Chapter 32

The drive back to the ARC was like some sort of vivid nightmare - like it was all happening to other people and Jenny was just a spectator. Connor had ran to fetch the car - how long he was gone, Jenny couldn't even begin to guess - and to her vague surprise, he had brought Ben with him, carrying a bag full of something she didn't question, nor remotely care about at that time. All she cared about was getting Nick into the capable hands of the ARC medics.

Connor had ended up driving; indeed, Jenny doubted whether she'd be able to even handle the steering wheel considering how badly she was shaking. She was kneeling in the spacious back seat, Nick's head resting on her lap, and Ben had sat in the front passenger seat, glancing back every now and then, his cool detachment not quite masking the apprehension in his gaze. He had already given Nick a shot of painkiller that he had obviously stolen from the pharmacy before helping Connor carry him to the car, although Jenny knew he thought it pointless; it was clear that Ben thought he was going to die.

"Come on, stay with me . . ." Jenny mumbled to Nick as his eyes closed again, her hand on his clammy forehead. "Stay with me . . . can't you drive any faster?" she added to Connor sharply.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" he replied, his panic evident. "We'll be coming across the perimeter of soldiers soon, and I don't want to risk hitting one of them!"

"I'm serious Connor - he's not going to make it," she said, her voice trembling as her fingers felt for a pulse on Nick's neck - yes, it was still there, but so incredibly faint that she had trouble detecting it at first.

Connor looked around, his frightened eyes taking in Nick's almost translucent face and sickly sweat, before he turned back and slammed on the accelerator, clearly convinced that Nick wasn't going to survive if they didn't get back soon.

Jenny looked back down at Nick, hot tears still falling like a waterfall down her cheek. She noticed that his shaking was more pronounced now, and his breathing was coming in short, gargling pants as though he was struggling to draw air into his lungs. Ben seemed to have noticed this too, as he turned in his seat again, reaching back and placing the palm of his hand on Nick's chest. Whatever he was looking for, he clearly wasn't happy with his discovery, and immediately, he clambered into the back seat, looking grim as he settled by Nicks legs and leaned forward, pressing his ear up against Nicks ribs.

"Respiratory system failing," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else as he straightened up.

"What?" Jenny gapped, dread pumping through her.

"His lungs are filling with blood," he said more clearly as he reached into the front seat and dragged his mysterious bag back with him. "Pull over," he added to Connor sharply as fished inside it.

"What?" Connor exclaimed. "I can't - we haven't got time - "

"If I don't do this now, he'll be dead in a few minutes. Pullover!" he barked, pulling out a medical kit and unzipping it quickly. "Lucky we came across a pharmacy - "

"What are you going to do?" Jenny demanded as Connor pulled over at the side of the deserted road.

"Drain the fluid," he replied absently as he pulled out a large, foreboding needle and held it up to his eyes.

"You can't be serious!" Jenny argued, her heart palpitating. "You don't know what you're doing - "

"Look, it's our only option!" he interrupted forcefully. "And I've done this enough times, don't worry."

"I thought you didn't care if he lived or died?" Jenny pointed out cruelly.

"Yes, but you do," he replied shortly. "Oi, I'll need you back here," he added to Connor, who immediately scrambled out of the drivers seat and rounded the car, opening the door behind Jenny.

"What can I do?" he asked in a jittery voice, poking his head over Jenny's shoulder.

"I need you both to hold him down by his arms," Ben replied, distracted as he took out a syringe from the bag and fixed it to the needle, giving off the air of someone who knew what he was doing. "There's no time to anaesthetise the area, so it's going to bloody hurt him, and he's going to struggle. Can you both do that?"

"Yes," Connor answered immediately, a determined look in his eye as he reached forward and pulled Nick's left arm up and held his shoulder down firmly.

"Mum?" Ben pushed, looking Jenny directly in the eye.

Hesitating, she glanced back down at Nick, watching him as he took another pained, wheezing breath.

They had no choice.

"God, please forgive me," she sighed as she took his arm and pressed down on his shoulder. "Just do it," she added to Ben numbly.

He nodded, his hand travelling across Nicks ribs, prodding gingerly as though trying to find the exact spot. Eventually, he paused over a certain area, and held the needle over it; his hand surprisingly steady, and his expression one of intense concentration. He took a deep breath, before plunging the needle directly into the torso.

Immediately, Nick jolted and tensed, moaning in complete and utter agony. Trying to ignore her horror, Jenny continued to hold him down tightly, and felt Connor doing the same from beside her. Slowly, Ben drew a large amount of deep red liquid into the syringe, his tongue between his teeth in concentration. Eventually, he withdrew it and threw the used needle over Connor's head and out of the car. As he busied himself with making another syringe, Jenny felt Nick relax slightly, his eyes fluttering as though he was trying to open them.

"It's nearly over," she whispered into his ear, feeling the heat blazing off him as though he was a radiator. "You've done amazingly . . . just hold on . . ."

Ben repeated the procedure on the right side of Nick's chest; the sound of his pained shouts causing the bile to rise in Jenny's stomach. She tried to compose herself and keep holding him down, but she found that she had to look away from the horrific sight or else she was going to break down herself. Connor looked as white as a sheet next to her; his eyes wide with shock and swimming with tears.

After a few intense and painful moments, Ben finally withdrew the needle.

"That should do him until we get back," he stated in a small voice as he straightened up.

Jenny, however, barely took in anything he said. As soon as the needle was withdrawn from Nick's chest, she staggered out of the car, and before she could stop herself, she bent over and vomited at the side of the road, the foul stink of blood and the echos of her husbands agonising screams too much . . . it was all too much . . . she almost felt his pain . . . felt it as though it had been her chest getting stabbed.

Gentle arms were around her shoulders, kind and comforting, and when she eventually brought herself to straighten up, she saw that it was Connor. His face was drawn, and he looked as though he was about to be violently sick himself, but he seemed to keep himself together as he pulled her into a hug. She clung to his shaking arm tightly, and he held her patiently as she sobbed.

"That - that was horrible - " she cried, her voice muffled in Connor's jumper.

"I know," he replied, his voice tense. "But it's over now . . . it's over . . ."

From over Connor's shoulder, Jenny saw that Nick looked as pale as ever, although breathing seemed to have become a lot easier for him. Ben was leaning over him, dressing his fresh wounds, not a hint of a reaction on his tanned face.