Pierce

Chapter Forty One

The words shattered Pierce's entire world and he felt like Caleb had delivered a physical blow to his body. Overcome with every emotion imaginable, he grabbed the front of Caleb's shirt and slammed him hard into the truck behind him, out of an act of pure desperation.

"Don't you let that fucking happen! You can't give up on her!" Pierce roared.

The assumption that he was giving up lit a fire within Caleb, causing him to clench his jaw and grab Pierce's shirt in return, flipping their position and pinning Pierce against the truck instead.

"Don't you think I'm trying? She needs blood! And I don't even know her fucking blood type!" Caleb yelled with his hands full of Pierce's shirt. The dog tags Pierce was wearing were tight in Caleb's fist and pulled taught across Pierce's neck as the two men held each other's furious gaze.

"But it doesn't fucking matter." Caleb muttered quickly, breaking eye contact with Pierce. 

Doesn't matter? Now I'm really going to beat your ass Caleb.

"What the hell did you just say to me?" Pierce snarled.

Still holding the dog tags in his hand in, Caleb shoved them in Pierce's face with an excited gleam in his eye.

"It doesn't fucking matter what blood type she is because you are O negative. You're universal." Caleb said shaking the tags in Pierce's face before shrugging out of his hold and grabbing his medical bag.

"And that means?"

"Try to keep up man. It means I'm going to replace her lost blood with yours. I'm setting up a buddy transfusion right here in the truck so get the fuck over here and save your woman."

Pierce couldn't move his feet fast enough and he and Kincaid helped Caleb set up everything he needed, following Caleb's orders to the letter and moving in tandem like a machine - a machine that was going to save Natalie.

Her chest was pumping wildly and her heart rate was through the roof, but Pierce trusted Caleb with everything he had that what he was attempting was going to work. It had to work.

Caleb stuck Pierce's arm with a needle twice, but couldn't seem to draw blood.

"What's the fucking hold up Doc?"

"You're too damn dehydrated. It's taking me a second to get a good stick." Caleb said with his tongue poking out between his lips as he concentrated.

"Well slice that shit open and wring it out of me if you have to." Pierce growled.

"Got it." Caleb said before moving over to Natalie.

Deep red blood filled the tube and traveled through the filter system that Caleb had set up.

He watched as Caleb moved between them, setting up the transfusion and IV bags simultaneously. His teammate was confident and calm, in complete control and doing everything he could to save Natalie. A pang of guilt struck Pierce for accusing him of giving up because failure was not a word in Caleb's vocabulary and Pierce knew that better than anyone. 

"What now?" Pierce asked, keeping his eyes glued to Natalie and holding one of her pale hands in his.

"We've got to get her to the hospital as fast as possible, which means we've got to roll out. Now."

"Kincaid call Dec over the comms." Pierce commanded.

"Bravo One sit rep." Kincaid asked Declan for a situation report through the radio.

"Eight tangos down, heading back to rally point."

Pierce and Caleb had Natalie situated in the back with Kincaid at the wheel in the front, ready to leave as soon as Declan and Marcus returned.