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As it turns out having a seat at the table wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Simon still knew next to nothing and seemed content to remain blissfully ignorant. Short of taking Dr. Wu hostage and forcing the truth of the I-Rex genetics from him I was out of options. Since Owen had forbid me from enacting any plan that involved mild forms of torture I spent time at the I-Rex paddock hoping to guess it on my own. Thus far I had been less than successful. This thing could be made out of unicorn DNA for all I knew.
I sat for hours in the observation area scribbling notes and hypothesis in my diary. Dr. Price would kill me if she knew I was using my diary for such sacrilege, but I thought the diary was giving its life for a good cause. Figuring out what the I-Rex was made out of presented better odds than me ever understanding my feelings.
It was late in the afternoon on a Friday, and the paddock was fairly busy with workers prepping a feeding. I stood up attempting to stretch my aching muscles after hours of sitting on the hard concrete floor. I dropped my diary on the floor as I walked towards the observation windows glancing at the closed circuit TV feed displayed on one of the monitors. I could see Nick, the paddock supervisor, outside organizing the workers at the site.
Feeding the I-Rex was a dangerous affair since there was no crane at paddock 11. I had told Simon repeatedly this was a disaster waiting to happen, and he assured me he would "look into the matter" just as soon as his billionaire ass came back to the island. With Jurassic World less than a few months from opening its doors to the public Simon and other top executives had been gone more and more. It made everything at the park move at a snails pace because getting approval from a man who was half a world away took time. On the plus side, Hoskins was one of the individuals currently not inhabiting the island on a regular basis so I made my peace with not being able to voice my displeasure with Simon face-to-face. It's the little things that make all the difference in this job.
Since there was no crane to drop in meals Nick decided the safest way to feed the I-Rex was by developing a seemingly random pattern of feeding times and locations. Paddock 11 had several exterior doors the crews could open for short intervals to insert the food then close quickly. Nick believed if they picked random doors, at random times, then they would be safe from the mutant dinosaur.
It took me two days to figure out Ellis, one of the paddock workers, was using the same pattern to feed the I-Rex. Sure, they picked somewhat different times, give or take an hour, but there was definitely a pattern. Either Nick was too lazy or too stupid to understand the pattern because nothing had changed. Plus, I was pretty sure Nick didn't believe the I-Rex was smart enough to figure it out. I disagreed, loudly. Hopefully, I was wrong. It's been known to happen from time to time.
Checking my watch I saw it was close to five o'clock and I decided to call it a day. Fingers crossed Owen would come through with his promise to make lasagna tonight. Just thinking about it got me all hot and bothered. Lately Owen had been attempting to teach me to cook in case I was ever released into the wild and forced to fend for myself, but so far it had resulted in multiple smoke alarm situations. I just took that to mean my cooking was so awesome even smoke alarms cheer me on, but Owen insisted it was a bad thing. Whatever, I stood by my position that cereal was an acceptable meal at all times of the day.
Now highly motivated, I moved to gather all my stuff, shoving it into my backpack and walking out the door. The sun was just beginning to dip behind the trees as I made my way down the metal staircase towards my Jeep. I heard the crew getting ready to open the door to insert the goat carcass as I placed my backpack in the backseat.
All at once the paddock erupted into chaos as shouts and screams filled the air. I whirled around narrowing my eyes onto the crew at the door of the paddock. My brain was having a difficult time processing what I was seeing, but my body responded instinctively.
I bolted toward the door. "Nick, close that gate! Now!" I yelled dropping to my knees beside the fallen worker. I pulled him away from the door with the help of two other men as Nick frantically typed away on the control panel. The door dropped with a bang just as the I-Rex collided with the steel door. The animal let loose an enraged shriek that made chills break out along my arms despite the heat.
I quickly surveyed the fallen paddock worker trying to figure out which of his injuries were life threatening. He was covered in so much blood I couldn't tell where any of it was coming from. His right arm was a mangled mess of torn flesh and muscle. It was ripped open straight down to the bone in some places exposing massive amounts of stringy sinew. The man was screaming more from shock than pain at the moment because I was fairly certain his pain receptors had completely turned off due to the trauma.
I grabbed my K-Bar from my boot and cut the man's shirt away from his right arm to get a better look at the damage. As soon as I removed the clothing one of the men beside me vomited.
"Hey! Pull your shit together or leave," I said, leveling him with a deadly stare. "We don't have time for that bullshit."
I looked back down and could hardly see the wound through all the blood. He'd severed his brachial artery. That was the only explanation for this much blood, this fast. I ripped my belt off as fast as I could wrapping it above the worst part of the wound where I thought the artery had been severed. I looped the belt through the buckle and pulled as hard as I could. The man scream and I closed my eyes against the onslaught of memories that flooded my mind threatening to immobilize me. Focus on the present Jo.
"What's your name?" I asked the man as I secured the belt.
"Enrique," he uttered weakly, his gaze unfocused on mine. I smiled at him brushing his hair off his forehead.
"You're going to be fine Enrique. I know it hurts right now, but we are going to get you some help," I told him. He nodded, closing his eyes, his breathing shallow and raspy. "Nick, we need to get him in the truck. We have to get him to the clinic."
Nick nodded his head and a group of men formed around Enrique as we worked together to pick him up and carry him to the truck. I jumped in first then helped the men maneuver Enrique into the bed of the truck.
"Get the bags out of the back of my Jeep. Bring them here and then we have to go," I told Nick.
In less than two minutes we were tearing across the jungle towards the medical clinic near headquarters. Man what I wouldn't give for Simon and his shitty helicopter flying skills right now. I dug through my bag until I found my comm unit quickly activating it and sticking it in my ear. I opened my medical bag digging for the arterial forceps. Enrique was still bleeding heavily despite the tourniquet, which meant if I couldn't find the severed artery and clamp it he would bleed out before we reached the clinic. The problem with finding the severed artery was there was so much blood I couldn't see anything; I could be clamping his artery or his nipple for all I knew.
I poured some saline solution over the shredded remains of his arm attempting to get a better view. We may be able to save Enrique's life, but he was losing his arm for sure. We hit a hole in the road and I slammed into the side of the truck.
"Jesus, we need some real fucking roads on this island," I said to no one as I noticed Enrique had finally passed out from pain or blood loss. "Shit."
I dialed the control room on my comm unit pouring more saline onto Enrique's arm desperately searching for the artery.
"Control Room this is Vivian."
"It's Jo, we have an incoming casualty with a partially amputated right arm. Brachial artery appears to be severed. Tourniquet has been in place for 10 minutes. We are approximately 20 minutes from the clinic. We need the trauma team standing by."
"Copy that Jo. Claire wants to know how it happened?" Vivian asked reluctantly.
"I was at paddock 11, take a wild guess. Be ready when we get there."
I ended the transmission and focused on Enrique. I had seen the severed artery, now I just needed to get a clamp on it, sooner rather than later. Pouring the last of my saline solution onto the wound I steadied my hand and moved quickly when I saw the artery barely protruding from the gaping hole in Enrique's arm. I clamped down on the end of it locking the arterial forceps and held my breath. When no new blood gushed out of his body for a few seconds I let out a slow breath sitting back slightly.
I looked up for the first time since getting in the bed of the truck and saw the outline of headquarters in the distance. The clinic was surrounded by the red and white of emergency vehicles, and throngs of people awaiting our arrival. I pressed two fingers to Enrique's neck looking for a pulse and found a slow, erratic one, but it was there. He had survived getting here, now I just had to hope the professionals could keep him alive.
When we stopped in front of the clinic the truck was immediately swarmed with emergency personnel. I was briefly asked some basic questions then discarded as Enrique was loaded onto a stretcher and wheeled away. I slowly climbed out of the truck grabbing my bags as my stomach rolled at the sight of the blood coating the back of the truck.
"Your Jeep is right over there," Nick said softly from behind me.
"You didn't need to follow us here. I could have picked it up tomorrow," I told him. I had no idea he was following us. Hell, I didn't even know who drove the truck now that I thought about it.
"It's the least I could do. You saved Enrique's life and if I'd listened to you in the first place he wouldn't have even gotten hurt."
Nick looked sickened by today's events. I wanted to offer him words of comfort, but I just couldn't find any. The truth was I didn't think this would be the last time the I-Rex hurt someone.
"Thanks Nick," I told him walking towards my Jeep. Just as I climbed into the drivers seat my phone rang. I sighed leaning my head back closing my eyes. Was it too much to ask to go home, eat homemade lasagna and stare at Owen? "King."
"Jo, it's Claire. I know you've been through a lot today, but can you come up to my office?"
No, I can't. I have a date with lasagna.
"Yeah, gimme a few minutes to get up there."
It didn't take long to get to Claire's office, but the stares I received along the way made me wish I'd just ignored her call and gone home to ogle Owen. I hadn't really noticed until now that my hands and clothes were covered in Enrique's blood. God, I was a disaster.
I kept my head down, not making eye contact with anyone as I passed the control room on the way to Claire's office. I really hoped Lowery wasn't working right now because I was pretty sure Owen had threatened bodily harm if he didn't report any Jo related incidents to him.
I didn't bother with the super secret knock at Claire's door opting to just walk in instead. I know the woman was a stickler for protocol, but I'd had a rough day. I wonder if Barry kept secret emergency sugar stashes all over the island or just at the raptor paddock because I could use a Twizzler right about now.
It didn't take long to notice Claire was not alone, and I suddenly had the urge to inflict bodily harm on someone. Mainly, the man standing beside her desk.
"Dr. Wu, I knew I felt a pain in my ass," I spit out.
He smiled like the poisonous snake I knew he was, "Ms. King, a pleasure, as always."
What an asshole.
"Jo, my god. Are you OK?" Claire asked jumping out of her seat heading straight for me. Her eyes were wide as she took in every inch of my blood stained appearance. It's easy to forget given Claire's tough as nails exterior that she's led a pretty sheltered life. Normal people go into a frenzy at the site of a person covered in blood, much like Claire was now. Funny how Dr. Wu seemed completely unfazed. I knew a psychopath when I saw one and Dr. Wu was a textbook psychopath.
"I'm fine. It's not mine," I assured her gesturing to the blood. "Enrique on the other hand is going to be down an arm if he manages to keep breathing." I directed the second part to Dr. Wu who looked bored, and not the least bit upset about today's incident.
"I'm glad you're OK. I'm so sorry about Enrique. That's why I called you here. I want to make sure nothing like this happens again," Claire said already back in control of her emotions. This woman was a machine. When I grew up, I wanted to be just like her. I made a silent vow to myself; tomorrow I was getting my shit together.
"Excellent. You can start by killing that thing," I told her my eyes never leaving Dr. Wu. His posture stiffened ever so slightly at the mention of killing his Frankenstein.
"Jo, I know how you feel about this, but that isn't an option at the moment. You know Mr. Masrani's position on the asset and that hasn't changed. I think right now we just need to reassess the security protocols at the paddock to ensure the safety of everyone involved," Claire stated calmly. This woman could sell ketchup popsicles to a man in white gloves. Too bad I wasn't buying.
"I don't think you get it Claire. That thing is not a dinosaur. It has higher-level deductive capabilities. It figured out a seemingly random pattern in order to carry out a coordinated strike on those workers. The only dinosaur even close to that level intellect is…." I trailed off having an 'aha moment'.
Velociraptors.
The only dinosaurs on record as having that kind of problem solving capabilities were Velociraptors.
Holy fucking shit.
I rounded on Dr. Wu grabbing him by the collar pushing him up against the wall. I expected him to recoil in fear, but instead his eyes narrowed in calculation. Good. I was really hoping he fought back.
"You're a fucking maniac," I whispered at him menacingly.
"Jo, let him go! What are you doing?" Claire asked, desperately trying to diffuse the situation.
"I don't know what you're talking about Ms. King," Dr. Wu stated calmly. The beads of sweat forming on his brow betrayed his cool exterior.
I heard Claire fumbling with her telephone asking for immediate assistance in her office. I leaned even closer to Dr. Wu, "Oh, you know exactly what I'm talking about. You used raptor DNA and who know what else to make that thing. What the hell were you thinking?"
"It's called evolution."
Jesus, and people think I'm batshit crazy.
"You're done," I told him letting go of his shirt collar.
He sagged back against the wall adjusting his clothes, "We'll see." He smiled at me smugly as I turned and left a confused Claire in my wake.
This was worse than I had dreamed, and I can dream up some pretty fucked up shit. I couldn't tell Claire about the raptor DNA. Anyone who knew would be a target, and InGen didn't play by the rules. Claire was all but defenseless, and I refused to put her safety at risk. I needed to get home and talk with Owen then we could figure out what the hell we were going to do.
I debated calling him on the way home, but decided this type of bad news needed to be delivered face-to-face. It was after seven o'clock by the time I started the journey home on the winding jungle road. I probably should have showered at headquarters before going home considering I was covered in another person's blood. Owen was going to have a significant emotional event when he saw me. Maybe I could sneak a quick shower in at my place without him noticing. I rolled my eyes at the thought. That was about as likely as having a winning lottery ticket under my car seat.
I was mentally practicing my "calm down Owen it's not my blood speech" when something slammed into the passenger side of the Jeep with such force it sent my head colliding into the window with a sickening thwack. My vision narrowed and blackened as I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. I heard the crunch of metal giving way as the door buckled under the pressure of whatever had hit me. I felt the Jeep spin 180 degrees and desperately craned the wheel in the opposite direction to stop the momentum. I couldn't see anything through the fog of pain in my head and the ringing in my ears.
Then I felt the bottom of my stomach drop like I had jumped out of an airplane as the Jeep tumbled over the side of the cliff edge. For a brief second the Jeep was motionless, suspended in midair, I sucked in a ragged breath bracing one hand on the roof over my head and the other on the window just before the Jeep plummeting down the edge of the cliff, my stomach climbing into my throat.
The Jeep rolled for what seemed like miles down the steep face, the metal from the Jeep buckling and crunching under the onslaught. Glass shards flew around the interior striking me in the face, arms and neck. I shut my eyes more out of fear then for any kind of protection, and I wished I could block out the sounds of the crash. The crunch of metal as we collided with rocks and trees tore the Jeep apart piece by piece. I felt something pierce the upper left side of my rib cage and sucked in a breath, a low moan of pain escaping. This was it. This was the end. I had survived a lot of things, but this would not be one of them.
Mercifully the deadly descent down the cliff finally ceased with an ear shattering bang. The Jeep came to a stop upside down on the partially concaved roof. I hung suspended in the seat as blood dripped down my face and fingers pelting the roof like raindrops. I made a halfhearted attempt to release the seat belt, but the buckle was stuck.
I wasn't really sure I could sell Owen on the 'don't worry it's not my blood' story anymore. I was somewhat surprised I was still alive, but could tell by the way my body was functioning I wasn't going to be for too long if I stayed like this. My breathing was coming in uneven pants, and I was scared I'd pass out before I could extricate myself from this seat belt.
I reach down for my boot attempting to grab my knife, but stopped when blinding pain shot through my left side. I screamed, leaning back against the seat closing my eyes as a wave of nausea rolled through me. I gingerly touched my left side looking down, and saw a jagged piece of metal sticking out just beneath my rib cage.
"Oh shit."
Without knowing the internal damage I couldn't risk pulling it out; it could do more harm than good. I'd just have to leave it there and hope it didn't exacerbate the injury when I fell out of the seat. Jesus, if it wasn't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all.
I decided to pull my leg up instead of bending down and was just able to reach the handle of my knife attached to my boot, tugging it free. It took me a few seconds to wipe the blood out of my eyes before I could see well enough to position the knife under the seat belt. It took another few seconds to work up the courage to cut the damn thing.
"Fuck it."
I cut the seat belt in one fast, swift motion. The knife shredded the belt with no trouble, and I dropped to the roof like a stone. White, hot pain tore through my body as my vision blackened to pin holes. My stomach revolted and I vomited causing another bout of agony to ripple through me. I slowly moved to lie on my right side to ease the pain radiating in my left. I needed to stay conscious if I had any hope of surviving this. If I passed out it could be hours or days before anyone found me, and I didn't have that kind of time.
I tried to find something else to focus on other than the pain or dying in the heap of crushed metal that use to be my Jeep. The only thing that broke through the fog was an image of Owen. Brave, kind, funny Owen. It didn't seem fair that I had just found him, and now it seemed I would lose him. I wanted to see him again, to talk to him. He would blame himself for this, and it would haunt him. Tears pricked at my eyes as I thought about him, and the pain I was feeling now had nothing to do with my physical injuries. I had to try to get help; I owed Owen that much.
I opened my eyes groaning as the pain intensified in my head. It was pitch black and I could barely see my hands in front of my face. I was sure the massive concussion wasn't helping either. Fumbling in the dark for anything I could use I felt something small and rectangle brush against my fingers. I pulled it towards me praying it would be my salvation. I clumsily handled my phone pressing the home screen hoping it still worked. The cracked screen lit up with a blinding light and I slammed my eyes shut in protest. Jesus, what was this thing powered by the surface of the sun? I cracked open my eyes pressing one on my speed dial and putting it on speakerphone. The phone rang loudly and I let my head drop down into a sticky puddle of what I assumed was blood.
"Hey, you almost here?" Owen answered distracted. He was probably making lasagna without a care in the world. Hearing his sultry voice made my eyes tear up again.
"No, I'm going to be a little late," I choked out.
All the commotion in the background at Owen's stopped the moment he heard my voice, "What's wrong?" I heard him yell to Barry in the background. I'd forgotten he was coming over tonight for dinner.
"Accident," I told him, struggling to form the words. I could feel myself fading as my vision narrowed and caused a vicious dizzy spell. I couldn't keep my eyes open without blood pouring in. I rubbed my sleeve across my face, accomplishing little with the action except creating more pain. I hissed and attempted to cradle my my broken wrist. Was there any part of my body that wasn't broken right now?
"Jo, talk to me. Do you know where you are?" Owen said urgently.
"Bottom of a cliff."
"Barry, do you have Lowery? Track her phone. Have him send it to my Jeep and tell him to contact Hamada," Owen shouted to Barry, his voice filled with authority. I heard Barry speaking urgently as Owen started the Jeep. "Jo, we're on our way. Hang on."
He was coming, that was good. If I didn't have a three foot piece of metal protruding from my body I'd be annoyed with this being the second time Owen might save my life. I was not the type of woman who needed a knight in shining armor, but right now I was willing to make a concession.
"Jo! Goddammit, talk to me!" Owen yelled into the phone. Had I not answered him?
"I'm here," I muttered weakly.
"Baby, please tell me what's going on." He sounded so terrified it broke my heart. I wanted to ease his worry and tell him I was going to be all right, but I had promised him I would never lie to him. There wasn't a lot I could offer Owen, but the truth was one of those things so I swore to always give it to him. I couldn't break that promise, even now.
"Owen…I'm…I'm not going to make it." I was crying now. Crying for how this would hurt Owen. Crying for everything that might have been.
"Yes you are. Do you hear me? I know where you are and we're almost there. Do you remember what I told you that night on the river?" he asked, leaving no room for argument. It was the same tone he used with the raptors. It made me smile. I could hear Barry in the background speaking in hushed tones with someone.
"I remember," I told him recalling the first time he'd saved my life. Truth was, Owen had done more than save my life since I'd met him. He'd saved my soul.
"I meant it. I'll always come for you Jo and I'm coming now so you have to hold up your end of the bargain, do you understand?" He was pleading with me now. I nodded along to his words even though he couldn't see me.
"Just in case…"
He cut me off with a firm voice, "No, none of that shit. I don't want to hear it like this. Save your deathbed confession for when we're 90."
Forgetting I was a human shish kabob I laughed, and promptly screamed in pain. Fucking Owen and his sense of humor. That man would literally be the death of me.
"Shit. Baby, I'm sorry. Fuck, Barry how far?" He was in an outright panic now. If I wasn't the cause of his freak out I would have liked to see a panicked Owen. It was such a departure from his normal cool as a cucumber demeanor that it was probably a real sight. Popcorn and candy worthy even. I'd have to ask Barry if I survived this.
I felt something warm and wet rushing down my body. I used the phone's light to look at the metal embedded in my rib cage, and saw a steady flow of gushing red blood. Well, fuck. This was not good.
"Owen, how far away are you?" I asked attempted to stem the blood flow with just my hands.
"Not far. Ten minutes, maybe. Why?"
This much blood in that area probably meant a ruptured spleen, which meant I'd probably be unconscious in 10 minutes from blood loss.
"I don't have 10 minutes," I told him honestly.
"Jo," he answered hesitantly.
"Listen, I think my spleen is ruptured. Even if it's not…there's too much blood. I…I can't focus anymore. Hit my head…concussion. Pretty bad, I think. Please don't blame yourself for this. You are the best…thing that ever…happened to me."
I closed my eyes trying to stop the flow of blood coming from too many places on my body. I heard Owen's voice in the background, but he sounded like he was under water. I wanted to reassure him, let him know he would get through this, but I couldn't move. I pictured Owen in my mind, all the time we'd spent together, and how happy it made me as I slipped away. I wanted his face to be the last thing I remembered in this life. I could feel his arms around my body, and his breath on my face as if he was right in front of me. I could almost hear his voice telling me he loved me as I slipped away into the void.
IdaRose89: Thanks for much for reading and reviewing. I'm glad you are enjoying the story and hope you stick with it :)
Desert Vulpes Zerda: You're right the last one was kinda short. Hopefully this chapter makes up for that and then some. Let me know!
jahoney: Thanks again for the review. Hope you liked this chapter as there is a lot going on that will propel everything forward, including into the sequel.
BlueEyedPisces: I loved how bad Simon was at flying the helicopter in the movie. That is terrifying so I had to put it in...it made me smile. You're right, the I-Rex is the stuff of nightmares. Thanks for reading/reviewing!
angelicedg: I loved doing that to Hoskins. I probably could have written a whole chapter of him must getting his ass handed to him...LOL! Thanks!
god of all: Thanks for reading and reviewing. Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter, it's a doozy.
Malfoy-Whitlock-21: Yes, Hoskins deserves all he gets and then some :) Thanks again for reading and reviewing. Hope this one was to your liking!
sarahmichellegellarfan1: Thanks again, and hope you enjoyed!
