Prepper

Chapter Twenty

It does not take long for me to find Kate. She's back at the conference table hunched over a large topographical map of the city. She's on the phone to someone. I listen in on one half of the conversation, I'm struck by her assertive tone because she does not come across that way at home. It's clear she is currently in charge of a significant portion of the ongoing emergency response. I always had the impression her position here was clerical.

I never much considered what she does at work, I had a vague idea but in general we do not talk much about our jobs. She disconnects the call and turns from her map and sees me standing there. Her face softens and she moves toward me. I'm inclined to move away, I can't decide what I am feeling, but then she's here, so close I can smell that fragrance she wears and I can't move.

"Are you okay?" She asks cupping one side of my face in her hand. And it is hard for me to believe that she is not genuinely concerned.

"I've been better." I have wadded up paper towels pressed to my forehead. She reaches up and gently pulls my hand away.

"Oh my --" She turns and shouts across the room, because that is the only way to be heard above the commotion. "Tonya, can I get you to look at this?"

An EMT hustles over, a large medical kit in her hand. "Ew, that's nasty!" She says, assessing my injury. "That will need stitches."

"Tonya, this is my husband Connor. Connor, Tonya is one of our EMT liaisons helping to coordinate our evacuation and other efforts."

"Nice to meet you." I say rather unenthusiastically. Tonya is a striking woman, the darkness of her skin is only surpassed by it's remarkable smoothness. In stark contrast to her skin, small gold hoop earrings line her earlobes, three on each side. She has a broad, bright smile and flashes it frequently. She's in a much better mood than I.

"You should sit down Connor - this might sting a bit."

I wince and cringe and grimace my way through a more thorough disinfection process. I think she might be scrubbing the wound with steel wool, I keep my eyes shut. Tonya does her best to close up the wound with a half a dozen suture strips and tapes some gauze over top. She then places an instant cold pack in one hand and two ibuprofen in the other. "That is the best I can do until you can get to the ER."

"ER?" I say, still staring at the cold pack.

"You really did whack your head." Kate says, taking the cold pack from me before popping and shaking it. She presses it to my head. "Hold it there." She turns to the EMT. "Thanks, Tonya, I got it from here."

"Take care of each other." Tonya says and leaves, still smiling.

Kate hands me a water bottle. "Take your pills." I do, and polish off the contents of the bottle. I'm still parched, near death experiences are very dehydrating. "You do need to get to the ER." She says, referring to the hospital another block or so south. "They are leaving the ER open as long as possible, while they evacuate the rest of the patients. Take the car, go around to the backside of the parking garage, the motor pool is back there. Hand them this slip, they will fill it up for you. Then you can take it over to the ER."

"What about you?" I ask.

"I'll be here, doing my job."

"When can you leave? When can I take you home?"

"I don't know right now - there's too much going on. They might be needing me at the evac site."

I sigh. "So, you really know how to use that thing?" I point to her hip.

"Yes, but I don't want to. I'm not very good, I can hit the target, but not like your Dad." Kate never met my Dad, but she's seen some of his old competition targets I still have hanging in my office. "I just don't think I can shoot another human being."