Chapter 32

Sitting in the cramped confines of the ambulance, Richie just tried to stay out of the way as the more senior of the two paramedics worked on Billie. His colleague was fully employed in driving the ambulance, and as the guy in back glanced away from his patient for a moment, he saw the tension and helplessness in Richie’s face. From years of experience, he knew the hardest thing for friends and relatives to deal with was the helplessness, and as he finished hooking an IV of fluids to Billie’s arm, he turned to Richie again.

“Could you help me out here?” He asked, holding out the thick plastic bag of clear fluid. “Could you hold this up, keep squeezing it through? I need to get fluid into her as fast as I can.”

“Sure.” Richie took it gladly, following the instructions and squeezing the bag, forcing the life-giving fluid through the tube as fast as it could go. “Shouldn’t……shouldn’t you be giving her blood?”

“Don’t know her blood type, and anyway we don’t carry bloods. This is plasma - next best thing, trust me.”

“How bad is she?” Richie asked quietly, not sure he wanted the answer.

“It’s bad.” The guy told him, shaking his head sadly. In his line of work, he saw all kinds of things, but this was one of the worst assaults he’d seen in a long time. Sometimes he wondered just what kind of hell the city had become. “Do you know who did it?”

“No.” Richie’s grip on the bag of plasma tightened even more. “But I swear to God I’d like to get my hands on him.”

“Yeah, I……….” The paramedic stopped speaking as one of the monitors hooked to Billie began to screech an alarm. “Shit! Derek, step on it - we’re losing her!” He yelled to the driver as he grabbed for the defibrillator kit.

“Aw fuck, Billie! No!” Richie yelled, leaning closer to her. “Dammit, cowgirl, fight!”

“Get back.” The paramedic snapped, pulling down the blanket and yanking Billie’s robe open, her modesty the last of his concerns right now.

He quickly set the charge on the defib unit then squeezed the conductive gel onto the paddles before laying them on her skin.

“Put down the bag and stay clear.” He barked at an ashen-faced Richie, who obeyed instantly, wincing as Billie’s body arched at the shock.

“Billie - c’mon.” He whispered. “C’mon, darlin’. Don’t do this…….don’t leave your boy alone.”

The paramedic looked at the monitor as it still screamed at him, and he checked Richie was still clear before shocking Billie again. This time, to Richie’s utter relief, the monitor settled back to a steady beep, the irregular mountain-range shapes of her heartbeat once more taking the place of that terrifying flatline.

“Shit.” Richie muttered, picking up the bag of plasma without being told, then talking conversationally to the chalk-white woman on the gurney. “Don’t do that, Billie girl!”

There wasn’t even a flicker of response, but the paramedic encouraged Richie with a smile as he gently covered her bruised, damaged body with the blanket.

“She can probably hear you, so talk to her all you want.”

So he did. For the rest of the blessedly short ride to the hospital, Richie talked to Billie about random things, but mostly about Jay and how well he was doing on the team. Fortunately for his own heart, she didn’t slip away from them again, and though her pulse remained faint and thready, it never stopped, the plasma forcing into her bloodstream stabilising her for the moment.

“We’re here.” The paramedic said suddenly as the ambulance veered off the main road and up to the doors of the ER.

Looking out through the windshield, Richie saw a team of medical people waiting, and he realised that the paramedics must have radioed ahead once they saw how sick Billie was.

When the doors opened, she was whisked away, already inside the building by the time he got out of the ambulance, and he turned to thank the paramedic. The guy gave him a sad, tired smile.

“Just hope we got her here in time.” He shook Richie’s outstretched hand. “Hope she pulls through.”

“Me too, buddy. Me too.”

Richie headed inside, looking around to figure out where the hell they’d taken her.

“Help you, sir?” A male voice, and Richie turned to find a large security guard.

“The woman who was just brought in. Where is she? I came in with her.”

“Emergency room.” The guy pointed to a window. “But you can’t go in there.”

“But…….”

Before Richie could protest further, another voice spoke.

“Mr……Mr Sambora?”

Swinging around, he saw Jay, so damned like a young Jon as he stood there.

“Jay.” Without even thinking about it, Richie wrapped his arms around the kid, hugging him until Jay pulled free.

“What’s going on?” Jay misread the concern and compassion on Richie’s face, assuming the worst. “Oh, Jesus, no! Mom? She’s not…..?” He couldn’t say it, but Richie understood.

“Oh, shit! No, Jay! She’s not……she’s in there!” He pointed to the emergency room, and Jay took one step before the security guard stopped him. Jay spun around angrily.

“That’s my mom in there! Don’t you tell me I can’t fucking see her! You think you’re gonna stop me?!”

As Jay faced up to him, the guard dropped his hand to the radio clipped on his belt, then Kadie was between them, one hand raised to each man.

“It’s okay.” She told the guard, her eyes begging him for understanding before she turned to Jay. “Baby, you need to let them help her. There’s nothing you - either of you.” She glanced at Richie. “Can do except get in their way. Let me see what I can find out.”

The three men looked at her, but there was a definite note of command in her soft voice, and at the look on her face Jay backed down slowly, exhaling and trying to get a grip on himself.

“Sorry.” He said to the security guard, and even in that moment of tension Richie felt a smile flicker on his lips at how ‘Jon’ the kid seemed right then, hating to have to apologise, but doing it anyway because he knew he was in the wrong.

“No problem.” The big guy nodded, mollified. “Hope she’s okay. Waiting room just down there.”

With Kadie leading the way - leading Jay by the hand - they made their way to the waiting room. She told them to sit down, she’d see what she could find out, then they heard the strident sound of the hospital paging system.

“Doctor Riviello to ER, please. Doctor Riviello.”

The urgency in the woman’s voice was clear, and Kadie looked over at Richie in shock. She’d worked briefly in this hospital, and she knew Doctor Riviello. Knew he was the head of the sexual assault department, with a combined specialty in gynecology and trauma. Richie saw the realisation in her eyes and just gave a tiny nod.

Her face pale and set, very glad Jay had missed the silent communication, Kadie left the room to go see what she could find out, just hoping that her nursing status would buy her a bit more honesty than being merely a friend of the family.