I gave Eli a quick kiss and said, “Stay here with Ronan. I’ll go get Baby, okay?”
Eli nodded numbly and smiled. “Thank you, Mav.”
I kissed his forehead and then got out of the car. I glanced over my shoulder at Eli who was sitting in the open doorway of the SUV trying to draw in enough air to keep himself from going over the edge. Since my eyes were on him, I didn’t notice anything off right away. But when I glanced up towards Eli’s apartment, I stopped suddenly at the sight of the wide open door. A spray of bright red blood was spattered across the doorframe.
“Ronan!” I shouted as I pulled my gun from my waistband. I didn’t look to see if Ronan heard me or not as I ran up the stairs, but I saw him racing across the small yard towards me, gun drawn. And right behind him was Eli. I didn’t bother to see where Jace and Caleb were because I needed to focus so I raised my gun and scanned the inside of the apartment. Ronan reached me just as I started to enter the apartment and the first thing I saw was a body face down on the floor, a pool of blood beneath it. There was another body on the far side of the loveseat and I could see the man had been shot in the head. I ignored the sight and scanned the apartment and then saw what I was looking for. Baby was lying on the ground next to someone who was hunched over. Ronan and I held our guns on him as Ronan yelled at him to raise his hands.
“Ronan!” the guy shouted. “He can’t breathe.”
I knew the gravelly voice before the man cast a glance over his shoulder at us.
Memphis Wheland.
The relief at seeing our team leader was short lived as I realized Memphis was leaning over another body. Ronan was already moving past me and kneeling beside the young man. Terror flooded my system as I recognized the young man’s face and I managed to grab Eli the second he came rushing into the apartment.
“What happened?” he yelled as he looked around and then saw the dead bodies on the floor. “Baby!” he said frantically as he searched the apartment before finally seeing the dog. I felt Eli’s relief at the sight of his pet. The animal was covered in blood and had what looked like several long cuts on his side but seemed to be okay despite the injuries. Baby didn’t get up when he saw Eli. Instead, he stayed exactly where he was lying next to the two men who were frantically trying to help the third man.
“Who-” Eli started to say when he spotted the man on the floor, but then he went silent for a second when he recognized who it was.
“Brennan?” he whispered. “Brennan!” I held Eli back as he tried to get to his friend.
Jace came running into the apartment, gun drawn and Caleb behind him. “Clear the apartment,” I said and Jace quickly scanned what was going on and then grabbed Caleb’s hand in his and dragged him back towards Eli’s bedroom.
“Brennan!” Eli screamed again and when Ronan shifted, I saw blood covered the young man’s stomach.
“Ronan,” I called, needing more information. If Brennan was already gone, I needed to get Eli the hell out of there.
“He’s alive,” Ronan said as he leaned down to listen to Brennan’s chest. Memphis was holding the young man’s hand tightly in his and I could see that Brennan’s eyes were open, but he was struggling to breathe.
Eli had stilled at Ronan’s announcement that his friend was alive, but he was holding on to me with painful intensity.
“Why can’t he breathe?” Memphis asked, his usual cool and detached demeanor completely obliterated.
“Tension Pneumothorax,” Ronan said as he sat back on his heels and looked around the apartment.
“What is that?” Memphis asked.
“His lung’s collapsed,” Ronan responded.
“I called 911. They should be here in a few minutes.”
“He doesn’t have that long,” Ronan replied, his voice calm and steady. His gaze settled on Eli. “Eli, do you have any kind of tubing?”
Eli didn’t respond at all and I had to grab his chin to force his eyes to mine. “Baby, listen to me. Do you have any tubing?”
“What?” he asked numbly.
“Tubing,” I repeated.
Eli looked around the apartment, but I could tell he was struggling to keep it together. “Eli, Brennan needs your help. Now think, do you have any kind of tubing in the apartment?”
I sensed Jace and Caleb behind me, but I didn’t look at them as I willed Eli to calm down. His eyes latched onto mine and he slowed his breathing. A few seconds passed before he said, “Yes,” and pulled free of my hold. He ran to the cabinet beneath the kitchen sink and began pulling things out of it. “The super was going to put an ice maker in the freezer. He left the kit here.”