pain. Really, it will.”
Becca swallowed the shot. “Thank you for helping me.” She placed her hand on Ethan’s arm to show how grateful she was.
“You’re welcome,” Ethan said. “Kinsey, would you get some snacks out of the backpack and pass them out? I’ll get drinks.”
The four sat in a circle using chairs Ethan had found earlier. A metal trashcan turned upside down substituted as
