Seven Days Grace (A Grace Rose Novel Book 1) (41 page)

‘
You two
,
it
’
s not funny
,’
Kate said as Grace and Jake laughed.

Grace saw Kate
’
s tears were streaming down her face though she didn
’
t utter a sound.

‘
Hey
,’
Grace said as she wrapped her arm around her bestest friend ever.
‘
I think
,
you two
,’
then she took Jake
’
s hand in her other one
,
‘
saved my life. I
’
m sure such a status update will get you a lot of Likes
,
Katie. Ya know ya gotta do something about that addiction. Anyway
,
that
’
ll teach The Voice for dropping me down the dam spillway.
’

‘
Enough dam jokes already
,
’
Kate said.

‘
You are such a good sport
,’
Jake said to Grace.

‘
Sometimes.
’
Her feelings towards him continued to roller coast although she would be eternally grateful he resuscitated her and saved her life.

They laughed again though it ended as quickly as it had started. There was a collective sigh as the gravity of the situation sunk in.

‘
Who did the mouth-to-mouth?
’
Grace asked.

‘
I did
,’
Kate said.

‘
Yuk
,’
Grace said as she wiped her mouth and spat on the ground.
‘
Don
’
t ever kiss me again.
’

‘
Sure
,
next time I
’
ll let you die
,
no worries
,’
Kate said.

‘
Alright
,
Miss
,
put the eyebrow down. Go on
,
now. So
,
how do we get outta here?
’
Grace asked.

38

The Voice
had been covered over with a sheet and was placed in the back of an ambulance. An ambulance officer attended to a handcuffed Black Suit. He was placed on a stretcher and driven to the hospital with two cops in the back of the ambulance with him. Sleen
,
Christian and Jock were discussing the afternoon
’
s events as Kate surfaced from the stairwell. Christian bear hugged her.

Minister Sleen
,
Christian
,
Kate and Jock watched on as the emergency services crew
,
who had passed Kate as she climbed up the stairs
,
had now arrived at the bottom and were strapping Grace onto a stretcher. They were ready to haul her back up the side of the spillway dam wall
,
the part where the water wasn
’
t rushing down.

Jake leant on the wall for support.

‘
What
’
s up
,
mate?
’
the ambulance officer asked.

‘
What
’
s wrong?
’
Grace asked.

The ambulance officer opened Jake
’
s jacket and saw a fresh gunshot wound under his left collarbone.

‘
Jake
,
why didn
’
t you tell me?
’
Grace wished she could unstrap herself from the stretcher and help.

‘
Sit down
,
let me take a look
,’
the paramedic said to Jake.
‘
You stay where you are
,
young lady
,’
he said to Grace. She accepted the scolding as she
’
d do the same in his shoes. She listened as the paramedic organised Jake
’
s rescue.
‘
We
’
re going to need another stretcher.
’
He rummaged through his medical kit and retrieved several gauze pads. Jake had pulled his jacket sleeve off and the paramedic cut Jake
’
s shirt off and placed the pads over his gunshot wound.
‘
Can you press here?
’

Jake groaned as he applied pressure to the entry wound point. The paramedic applied pressure to the exit wound and waited for the stretcher to arrive.

‘
You can
’
t quit on me now
,
Jake
,’
Grace said.
We
’
ve come too far for anything else horrible to happen.

Meanwhile
,
Grace managed to view Jake
’
s naked upper torso.
Wow.

As Grace was hauled up the wall
,
she watched the action below for as long as she could see Jake. The paramedic tending Jake retrieved some blood from his pack and began a transfusion.

‘
Don
’
t you need my blood type?
’
Jake asked.

‘
No. Anyone can receive O Neg
,
it
’
s all we carry.
’

As soon as Grace arrived at the top
,
Jake was pulled up the wall on another stretcher.

‘
Glad you guys are alive and well
,’
Christian said when they were all together back at the top of the dam.

‘
We have to get them to hospital
,’
a paramedic said.

‘
Half a minute
,
please?
’
Minister Sleen said.
‘
I
’
m impressed and in awe you were able to survive the fall
,
young lady.
’

‘
I heard a story about a man who survived falling twenty floors when the World Trade Centre collapsed so I guess anything
’
s possible
,’
Grace said.

‘
I
’
d say it would be a least a twenty-story building.
’

‘
It doesn
’
t bear thinking about
,’
she was starting to feel woozy from the painkiller injection.

‘
The lengths some journalists will go to in uncovering the latest big breaking story boggles my mind.
’

‘
What about the lengths politicians go to so they can be elected to office?
’

‘
We have to go
,’
the paramedic said behind Grace.

‘
Saved
,’
Sleen smiled.

‘
I have a question first.
’

‘
Anything
’

‘
How come when I came to see you at your office
,
I was ordered out by your bodyguard? I thought you were happy to be interviewed. It looked bad.
’

‘
I can see how you would have thought that. I didn
’
t even know you had come. Alex must have swindled it to make the staff think I was out of the office and then scare you off by getting the driver to escort you out. I apologise.
’

‘
Thank you
,
no apology is necessary. Although
,
my boss rang me and said you complained I
’
d asked to see you
,’
Grace said.

‘
Alex said you had been rude
,
though I doubted it. However
,
I rang Nick to find out about you anyway. It wasn
’
t personal.
’

‘
I can tell you Nick took it personally. He was angry.
’

‘
Nick spoke highly of you. The two of us go way back and he knows I cop a lot of flak for being a politician. After everything that
’
s happened and having sorted it all out
,
I
’
d still be happy to see you whenever you would like to meet. Here
’
s my personal card with my private number on it.
’

‘
Thanks. I
’
ll be in touch
,’
Grace said as she closed her eyes and was placed on a proper ambulance stretcher where her ankle was assessed. She didn
’
t bother explaining she didn
’
t work at
The Star
anymore and guessed that Nick didn
’
t mention it to him either. She kept his card as one day she might need to contact him.

‘
Your leg
’
s definitely swelled up since the fall
,’
Jake said as he looked on from his stretcher. He tried to sit up.
‘
I
’
m coming in the ambulance with her.
’

‘
No
,
you
’
re not. You need to be lying down with the blood loss you
’
ve had
,’
the paramedic who attended him earlier said.
‘
And we need to get more blood into you.
’

‘
Please
,
can
’
t I go with her?
’

‘
No.
’

Jock
,
Christian and Jake all exchanged numbers. Sleen handed his card to the two cops as there would be witness statements and police reports to be filed. The attending cops at the scene also took everyone
’
s details. Grace and Jake were placed in the back of their ambulances. Kate headed to her car and would meet Grace at the hospital. Christian offered Minister Sleen a ride.

‘
Hang on
,
half a minute
,
please?
’
Jock said to the ambo lifting Grace into the back of the van.

‘
What is it?
’
she asked
,
wary of what sordid comment he might come up with this time.

‘
I
’
m sorry
,
Grace. I mean it. I liked you and when you didn
’
t like me back
,
I overreacted. I was an ass.
’

There
’
s the American drawl again.

‘
It
’
s okay and it
’
s not too late to treat the right one with some respect and dignity
,
ya know?
’

‘
Sure
,
take care
,
huh? You
’
re quite a chick
,
Grace.
’

‘
Okay
,
let
’
s get going
,’
the ambulance driver said.

After the flurry of activity at the dam
,
Grace was lying in the back of the ambulance thinking about everything that had taken place. She thought of Jake who was in the back of the other ambulance.

Then she purposely focussed on the story. The Story.
What a story
. The Voice was right. Her mind was racing with the story she was already mentally writing. She knew she would have to find somewhere to publish it since Nick had fired her. A plan began to brew in her mind yet she had trouble keeping track of the sequence of her thoughts. All she wanted to do was sleep.

The last thing she thought of was Jake in the back of the other ambulance. She could hear the sirens close by as they raced along the same streets. She wasn
’
t sure whether he was in front of her or behind her. He had to be in front because he had a gunshot wound and blood loss was a serious thing. At least now The Voice was gone there would be no more injuries. What would happen now? They had both survived terrible ordeals these past few days and would live to tell their stories. She had already decided after the events of the day she had forgiven him. How it played out now
,
she wasn
’
t sure.