79 – Joey
We’d been shoved back into
the e room, but this time, we’d been afforded a few extras.
They’d allowed a bit of light from a single lamp on the wall, a trundle bed, where I could lay Yuka down to rest. A chair for me, and a very basic medical kit, which was just as lacking as the one Alex had in his house when he’d been stabbed.
I’d refused to thank either Jake, or Reiji, but had been grateful to get Yuka off the floor.
Then Yuka had woken in a sheen of sweat and my doctor instincts had overridden any fear I had of the men outside.
“Shh, Yuka, it’s okay. I’m here.” I tried to soothe him, but the man was in agony, and at his age, he should have been in a hospital
Climbing to my feet, I searched the box of crap Reiji had shoved into the room with us. Useless medical supplies, which weren’t going to be of much help. Where were the painkillers, the gauze, the water?
I walked to the door and pounded on it. “Hey!”
There wasn’t any sound from the other side, and I looked back to Yuka. I had to keep his fluids up, or he would go further into shock. He was already not coping as it was.
I turned back to the door and pounded on it again
“Hey! We need water!”
Footsteps, and I stepped back, as the heavy door opened. “Shut the hell up!”
The man standing in the doorway wasn’t either Reiji, or Jake. He was the one who had slapped me earlier, and although I knew he was prone to hitting women, I had to get water. “Jake doesn’t want Yuka to die, then we need water. Without it, he’s not going to make it.”
Another figure came up behind the man, pushing him to the side.
“Jolene, what are you trying to scam out of us?”
I glared at Reiji. Tm not trying to scam anything, Reiji. Yuka needs water and clean bandages. You supplied a shitty first aid kit and a dirty trundle bed. You want him to survive, then I need at least the basic medical supplies and clean water.”
can find Reiji turned his head and looked at the man who had slapped me. “Go and see what else you
The man nodded and disappeared, leaving Reiji standing in the doorway, and I wondered if my chunky ass would be able to overpower him and make a-”
“I know what you’re thinking, Joey. And while it would be nice to see you try and get past me, it’d only spurn my need to hurt you.” I took another step back, as the grin on Reiji’s face spread wider. “I hoped that one day, maybe you would have seen past Alex and maybe looked at me. I mean, I was there for you when you needed me. I helped keep you safe.”
I blinked. “Are you fucking kidding? You didn’t keep me safe, Reiji, you let Jake into my room while I was sleeping. He could have done anything to me. You are just as bad, if not worse than him!”
The grin fell from Reiji’s face, replaced with anger and my stomach leaped into my throat. What had I done? I should have just let him think that maybe one day there might have been a chance. Then he might have been kinder, gentler, and if I was lucky, Yuka and I might have walked away from this with our lives.
He was about to step forward when the guy he’d sent to find medical supplies returned and held them out to him. “Sir, this is all I could find.”
Reiji looked at him, then at the box. He grabbed it roughly and threw it at me.
I yelped, ducking, as the box hit me in the back of the shoulder, and I heard the door slam.
“Fuck.” I muttered, gripping my shoulder and I hissed with pain, bringing my hand away. “God damn it.”
Blood coated my fingers, and 1 winced as the pain hit.
“Asshole
Sighing, I turned and picked up the box, shoving the items back into it and went to the chair next to where Yuka lay. I checked him, noticing he’d slipped back into unconsciousness again. He wasn’t going to last long if I didn’t do something to help
– Jory
Turning back to the box, I started to go through what I’d been given.
Clean gauze, still in its packets. A couple of bottles of water. Some medication, which looked to be some kind of pain killer. I would have to look at them closer before I gave Yuka anything. I didn’t want them to react with his current medication for his blood pressure.
Digging into the box, my fingers hit a harder packet of some kind, hidden under a cloth and I gently pulled it out.
It was a full field kit for blood transfusions.
I stared at it, then looked at Yuka
He was bleeding out slowly. It was the reason he wasn’t able to remain lucid. I thought back to the folder which Yasu had given to me, the first day I had started working for him, listing Yuka’s medical conditions and his blood type.
“He’s the same as me.” I blinked and looked down at the IV kit. Was I seriously thinking of being a blood donor for Yuka? Too fucking right, I am.”
I put the pack down and started to clear the area, cleaning up as best as I could. When it was clear, I laid out the cloth and then opened the pack, starting to put it all together. When it was set, I turned to Yuka and gently roused him. “Yuka? Yuka, I
need you to open your eyes,
Yuka’s eyelids fluttered and I spoke to him again. “Yuka, come on. Wake
His dark eyes opened and he groaned. “Joey”
up
for me.”
“Hi. Try not to move too much.” I opened one of the bottles of water and helped him sit up a little, letting him sip at it. “Yuka, I have to keep you lucid, and alive. But you’ve lost a lot of blood. So, I am going to donate some of mine, okay?” Yuka’s eyelids fluttered and he tried to shake his head, “no.”
“Yuka, if I don’t, then you die, and if you die, Jake will kill me. I have to.”
Yuka’s eyes closed and his bottom lip trembled “Im sorry, Joey.”
“It’s ok. Just relax ok? I’m going to give you some of my blood.” Yuka was starting to drift off again and I sighed. “Just relax, Yuka. It’ll hopefully be over soon
I looked at Yuka’s arm and grabbed one of the tourniquets from the pack. I tied it off just above his elbow and waited for the veins to pop on the back of his wrist. When I found one, I quickly pierced the skin with the needle, and slipped in the catheter, sealing it off with the one–way valve. I attached the hose and another needle, letting it dangle over my leg and quickly stripped off my jacket and tied a tourniquet around my own arm.
When I found a good vein, I quickly set up the other needle, ready to push it into my arm, as the door opened. I turned my head, looking at Jake, who stood in the doorway.
“Jolene, what are you doing?”
I glared at him, wanting to run over there and stab the needle through his eye.
“You want me to keep Yuka alive.” I picked up the needle and pushed it under my skin, hissing. Blood from my arm flowed down the hose toward Yuka, and as it hit the valve, I flipped it, letting it flow into his vein. I turned back to Jake. “I am keeping him alive.”
