CHAPTER 81
While John was carrying Megan to the ambulance and Andy was organizing a police escort, the abandoned warehouse went into lockdown as the scene of an officer-involved shooting, and Marcus Cash was sprinting down the back side of the building carrying his backpack, which contained his camera and the video card. The card contained the only video recording in existence of the capture of the man known as the Bedroom Killer, in addition to the officer-involved shootings of Homicide Detective Megan Ash by Detective Gerald Bell
and
of Detective Gerald Bell by Detective David Anderson.
A
s he ran, Marcus envisioned Morry watching and listening to the video…and one word kept ringing in his head. Marcus let
the word escape, as he ran with one arm held out from his body gripping the backpack tightly, the other swinging wildly as he spotted the hole under the fence, still at least a hundred feet away. But his excitement was matched by his fear, for as he drew closer to the hole, he also came closer to the end of the building and the gaggle of police officers shouting and scurrying just around that corner. When he reached the hole, he spoke the word even louder, knowing he was going to make it. He dropped to his butt, tossed his bag under the fence, threw his feet under, and scooted and shimmied on his back speaking the word over and over again, even as the sharp bottom tangle of the chain-link fence caught against his chest, ripping his shirt and cutting into him, he never stopped uttering that word.
"
Kabanga. Kabanga. Kabanga
…"
CHAPTER 82
The ambulance was less than two miles from Greenwood Memorial. Carrie and Danny alerted the trauma team to prepare the surgery room. Danny called in Steve and had him deal with a dislocated right patella in Station Room Four—a twelve-year-old soccer player named Bud. Carrie pulled in Maggie to assist Steve and then told her that as soon as she finished, she was to come to Station One and be ready. They all knew who was coming in. They had been watching the live newscast in the waiting room lobby, joining the families waiting for their loved ones. All of them were riveted to the screen. They had watched the aerial helicopter shot showing scores of cop cars, the SWAT team van, and the news vans spread out inside and outside the train depot compound, bathed in the powerful bouncing spotlight beams of the hovering police helicopters.
They listened as news announcer Sabrina Clark relayed details of the chase, the surrounding of the warehouse, and the fact that the police had the Bedroom
Killer trapped inside. Word of the chase, capture, and police shooting spread quickly through text, email, cell phone, landline, and Twitter. And now, all of Greenwood knew that Dr. John Randall was inside the ambulance with Detective Megan Ash.
Sabrina Clark said, "Again, it is reported that Detective Megan Ash of the Greenwood Homicide Division was shot earlier tonight during the apprehension of Isaac Graham, the suspected Bedroom
Killer. It is unknown at this moment whether she is still alive. We can only presume that Dr. Randall is actively working to stabilize her."
They had been following the ambulance from above, tracking it toward Greenwood Memorial
. Sabrina Clark continued, recounting how Dr. Randall, the former Bedroom Killer suspect, was last seen the previous morning when Channel 9 showed him escorting the reportedly exhausted Detective Ash from the scene of the Bedroom Killer's latest murder.
Carrie and Danny knew John's diagnosis. A hemothorax. Blood in the chest cavity. And they knew the procedure that needed to be performed before the ambulance arrived if her life were to be saved. John would have to cut into Detective Ash. Between the ribs. Through tough muscle and thick chest cavity wall. Insert a tube. Let the blood drain out. Relieving pressure on the lungs. If not, her blood would accumulate in her chest cavity, pushing her lungs toward her back and denying them room to expand and fill with life-giving oxygen. Detective Ash would slowly suffocate…drown in her own blood. Danny and Carrie each wondered if it was happening.
The procedure
:
Chest Tube Placement
Partly Open Thoracotomy
If John wasn't performing the procedure at that very moment, Detective Ash would certainly
be dead on arrival.
CHAPTER 83
John cut into Megan while she was still conscious and it would hurt like hell. She tried to cry out, but her shallow pulse and the building pressure in her chest cavity gave her little room to breathe. Her cry was little more than a squeak. But John heard it, and said a silent
I'm sorry
to Megan while he continued cutting. Except for the moving ambulance, John was surprised at the familiar feel of his movements. The scalpel felt native. Not foreign. Like a familiar pen that fits perfectly into one's hand and writes smoothly—with little effort.
"Intersection!" the driver yelled back
. Mike turned from where the voice came and stared back at John. While the ambulance slowed to a crawl he saw John pull the scalpel out of the cut and tilt the blade upward as the ambulance slowly rolled into the swale built to catch and direct rain water where the two streets met. The ambulance bounced on heavy springs, rose up into the middle of the intersection, and then dipped down again into the next swale. It rose again on the other side where the road flattened out, and the ambulance once again picked up speed. John lowered the scalpel and continued cutting.
"You have that tubing?" John asked without raising his head.
"Yes," said Mike. "One-foot-long, quarter-inch-diameter. You want it now?"
"Not yet
. Keep it in your left hand. When I say now, you shove it at me."
Mike gripped the tubing and held it tight
ly in his left hand, his eyes focused on John, watching him cut into the detective's chest.
"Greenwood Emergency," a female voice came from the radio
. It was Carrie.
Mike grabbed the phone and answered
, "Go ahead Greenwood."
When he lifted the handset, the radio went from speaker to headset and John could not hear what was being said
. He didn't need to and didn't want to. He knew what he had to do and he was already doing it. He was down to the cavity wall, a sinewy fabric of tissue, thick and hard, and he was cutting into it. He didn't want to overhear because he knew why the call was coming. They weren't sure anything was being done to help Detective Ash. They weren't sure of his—mental capacity. But they didn't know that John had already made a decision. And just like the decision he'd made to kill himself
,
he didn't weigh the pros and cons. It came quick, with no forethought. But the decision didn't come after the sound of a child's scream. It came after the sound of a gunshot and the look of stark terror in Megan's eyes—the eyes he'd come to love, as she lay on the warehouse floor. The decision became final the moment he looked down and saw her white blouse turn red. That was the moment he told himself…
Not again.
Blood suddenly shot up from Megan's chest, hitting John on his nose. John's right hand reached out toward Mike…
"
Now!
" shouted John.
CHAPTER 84
Marcus drove through Greenwood, speaking in short bursts, his Bluetooth stuck to his ear.
"Yes, yes
…the whole thing, Morry. Yes, the confrontation, the gunshots, every damn thing. It's on video. It's not great—wasn't a lot of light, but I think it will—what? How? I'll explain when I get there. Oh, and get Jackie, I'm gonna need her help downloading and cleaning it up. She's good at that stuff. Yes, sir. See you then."
Marcus stabbed a finger to his ear
to close the call and swung the steering wheel hard to the right, cutting the corner tight, catching his right rear tire on the curb, bouncing the back of the car into the air, and causing the backpack, which was sitting in the passenger seat, to jump a foot up into the air. He sucked air into his lungs as he caught the pack and brought it back down to the seat. He immediately slowed down.
***
Across town, Karen Sharp was fixing a pork chop dinner, when she heard Katie scream from the living room.
"Moooooom!"
She dropped her tongs and ran around the corner and into the exact room where John, Paulette, and Trevor used to play Chutes and Ladders before bedtime. Katie stood there now, in front of the television, remote in her hand and a mixture of fear and happiness across her face.
"Mom, they caught him
! They caught him!" Katie yelled as she began to cry.
Karen gasped, reached for Katie
, pulled her into her arms, and held her tightly. "Turn it up. Turn it up," she said.
Katie unwrapped her arms from her mother's waist, pointed the remote at the TV like a laser
, and pounded the volume button with her thumb. The volume jumped louder until the voice of Sabrina Clark boomed from the speakers.
"
…is turning into the hospital parking lot now. Most certainly the hospital staff has been notified of the detective's condition by phone or radio from inside the ambulance."
"What detective?" Karen asked.
"I don't know," Katie replied.
Sabrina said, "
The police are clearing the way, the bystanders have completely filled the lot. The ambulance almost can't make it to the emergency entrance. Okay, it's coming to a stop now."
Karen sat down on the edge of the coffee table
, and Katie sat on the floor beside her. Katie placed her hand on her mother's knee and Karen took it in her hand and squeezed. They watched as the hospital staff reached the back of the ambulance, opened the doors, and immediately pulled a gurney out.
"
And there's Detective Megan Ash…"
"Oh no!" said Karen.
The camera zoomed in and caught a figure stepping out of the ambulance.
"
…and there's Dr. John Randall who was reportedly with the detective when she was shot during the apprehension of…Isaac…the man named Isaac Graham who, at this point, is highly considered the Bedroom Killer."
"Oh good
Lord! Please, don't let her die."
Katie stood and pulled her mother up and they hugged each other tight.
"They caught him, Mommy. They finally caught him!" Katie burst into tears again and hugged her mother even tighter than before. Karen held her only daughter and they shared the moment of relief, knowing their nightmare was coming to an end.
A moment later Karen broke away, wiped her eyes
, and sniffed her nose and said, "Get your shoes on. We're going to the hospital."
CHAPTER 85
Danny and Carrie had watched the event unfold on television and now stood side by side as the ambulance pulled to a stop. Bystanders were arriving on foot from every direction, like kids pushing their way through a concert parking lot before the show. They all wanted a glimpse of the Bedroom Killer show. The crowd of bystanders began cheering and yelling,
Bless You Detective
and
Thank You, Detective
, as Megan was lowered out of the ambulance. John dropped to the ground and grabbed Danny.
"We have to find the bleeder.
"
The chest tube placement had worked
. The excess blood that had accumulated within Megan's chest cavity had drained out. Her breathing was better, but her blood pressure was still dropping. John ran alongside the gurney and shouted over the din, "Who's in for surgery?"
Danny shouted back, "Keating.
"
Bill Keating,
thought John. His nerves were shot and he was relieved to hear that Keating was the man in surgery today. In any other situation, it would further irritate him. His poker-playing colleague who won, some say cheated, a two thousand dollar pot.
But not now.
Keating was a damn good trauma surgeon—the best. John wouldn't want it any other way. He needed the best for Megan. The cheers rose to a crescendo as they approached the double doors and settled into a loud hum as the doors closed behind them.
Uniformed cops were everywhere, inside and out, and John caught sight of Andy, inside the hospital pointing and yelling orders at the cops to take up positions at the doors to keep the
bystanders and reporters out of the hospital. He stopped a brief moment and watched as Megan was pushed by, then he locked eyes with John, and Andy passed on his fears through that one brief look.
Yeah,
thought John,
I'm scared too.
They took the gurney through the inner double doors to
Operating Room One. John ran past, pushed through the surgery prep door, and stopped dead. Keating stood at the sink, washing off the antibacterial soap. Next to him was Dr. Richard Freeman, the hospital's chief cardiovascular surgeon. They would go in together—in case Megan had damage to her heart or parts nearby. Freeman would take the lead, with Keating assisting.
A surgical assistant helped Keating snap on his gloves and tied his surgical mask.
"You have a tube inside
?" Keating said.
John nodded
. "Left upper chest, between three and four. It might be her heart."
Keating nodded
. "We'll know soon enough." His tilted his head to examine John's clothing, then he said, "Clean yourself up and get scrubbed. I want you in there." Then Keating pushed his body against the swinging door and disappeared.
John looked down at his hands and shirt, covered in Megan's blood, then
moved over to the scrub sink. Minutes later, he was scrubbed and walking into the operating room.