“It’s so dark,” he muttered.
The snow was falling hard, making it hard to see much beyond whirling white, but the light was no dimmer than it had been a minute ago.
Darkening vision. Loss of coordination. Probable internal injuries.
“Hal, pull over right now!” Ellie’s voice rose in a shout. “You’re passing out!”
Hal’s gaze snapped into focus. “Oh, shit.”
He turned the wheel to steer for the side of the road, and she saw his foot start to move from the gas pedal to the brake. Then his foot dropped, his hand fell to his side, and his eyes closed. Before she could catch him, he pitched forward over the steering wheel.
The horn blasted and kept on blaring. Ellie tried to push Hal back, then aside, but he was much too heavy for her to move. Her heart pounding, she caught the edge of the wheel and steadied it, steering the car along the deserted highway.
Much as she desperately wanted to check Hal’s breathing and pulse, she had to get the car stopped first. She couldn’t help him if they were both killed in a crash. Keeping a firm grip on the wheel, she managed to work her left leg up and over until she could kick his foot off the gas. Then she slowly braked as she steered the car toward the side of the road.
The car slowed, hit a bump that made her heart lurch, then came to a stop off road. She put it in park and turned off the engine. The silence was so complete that Ellie felt like she’d gone deaf. She fumbled for Hal’s pulse and was tremendously relieved when she felt it, beating faint but steadily beneath her fingers.
Ellie hit the button to tilt Hal’s seat back. She supported his head and eased him down with the seat, until he was lying almost flat. Then she tipped back her own seat, so both seats were like side-by-side benches.
“Thank God for luxury cars,” Ellie muttered. Her own cheap-mobile had seats that tilted about six inches either way.
Hal didn’t stir, but lay still with his eyes closed and his strong hands slack. It was scary to see him so vulnerable, when he’d always been so strong and protective.
She unbuttoned his black overcoat, then pulled it open. The shirt beneath his coat was soaked in blood.
“Son of a bitch!” Ellie yelled.
Hal’s eyelashes fluttered, and his hazel eyes slowly opened. He looked confused for a moment, and then she saw memory return.
“Sorry.” His voice was a low rumble, barely audible.
She unbuttoned his shirt, then unstrapped the heavy vest. “Some bulletproof vest! You ought to sue.”
Hal tried to smile, despite his pain. “The vest worked fine. A ricochet went under it.”
Ellie eased the vest off, then took a pair of scissors from her purse and sheared off his undershirt. There were two huge black bruises on his chest where bullets had struck the armor plates. But she was more concerned about the wounds in his side, just above his hip. The bullet had gone through and through, leaving a small entrance wound and a larger exit wound. Both were still bleeding, though slowly.
“Is there a first aid kit in the car?” Ellie asked.
“In the trunk.”
She lifted his hand and held it to the wounds. “Keep pressure on them.”
He pressed his hand against his side, wincing. Ellie remembered how he’d steered with one hand for the entire trip, keeping his other hand tight against his side. And how he’d claimed that it was because he had cracked ribs.
She bit her lip against yelling at him, much as she was tempted to. He didn’t need her scolding him right now. “I’ll get the kit.”
She turned on the ignition and cranked the heat to maximum. Hal needed to stay as warm as possible. Then she hit the button to release the trunk and opened the car door. The blast of frigid air made her shiver even before she got out.
Her feet sank into snow, nearly up to her ankles. Alarmed, Ellie took a look at the car. Not only was snow piling up around the car, but the rear tires had sunk deep into either a pothole or a mud-hole.
Shit.
She needed to treat Hal as quickly as possible, then drive him to the nearest hospital before they got trapped by the falling snow. Ellie could only pray that they weren’t trapped already.
She hurried to the back of the car. The trunk was thoroughly stocked, as if Hal had been preparing for a zombie apocalypse, crammed full of easy-carry trunks with labels like FIRST AID, GENERAL SUPPLIES, and FOOD AND WATER. She grabbed a FIRST AID trunk and two folded blankets, then scrambled back into the car.
She was relieved to find that Hal was still conscious. Ellie checked him again, surprised but pleased to find that his skin was warmer, his breathing easier, and his pulse slower. It was amazing how sometimes something as simple as turning up the heat could help so much. It undoubtedly also helped that Hal was strong and fit.