Outbreak: Boston (33 page)

Amy was quiet for a little while, trying to wrap her brain around what she had just been told. “I couldn’t just stand there and let him shoot himself.” Frays said laboriously. Talking with this bandage on her face was going to be a huge problem, never mind that she could barely stay sitting upright.

It was not until Eamon showed up with a Kevlar helmet in his hand that she realized just how close she had come to buying the farm: there was a yellow gash along the left side of the helmet right where the strap was bolted to the helmet and its cloth covering was ruined. Frays sat there suddenly blinking back tears and feeling foolish because of it. The man came over to her and put the helmet on the table before kneeling in front of his patient.

“Hey, Amy. How are you?” Eamon asked quietly. He smiled compassionately as he started to unknot the bandage on Amy’s cheek. “I just need to take a quick look at this, okay? By the way, the next time you get shot in the head it had better be fucking serious. I nearly had a heart attack when I got told.”

Amy laughed and winced. “Don’t make me laugh, you dork.” she said in a loud, careful voice. Her face was really starting to smart, but the volume on the ringing in her ears was starting to get turned down a little. “It hurts like heck.” She blinked, a little puzzled as to exactly why it hurt to laugh.

Eamon looked at the woman’s cheek with a critical eye. “Well, it doesn’t seem that bad. Some powder burns and a little scratch
that might need a couple stitches. It looked worse than it is because it bled so much. Don’t worry. When it heals it’ll make you look tough.” he pronounced with a smile as he replaced the bandage. “How’s your ears?”

“
My head feels all…squishy.” Amy said slowly. She tried to stand up but Eamon put a hand on her shoulder and forced her to sit. “It was louder at first but it’s getting quieter already.”

“Just a second, Amy.” Eamon said quietly as he broke out his penlight and started flicking it in and out of her field of vision again. The man nodded to himself and took her wrist to check his patient’s pulse. “That bullet knocked your helmet across the bathroom. I just want to make sure you don’t have a concussion or anything. Do you know where you are?”

Amy paused for a moment as if lost in thought. “Mashed potatoes?” she said, her face scrunching up with uncertainty. Francesca and Eamon exchanged worried glances before the medic turned his attention back to his patient.

Eamon dug around in his medical bag for a moment then brought out his otoscope. “I’m just going to check your ears now.” he said carefully as he put the end of the instrument into first one ear, then the other. The fat man grunted and hmmm’d to himself, making Amy grow suspicious until he clicked the end of the otoscope off and threw it in the trash. “Looks like your ears are going to be a little sore for awhile. Try to stay away from loud noises for a couple of days and I’ll take another look. For right now, you’re going to go
lay down and relax.” He took a small bottle of pills out of his bag and shook one into the palm of Frays’ hand. She popped it into her mouth and washed the pill down with some water from her camelbak. “You’re probably going to have a killer headache in the morning.” Eamon said as he stood up “If I see you up and about before day after tomorrow, I’ll have Adam help me tie you to your cot, alright?”

“Don’t tell her that, babe.” Frannie said as a wide, evil grin spread across her face and she gave Eamon a peck on the cheek. “I don’t think we should be giving them any ideas. Lacey might enjoy tying her up.”

Chapter Nine

28 May 2011 0032 hours, Walter Raleigh Senior High School Concorde, Massachusetts

Eamon grumbled as he watched Powers sleeping on the cot in his office. Sergeant Barnes had brought the man in earlier in the day and stood there while he treated the man’s wound. As soon as Sergeant Barnes left he ran into the bathroom and threw up. The fact that Barnes made him use precious supplies to care for the guy who had raped one woman and tried to kill two of the most important people in his life right now made him physically ill.

“Right. Cock it.” the fat medic mumbled as he crossed the infirmary, pulled open a drawer and dug out a needle. He tore open the syringe’s sterile packaging and drew back the plunger, filling the barrel with air. “I’ll fix you, you rapist son of a bitch.”

Powers stirred while he was tying off a tourniquet around the man’s arm. “What are you doing?” the man asked suspiciously. His voice was thick with sleep and muffled somewhat by the bandages wrapped around his head. “Stop that!”

Eamon wanted to groan but he
somehow managed to give the man a tight lipped grin instead. This would have been so much easier if he did not wake up. “You’re about due for another dose of painkillers.” he said as he tightened the length of rubber hose around the man’s arm. “Don’t worry. You’ll just feel a little pinch and you’ll be alright again.”

He could see half the man’s mouth turn up into a smile. “Thanks, man.” Max whispered as Eamon sank the needle into a vein and pressed the plunger. Powers started thrashing and making a choking sound a few seconds after Eamon released the tourniquet. A troubled expression passed over the medic’s face as the man’s last breath rattled out of his chest and he lay still. He pulled the blankets over the man’s face and crossed the room to his own bed where he lay down and fell into an uneasy sleep until the alarm went off on his watch a few hours later. Eamon curled up on his bed, facing away from the corpse and shaking like a leaf. “Too far.” he muttered quietly “Too far. Too far. Too far.”

Frays stared at the ceiling, feeling dizzy and sort of miserable. Rodriguez had walked with her back to the female dorms where her friend helped her take off her field gear and got her situated on a cot. “What happened?” she asked in a loud voice. Amy ran her hand over the bandage on her face as if she had not felt it before. Frays was starting to suspect that Eamon had given her a narcotic, and a fairly powerful one at that. Everything was starting to get all warm and fuzzy around the edges. She resolved to chew him out the next time she saw him if she remembered to and that was…kind of up in the air right now.

Rodriguez crouched beside her friend’s cot and put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s alright, Frays.” she said quietly as she pulled Frays’ hand away from her face. She had asked the same questions twice before on the way over. It made Frannie think of visiting her grandmother when she was little, having to answer the same questions over and over, but Eamon had warned her to expect it. “You got hurt a little while ago, but you’re going to be okay. Just relax and try to get some sleep.” Once she got Frays on the cot, she did as Eamon had instructed and wrapped her up tightly in the woolen blanket from her rucksack so they did not have to worry about their patient deciding to go for a walk in the middle of the night.

Lacey came in the room and stopped at the doorway, momentarily shocked. It looked like Frays’ head was wrapped up like some kind of half assed mummy costume. “I’ll go get some ice from the freezer.” he said and took off down the hall. Rodriguez shook her head and laughed as she watched the man leave the room.

“Oh...wow…” Frays whispered and giggled. Whatever Eamon had given her was currently kicking her butt all over the place. She had lived on a college campus since she was fourteen and had known her fair share of recreational drug users in her time but Frays had never understood the appeal
of the habit until right now. For the first time in weeks she was not in pain or scared or hungry or sad or worried…as a matter of fact, she felt absolutely freaking
great
. It felt kind of like she was wrapped from head to toe in a soft downy blanket that had just come out of the dryer, but a million billion times better. 

Lacey returned a couple minutes later with a Ziploc bag filled with what looked like scrapings from the freezer and a dishtowel. Amy was asleep on a cot and Rodriguez was sitting on a chair next to it. “Hey man.” Francesca said as she stood up. She pulled a notepad out of her pocket and started reading off the medic’s instructions. “Okay, Eamon mainly wants one of us to watch her tonight. He said that she’s got a concussion and possible hearing loss, but he’s mainly concerned about the pain meds he gave her. If she has any problems breathing, go get him. If she wakes up and is still in pain, don’t give her anything, go get Eamon. Don’t let her get up and walk around.” She flipped the page and squinted at it in the semi-dark. “She was kinda confused for awhile there. When she wakes up she might ask you the same questions over and over, stuff like that. Don’t let it get to you. Eamon says it’s normal.”

“But she’s gonna be okay, right?” Lacey asked. He looked a little pale and worried, making Rodriguez smile at him. “It’s not as bad as it looks, right?”

“Right.” she said as she started out of the room, smiling a little at the concern in the man’s voice. Francesca paused at the doorway and turned around. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, Frannie. What’s up?” He had an idea of what was coming next. Adam sighed and rolled his eyes, preparing his standard response.

“You two really are just friends, aren’t you?” Rodriguez asked. She crossed her arms across her chest and leaned against the doorjamb. “I’m not judging or anything. Just curious.”

“I’m not sleeping with Frays.” Lacey said slowly and clearly so there could be no misunderstandings. He was getting really sick of these stupid rumors. It was like fucking high school all over again. Adam pressed his hands together like he was praying while covering his mouth and nose. He exhaled into the palms of his hands. “I really like and respect her, but not enough to make me forget I love my wife and kids. And…well…she’s sorta my squad leader.”

“What a Boy Scout.” Rodriguez muttered, smiling in the dark as she pushed off the doorjamb. “What a fuckin’ Boy Scout.”
Give it another month, jarhead
Francesca thought bitterly. Lots of married guys loved their wives and kids…until they had not gotten any for awhile. “So what? I mean, when I was in Afghanistan I fucked my squad leader once.”

Lacey blinked at the woman and shook his head. “That must have gotten…complicated.” The woman opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off by raising his hand and turning his head away as if whatever she was going to say were a physical blow. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. That’s your business.” He frowned. There was something that he kinda wanted to know, but he was not sure if he really wanted to ask.
Fuck it
he thought
anything to change the goddamn subject.

“Are you and Eamon…doing it?” Adam asked. He knew they had been getting close, but he was mildly curious just how close. It was really none of his business, but then she had asked him about Frays.

Frannie shrugged and scratched the scar on her neck. “It all depends on what you mean by ‘it’.” she said quietly. Adam laughed and pressed a hand over his mouth to stifle it. Amy stirred on the cot next to him. “I mean, sure we’ve had sex a couple times. We’ve gone down on each other a few times too.”

A flabbergasted laugh exploded out of Adam’s mouth before he could smother it. Amy grumbled something and stirred in her sleep in the room. “Sorry…it’s just that…” he motioned Rodriguez out into the hall. As it was still dark, the only sound was people snoring or the occasional groan of the building settling. “I don’t know what’s funnier: you being so plain about it or the fact that you’re doin’ it with Eamon.”

Frannie scowled at him. “Look, he’s a pretty good guy and it’s not like we’re going to get married or anything.” she said defensively as she crossed her arms and scowled at the man. “And it’s not exactly like I’ve got a lot of options. And, well, I’m sure you’ve heard worse stuff from the other guys.” Rodriguez took a couple steps closer to him. “If you’re interested, just say so. I’ll see you around.” she whispered as she went past him and down the hall.

Lacey shook his head as he walked back into the room. He still had the cold pack in his hand so he wrapped the plastic bag in the towel and gently shook Amy awake. “Here ya go, Frays.” he said as he positioned the bag of ice on her face. “Sorry to wake you.” Lacey added as he pulled her blanket up to her chin.

“Shut the window an’ come back to bed.” Amy mumbled around the bandage and cold pack. “Mm cold.” Adam looked around and grabbed another blanket off of the cot across the room then spread it over her. “Mmmm. Thanks.” Frays muttered and settled back into a deep sleep.