"Gemma! Gemma! Wake up!" Warrick called. Gemma jerked awake, sitting up straight. The car was speeding down the interstate.
"Warrick?"
"Baby, get Jess up here in the front with you. Hold her tight, down low." Warrick ordered. Gemma hurried to do as he said, without question. As she pulled Jessica out of the back seat, she looked out the back window. A black truck was barreling towards them. Gemma let out a cry of fear.
"They're going to ram us!"
"Get up here!" Warrick swerved to avoid a slower car, the truck stayed with him. "Get down, get your seatbelt back on!" He suddenly wished he'd gotten something with four wheel drive. He wished for something that could offer some sort of protection. He wanted his SUV, he knew what it was capable of.
Gemma buckled herself and Jessica into the seat, curling her body around the smaller one as much as she could as the impact of the truck ramming them caused the little Honda to jerk. Warrick kept the car under control, swerving to the left then swerving back to the right, and onto the off ramp. "Damn! Keep your head down, honey!" He bellowed a split second before the back window exploded.
"They're shooting at us!" Gemma shrieked. "Oh God!" she began to sob as Warrick let out a small sound of pain. Looking up, she saw his sleeve being stained a crimson red. "Warrick!"
"Hang on!" Warrick hit the accelerator as he yanked the wheel as hard as he could. The little car lurched to the left, on two wheels. He managed to right the car again and spun them back up the off ramp and into the traffic, leaving their pursuers behind. Gemma turned to watch as the truck bounced across the meridian.
"They're coming again!" She yelled. Warrick pushed the little car as fast as it could go, diving between two semi haulers. The trucks honked at him, but he paid them no attention, his only focus was on out running the black truck before they managed to get more after them. He waited until the next off ramp, and shot out from between the two trucks at the last moment. As luck would have it, the driver of the black truck was trying to pass the hauler's and didn't see him exit until too late.
Warrick let out a weak chuckle but wasted no more energy, instead he aimed for a clump of trees ahead of them. He needed to hide, he needed to tend to his wounds, he needed another car. Steam was streaming out of the front edge of the hood. He slowed the car and pulled into an almost hidden driveway. The car chugged a moment then with a loud moan, stopped all together. "Gemma…..we gotta get out of the car. The engine is on fire." He rasped, now that his focus was off the car chase, he could feel the pain of his wounds.
Gemma and Jessica got out of the car and circled around the back to his door. Warrick had managed to open the door by the time they got there, but nothing else. Gemma saw the blood spreading over his entire left side. "Warrick? Oh, God!"
"Take my gun. Go up to that house, demand that they give you keys to whatever vehicle they have." Warrick offered the gun. Gemma looked up the inclined driveway, noticing the house for the first time.
"I can't do that." She sighed. Instead, she threaded her arm behind him, lifting him to his feet. He clung to her, weak, as she guided him away from the car.
"Baby, you've got to." Warrick winced as she leaned him against a large boulder. "You've got to get Jessica out of here. It won't take them long to find us."
"I'm not leaving you!" Gemma hissed, turning as she heard someone approaching. A large, heavyset man was jogging down the drive from the house, carrying a fire extinguisher. He immediately went to the car, spraying the flames that were now engulfing the hood. Once the fire was out, he turned to his trespassers.
Gemma stood between Warrick and the man, as if to protect him. Warrick was holding onto his side with his left hand, his cocked gun hung loosely in his right as he eyed the big man. Jessica looked up at him with frightened, tear soaked eyes.
"Good Lord!" the man gasped, taking in Warrick's injuries.
"Please sir, we need help." Gemma pleaded. The Big man looked to be in his early sixties and reminded her of a picture her grandmother had had of Elvis. He had styled his dark, salt and pepper hair exactly like Elvis had worn it. Gemma looked into the man's hazel eyes and took an immediate liking to him. "Will you help us?"
"I'll call an ambulance." He nodded
"No!" Warrick groaned. "We don't have time!"
"Do you have a car?" Gemma questioned. "We have to get to Nevada."
"Jackpot." Warrick gasped.
"He isn't going to make it all the way to Jackpot." The man surmised. "Not unless we can stop the bleeding."
"Will you drive us to Jackpot?" Gemma questioned. She wanted to get Warrick to a hospital, but knew they couldn't chance it just yet. Not unless they wanted to be found. And she wasn't about to leave him.
"Yeah, I've got a van. I'll go get it." The man nodded, hustling his large body back up the drive.
"Go…..with….him." Warrick offered her his gun again.
"We are all going with him." Gemma insisted as the man backed the van towards them. "I'm not leaving you. I'll take care of you."
The man stopped just in front of them, opened the back of the van then turned to Warrick. "Can you get in, or do I have to put you in?"
"Just take them. I'll be fine here." Warrick commanded. The man looked to Gemma.
"Put him in please." She sniffed. "Do you have a first aid kit in the van?"
"It's gonna take more than a first aid kit." The man grunted as he lifted Warrick into the back of the van. Gemma put Jessica in and crawled in after them. The man closed the back of the van and went around into the front of the van. "Here kid, give this to your mom." He held up a large white box. Jessica carried the box to Gemma, then squatted beside Warrick's head, looking at all the blood.
"Thank you Mr……."Gemma called as the van began to move.
"Virgil, Just call me Virgil."
"Thank you Virgil." Gemma called, opening the first aid kit. Pulling out a pair of scissors, she cut Warrick's shirt off. She let out a small sound, half whimper, half scream.
"Oh Warrick!" Tears filled her eyes as she saw the oozing wound.
"sss'no'so'bad" Warrick gave her a half smile, his eyes barely open.
"Did the bullet go all the way through?" Virgil called from the front.
"I don't know!" Gemma cried out, panic setting in.
"Roll him over, see if there's a hole on the backside too." Virgil ordered. "Get a hold on yourself girly!"
Gemma sucked in a deep breath, grasping at her frazzled nerves. Concentrating on breathing normally, she gently rolled Warrick to his right side. He let out a whimper as it hurt both his side and the wound on his right shoulder.
"Yes!" Gemma called out.
"Good! You don't have to worry about the bullet. You know anything about doctoring?"
"I've never dealt with anything more than a scrape or bruise."
"He bleeding from both sides?"
"Yes."
"You need to stop the bleeding. Is there enough skin to sew together?" Virgil questioned, watching Gemma in the rearview mirror. Gemma looked at both wounds.
"Maybe the back one." Gemma fought back nausea. "The front side looks bigger, torn more."
"He was shot in the back." Virgil noted. "Only way you can stop the front from bleeding is to cauterize it. You know what I mean?"
"That's burning the skin, right?" Gemma trembled. "How do I do that?" She wouldn't let herself get sick. Warrick was slipping away as they spoke. His ashen face held no expression. His eyes wore glazed over with pain. She didn't think he could even here them discussing him.
"You need to heat up a piece of metal until it's red hot."
Gemma looked around her, there was nothing metal. "All I have are the scissors! I don't even have anything to heat it up with!" Gemma wailed.
"Send the kid up here again. I have a knife and a lighter. You gonna be able to do this miss?"
No, Gemma thought, but she looked down at Warrick's beautiful face. "Yes. For Warrick, I can do this."
"Good! Come here kid."
Gemma unbuckled Warrick's belt and slid it out of his belt loops while Jessica brought back first the pocket knife, then the lighter. She pried open his mouth, and put the belt in across his teeth, as far back as she could
"Good thinking." Virgil chortled.
Opening the knife, Gemma straddled Warrick's legs, knowing that the pain she was about to inflict was going to cause him to fight her if he came to. "Jess, why don't you go sit up front with Mr. Virgil?" Gemma suggested. Jessica frowned at her and positioned herself next to Warrick's head. "No! Da'Oh Hewt!"
"Yes, Daddy is hurt." Gemma agreed. "Okay, you can stay. You put your hand there on his head, it'll make him feel better if he knows you're here helping." Gemma flicked on the lighter and began to heat up the blade.
"I'm so sorry darling……so sorry." she murmured as she touched his abused flesh with the iron hot blade. Warrick's eyes flew open at the intense pain, his body bucked, trying to get away from the source of the pain. Tears streaming down her face, Gemma reheated the blade.
Warrick's eyes were open now, watching her through a feverish haze. "I'm so sorry. I bet you're wishing you never met me right about now." Gemma sniveled, putting the blade in the next raw spot. Warrick was now alert enough to control his body, but a moan of pain escaped him.
"Da'oh hewt!" Jessica crooned to him, patting his forehead. Warrick looked up at the little girls concerned face and forced a sick smile.
'Hey." He managed, as Gemma reheated the blade. She shifted, forcing he attention to the back side, which was now bleeding more. As she placed her blade this injury, Warrick twitched and his eyes rolled back into his head.
"Warrick!" Gemma screamed, seeing this happen.
"Just get on with it!" Virgil commanded from behind the wheel. "He's just passed out from the pain. Get it done before he comes back to."
Gemma continued her work, stopping occasionally to check to see if Warrick was still breathing. After both wounds were cleaned and bandaged, she took off her blouse, cutting it into slices, and wrapped his midsection tightly. Finally, rolling him onto his back, she turned her attention to the wound on his shoulder.
Having had him laying on the shoulder, it had staunched the flow of blood, but the wound had foreign matter in it. As she cleaned it, it began to bleed again, heavily. Once again, she heated the blade up and pressed it to his skin. Warrick made a gurgling sound, but didn't move. Choking back her own cries of anguish, Gemma cleaned and bandaged the shoulder.
"Quit feeling so bad, you just saved the boy's life." Virgil called.
"Kiss Mommy!" Jessica was pulling on her shirt. "Kiss Da'oh!"
"What?" Gemma looked and felt confused.
"Kiss Da'oh, fell betta!" Jessica urged, knowing that Mommy's kiss always made her feel better."
Gemma removed the belt from his mouth then leaned over, kissing Warrick's fevered lips. "You too sweetie! He needs all the kisses he can get right now." Jessica leaned over, planting her wet childish kiss onto Warrick.
Gemma tossed everything she had used back into the box then crawled over Warrick. She leaned against the side of the van, putting Warrick's head into her lap. Jessica snuggled up against her, sticking her thumb into her mouth. She ran her fingers over his face, like she'd done before, trying to give some comfort to the unconscious man. She closed her eyes, letting the tears slide silently down her face.
"Mommy?" Jessica sniveled. "Da'Oh seeping"
"Yes, he's sleeping." Gemma ran a finger down his hot face to the pulse point on his neck. She relaxed as she felt a weak, but stead pulse. "He's sick." She looked to the front, seeing that it was growing dark outside.
"You know where you're going in Jackpot?" Virgil asked, seeing her gazing in her direction. "We're making good time, we'll be there in less than an hour."
"I'm not sure." Gemma felt around, finding the track phone in Warrick's pocket. She pulled it out, first trying to call Gil.
"User out of Service Area."
Irrationally angry, she punched in the number that would call Nick. It took three rings before someone answered.
"Ello?" A nasally voice sounded in her ear. Gemma didn't recognize the voice, she checked to make sure she'd called the right number. She swallowed roughly, afraid to speak. "Warrick? That you? This is David Hodges. Warrick?"
"No, it's not Warrick. He's hurt." Gemma whimpered. "Where's Nick? I need to talk to Nick."
"You're Gemma?" Hodges guessed. "They all are on their way to Jackpot, to meet you. What's wrong with Warrick?"
"They……shot…..him." Gemma choked out, starting to hyperventilate. "There's so much blood!…..Blood…..everywhere."
"Where are you? Are you close to Jackpot?"
"Soon." Gemma moaned. "We'll be there soon. He's hurt bad! He's dying."
"Just get to Jackpot, Gemma." Hodges snapped. "He'll be fine if you get him to Jackpot. Nick is there, and Grissom. They'll take care of him."
"No!" Gemma snarled. "I'm taking care of him! He's my……my……."She froze, realizing that he wasn't her anything. Once, she could have called him her friend, but that was no longer true. A friend doesn't torture a man like she had just done.
"They're at the border, waiting for you." Hodges could tell that the woman was getting hysterical. "Gemma, calm down and talk to me. How are you getting there?"
"A man…..Virgil….he's driving."
"What are you riding in?"
"The back of a yellow van." Gemma remembered getting into the van, although it seemed like a long time ago. She looked down at Warrick's pale face and prayed that he wouldn't die. "Please don't let him die! I love him."
Hodges heard the passionately whispered words and felt a strange emotion well up in his chest. Although he'd never be considered a friend of Warrick's he respected the man, even liked him, although David Hodges rarely liked anyone, not even himself. He didn't want the man to die, Warrick was one of the rare people that understood his humor. He didn't get mad about a snide remark, he just countered it with one of his own. Hodges respected that in a man.
"Just hold on for a little longer." He told the distraught woman. "He's tough."
"Thank you." Gemma whimpered. "You're a very nice man."
Hodges laughed at that. No one ever called him a nice man. "I'm hanging up now, I'll call Nick and tell them you're on your way."