It looks like the bullet didn’t hit him dead on, but rather on an angle. The wound is slightly elongated, indicating a path from left to right. There’s a slight compression to the right of the bullet hole, and a deformation behind his right ear.
“This feels like part of the bullet right here.”
“That’s good news, right?”
To be honest, I don’t know if it is or not. Bullets can fragment when they hit bone and those can do substantial damage to soft tissue. Like the brain.
I don’t have a chance to disavow him of that notion as two medics come running up with their gear.
The physician kicks in as I make room for them while rattling off my findings, but by the time they have his head bandaged and him strapped to a backboard, I’m shaking so hard my teeth rattle. I’m grateful for the steady arm Blackfoot drapes over my shoulder as we follow the gurney to the waiting ambulance.
“You go with him,” he says when they load up Jay. “I’m gonna be right behind you.”
I climb up the step when I notice a second ambulance arriving.
“Is someone else hurt?”
“Billy McCarty. Roosberg winged him. Ward is in there too,” he says, cocking his thumb at the trailer. “With his throat cut.” When I immediately step down again, he stops me. “Where are you going?
“I need to see the body.”
“No, you don’t,” he counters firmly.
I try to breathe calmly and look him in the eye as steady as I can, even though I’m falling apart inside.
“It’s my job.”
Blackfoot leans down to get in my face as he grabs my upper arms.
“Your job…your only job…is to get your ass in that ambulance. I’ll call Paul to collect the body and the rest will keep.”
When I don’t say anything—mainly because I don’t trust myself to speak—he gently shakes me.
“You need to go, Meredith.”
I don’t think he’s ever called me by my real name but it jars me enough to nod, and he helps me inside the rig.
“Thank you,” I manage, and he brushes a thumb over my cheek. It’s only now I realize I’m crying.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay?”
When the doors close, I turn my head and catch a sliver of blue before Jay’s eyes fall shut again.
Chapter 26
Meredith
“Family for Jay VanDyken?”
I shoot up from the chair when the doctor walks in, his surgical mask pulled down under his chin.
“Right here,” Joe’s deep voice sounds right behind me, as his hand lands in the small of my back, holding me steady.
The doctor looks around the waiting room, which slowly filled with people over the past couple of hours. Everyone is standing. Keith and Autumn, Ramirez and his wife, Blue, several of the uniformed officers I recognize, and even Kyle Matsumoto, still wearing his EMT uniform, popped in after his shift.
“Very well,” he finally says, his eyes aimed over my shoulder and I know he’s looking at Joe. “Detective VanDyken was very lucky.” I blow out the breath I’d been holding. “The largest fragment of the bullet was lodged on the outside of the skull under the skin. That was easy to remove. The scan showed a smaller fragment had split off and lodged in the neck under the ear. That one was trickier because of its location, and required a larger incision to get at.”
“Damage?” I find myself asking sharply.
The surgeon’s eyes come to me. “Minor muscle damage. It won’t do more than give him a sore neck for a while. Of greater concern is the concussion he suffered.”
It hadn’t been until the EMTs rolled Jay that I could see most of the blood pooling under his face had been from a jagged cut on the side of his forehead. It looked like he’d hit the stump of a tree. The added velocity of a bullet to the back of the head would have made the impact of the fall to the front more forceful.
“There was no compression of the skull and the cut on his forehead was closed, but his brain got a good shake,” the doctor continues. “And from what I understand, he was still not coherent when brought into the ER. We’ll have to wait and see how he does in the morning. I suggest you all go home and get some rest. He’s not going anywhere for the foreseeable future.”
He starts to turn when Joe speaks up.
“Can we see him? At the very least can she see him?” He puts his hand on my shoulder and moves me a step forward.
I wasn’t going to ask this guy; I was going to hang back after everyone left and approach one of the nurses. This doctor, who still hasn’t introduced himself, may be great with a scalpel but he’s not giving off warm and fuzzy vibes. Which is why his next words don’t surprise me.
“It’s no use, he’s not awake yet.”
“I’m sure she’s not expecting to engage in stimulating conversation,” Joe snaps, clearly annoyed with this guy as well.
I guess being the chief of police holds some weight because after what feels like a lengthy stare down, he gives in.
“Fine. I’ll send a nurse to come get her.”
Misogynistic pig talks about me like I’m not in the room and doesn’t even bother looking at me, but this isn’t the time or the place for me to set him straight. Besides, I don’t want to waste that kind of energy. From my experience, guys like that are resistant to enlightenment.
Everyone offered to stay, but in the end Joe and I are the only ones left. Keith balked hardest, but Autumn pulled him aside and must’ve found the right words because he finally said his goodbyes and followed his wife out.
“You okay? Can I get you anything?” Joe asks.
I’m in a weird place where I feel like an interloper, and yet at the same time, I can’t imagine being anywhere else right now.
“I’m fine. This is a little awkward,” I admit.
“What is?”
I shift in my seat so I can look at him.
“This thing with Jay and me…we’re…new. If not in violation of some rule, definitely a little unconventional, yet no one seems to question it.”
He looks genuinely perplexed. At first. Then he throws his head back and laughs heartily, leaving what I’m sure is a confused look on my face.
“How long have you been in Durango?” he asks but is clearly not waiting for a response when he continues, “Because it can’t have escaped your notice that we’re like one big happy, yet dysfunctional, family here. Unconventional is what we seem to do. Both Blackfoot and I married women who were victims in cases we were investigating. Heck, Gomez married a woman who was a suspect, and his sister—an EMT—got hitched to one of Gomez’s agents. Then Ramirez married Blue, another EMT, a former detective of mine is now with one of the Arrow’s Edge motorcycle club guys, and their president is married to FBI Agent Luna Roosberg.” He chuckles and shakes his head. “Hell, if you want unconventional, you’ve come to the right place. This kind of fraternization may be frowned upon elsewhere, but here people are a little more laid-back.”
By the time he’s done with his litany I’m grinning, because he’s right. Jay and I seem to be the ones who’ve kept our distance from the tight-knit group of first responders.