John B took off his bandana and held it up against Sarah's stomach, pushing down and apologizing when she winced in pain.
"Riley, can you call Terrance?" He asked.
"On it." I nodded and grabbed a phone of Cleo's she snatched a while back and called Terrance.
"Did you get the gold?" Terrance asked.
"Hey, yeah, we got it. But we got bigger problems. Sarah's shot. She's been shot, and needs medical attention." I told him. "We're in the cane field about a mile up on the left-hand side."
"Where you at?"
"I'm not sure. I'll drop a pin. I don't know how to get here. Hurry."
"On our way!"
"Okay," I said and hung up, dropping them a pin so they could find us.
They got here a minute or so later and pulled up behind us, Cleo and Terrance getting out as we helped Sarah out of the car.
"Sarah!" Cleo said in worry.
"I just texted you the address of a doctor. Tell him I sent you!" Terrance said.
"Okay. And it's a hospital?" John B asked, putting Sarah in the backseat and getting in with her.
"No. You wanna get caught? My guy's better." Terrance said and turned to me. "Drive fast, kid. Got that? We're gonna wait 8 hours. No more."
"Got that. Thank you, Terrance." I said and pulled up the address on the phone, getting in the car and driving out of the cane fields, kicking up dirt as I drove us into the town.
"Riley, drive faster!" John B shouted.
"Do you want me to get us in a crash?!" I shouted back, glancing down at the GPS and taking a turn hard, apologizing when Sarah cried out in pain.
"We're here!" I shouted, pushing on the brakes and parking the car, getting out of the car and opening the back door, helping Sarah out and putting one arm around me as John B held her other.
We walked over to a run-down building and pushed on the buzzer.
"What do you want?" A voice asked through the intercom.
"We're looking for Dr. Nygard." I replied.
"Dr. Nygard's not here."
"Do you know where we can find him?" I asked. "We're friends of Terrance's."
"Look at the camera above you to your left. Look at me and let me see your faces." The voice said.
We looked up at a camera.
"Alright. Go through the bar. There's stairs on your right."
"Okay, thank you. Thank you." I said and pulled her arm back around my shoulder as we walked through the door, heading up the stairs and walking into a small room with some medical equipment.
An old guy walked out and told us to set her on the table, then he examined the wound.
"Ah. Looks like they got you pretty good, didn't they?" He asked, shuffling around to get the things he needed.
"She's gonna be okay, right?" John B asked the doctor as he pulled her shirt up to see the wound fully.
"That remains to be seen." He replied, getting an IV and getting her all set up. "Put some pressure on the wound right there."
John B pressed down on the wound, his eyes never leaving Sarah.
"What kind of doctor are you?" I asked.
"I'm not a doctor. Not in the eyes of the law, anyhow. I'm more like a service provider."
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"Tell you what, if you can find a cure for arthritis in mes school, the higher-ups dont like it very much. All they care about is the money." He said, walking back over to Sarah.
John B took off the blood-soaked bandage and let the doctor look at her.
"She's bleeding a little on the outside, and a lot on the inside. I can go in. Now when I do this, she's gonna lose a lot of blood. It may kill her or it may not. But a job like this costs 4k."
John B looked at me, then back at the doctor and nodded. "Whatever has to be done. Just help her."
———
It was 4:00 and we were still waiting on Sarah to open her eyes, or show any sign she was getting better.
I looked over at John B, putting my hand over his. "Sarah's gonna make it. She's tough."
"I really hope so. I can't live without her." He said, his voice cracking. He stood up and walked over to Sarah, putting his fingers to her neck to gauge her pulse.
"Hey, Doc. Doc, come here." John B said.
The doctor came over to us. "Can you feel it?"
"I can feel it here, but not her wrist. What do you want me to do?" He asked.
"She's got too much fluid already. More's gonna kill her. She should be waking up." The doctor said.
"John B . . ." Sarah said weakly, her eyes not opening.
"Hey, Sarah. Hey, it's me. We're both here. Me and Riley." John B said.
The doctor ran back into his small office to grab something and came back out with what he needed just as the IKG monitor started beeping rapidly.
"Any of you know CPR?"
"No,"
"Yes," I responded at the same time, getting up and moving John B out of the way as I started pushing on her sternum.
The doctor put the inhaler-type thing onto her face and pushed upon the air-sack, pushing in two pumps of air before I started CPR again, the IKG flatlining.
The doc looked at Sarah and sighed, switching the monitor off. "She's lost too much blood. I'll leave you two with her."
I watched as the doctor walked away, then John B as he grabbed what the doctor was using and pumped in two puffs of air.
"Okay, go. Try again." John B said.
We did this for a good minute or so before Sarah's eyes suddenly slew open and she gasped in air.
"Sarah!" I said happily, putting my hands to my mouth, blood still dried on them.
"Sarah!" John B exclaimed.
"Can we still make it?" Sarah asked, looking around and slowly sitting up.
"No. It's over. Okay?" John B said.
"No, it's not. We still have an hour." She protested.
"Sarah, you just got shot." I told her.
She looked down at her wound and back up at us, getting off the table. "I am fine. We're going."
John B looked at me to try to get me to talk her out of it.
I shrugged. "I can't change this girl's mind, B. She's stubborn."
John B sighed and nodded. "Fine. Fine, okay."
"Come on." I let her out an arm around me as we walked out of the room, heading down the stairs with John B and the doctor protesting the whole time.
I suddenly pulled Sarah back behind a pillar and stopped John B from walking any further.
"What is it?" John B asked.
"Cops. We can't get to our car from here without being spotted." I replied.
"You guys got a little heat on you, don't you?" The doctor said, pulling out car keys and handing them to me. "Friend of the devil is a friend of mine. Come on out back."
We followed him to where an old blue car was parked out back.
"Drive safe, you hear?" He told us.
"We got it, Doc. Thanks." I said and got in the front seat at Sarah and John B got in the back.
I pulled out of the small space and we drove down the road, through alleys and down to the docks where a police car suddenly flashed its lights at us from behind.
I sped up and we took a turn fast, losing the police car as we sped down the alley and rammed into someone, slamming on the breaks.
I got out of the car and helped Cleo up as she struggled. "Cleo! Oh my gosh, I am so sorry."
"Girl, you crazy. You ran me over." She said.
"I know, and I'm sorry. Come on." I helped her slide into the back with the two before getting back in the front and starting the car up again.
"Sarah! How'd you make it through?" Cleo asked once she saw Sarah.
"Are you okay?" John B asked.
"Just a scrape. I went up and over. I've been through worse." She replied.
I drove us out of there and we got onto a road, taking a turn. "What happened back there? We went to the Playboy."
"We we're waiting for you guys to show up, and the coppers came." Cleo said, "they came from everywhere. I jumped overboard."
"What about Terrance and Stubbs?" Sarah asked.
"I heard gunshots. I ran. I wanted to shoot it out with them, but it was too many." She replied.
John B looked behind him as cop cars showed up behind us. "Riley, might want to drive faster."
"I don't even know how fast I'm going. The speedometer's broken!" I shouted back, but floored it and we sped down the streets.
———
"Streets is quiet. I can get you to your boat. You have somewhere you can hole up?" Cleo asked us as we stood outside by the boats at night.
"Yeah, we're gonna ride the Gulf Stream north as far as it can go." John B answered her. "Look for some deserted island to shell up on."
"And then what? More running?" Sarah asked. "Look, I know you guys don't trust cops, but you're both innocent. We should go home."
"To OBX?" John B asked.
"Yes. To OBX. To our friends." She said, then turned to me. "To JJ."
"Darn you, woman. I'm sold." I said with a slight smile.
"But what about Ward?" John B asked.
"What about Ward? He's the one who should be running. Not us. He said he would tell the truth if we came back. I can confront him." Sarah said to John B.
"Okay, but it's not about you confronting him. He's completely untrustworthy." John B said.
"Sure. But I'm your guys's alibi. Trust me."
Cleo whistled, grabbing our attention. "Hello. Running from the coppers here. Sarah, can you walk?"
"I think so." She answered, then shakily stood up, grabbing onto my hand when I offered it to her.
"Come on. Stay low." Cleo said, finding us the small boat that the Camerons had, and letting us get on. "I wish I could join you guys. It's a nice dinghy."
"You're not coming with?" I asked as I took the keys from Cleo, running over to start the engine.
"Are you kidding? You three are fine. I'm better off on my own." She replied.
"Thank you. Seriously." John B said.
Cleo smiled at him. "No problem. Maybe one day I get the same thing you and Sarah got. Somebody helps me too."
"I hope you find it one day." I said as the engine started up.
She smiled and saluted me. "And I hope you find your JJ."
"Me too." I said back, giving her a wave before pulling out and driving the boat through the water, the lights reflecting off the water.
We drove for hours until the sun started to peek over the horizon, and I looked over to where John B and Sarah sat at the front of the boat.
"How you guys doing over there?" I asked.
"We're good." John B answered.
"Hey, Riley. Can you help us with something?" Sarah asked.
"Sure. What's up?"
"John B and I want to get married. Can you do it?"
"Well, I'm not licensed in that area, but whatever you guys want, I guess." I answered. "You got anything to give the lady, B?"
"Uh, I got this." John B pulled of his bandana and tore off a thin portion of it.
"Oh, gross. Wasn't that thing just covered in blood yesterday?" I asked.
"I washed it off." He protested and wrapped the thin strand around Sarah's neck.
"Okay then." I said mostly to myself, then cleared my throat. "By the power vested in the stars, sky, and the sea, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Congratulations, lovebirds. Now go on and kiss."
They kissed and Sarah pulled back, smiling. "Can we get a dog?"
I chuckled and shrugged when John B looked at me.
"Okay, Sarah. Let's just focus on getting home. How about that?" John B said with a chuckle.
"Let's get a dog." Sarah said.
"Okay," John B said.
I smiled and looked out into the distance as the sun rose more in the sky. "Guys. Land."
"Looks like a pretty big town." John B said, looking out in the distance to see a long slab of land.
"Should we try to find somewhere less crowded?" Sarah asked.
I looked down at the fuel line and saw it was at its last bar. "We're almost out of fuel. We have no choice."
Sarah laughed and looked back at me. "We made it."
"Yeah, we did." I confirmed, steering is towards the town and skirting across the water.