Chapter 9 - The Siege of Blackwood Manor
Sal never pulled the trigger.
From the shadows behind Gabriel, I didn't think about nursing ethics, the Hippocratic Oath, or the civilized world I had left behind twenty-four hours ago. I thought of Benny lying in a pool of his own blood on the diner linoleum. I thought of Rosa living like a terrified ghost in Apartment 4B.
I leaned past Gabriel’s shoulder and hurled the heavy, balanced chef's knife with everything I had.
The knife spun through the air, catching Sal squarely in his right forearm.
Sal shrieked in shock and pain, his grip failing as the nickel-plated revolver slipped from his fingers, clattering loudly down the metal stairs.
"Now, Gabriel!" I screamed.
Gabriel leaped down the stairs like a panther unchained. He slammed Sal against the concrete wall, driving a brutal elbow into the old man's jaw, followed by a vicious knee into his ribs. Sal dropped to his knees, clutching his broken face, wheezing through mouthfuls of blood.
Gabriel picked up the fallen revolver, pressed the cold barrel against the back of Sal's neck, and whispered, "Give my regards to my father."
*BANG.*
Sal’s body slumped onto the concrete.
Gabriel grabbed my arm, pulling me through the heavy fire door onto the thirtieth floor just as heavy boots thundered down the stairs above us.
"Maintenance elevator," Gabriel directed, his breathing ragged.
We sprinted through the darkened commercial floor, ducking under cubicles and emergency exit signs, until we reached the industrial freight elevator. Gabriel jammed a heavy steel master key into the manual override panel, turning it hard.
The heavy steel mesh doors slid shut just as three Moretti mercenaries burst into the office space, their automatic rifles blazing. The bullets sparked wildly off the reinforced metal mesh as the heavy freight elevator groaned, descending rapidly into the dark bowels of the Ironwood Tower.
The descent was silent, save for the hum of the industrial cables and our synchronized, ragged breathing.
Gabriel sank against the elevator wall, sliding down until he was sitting on the diamond-plate steel floor. His face was pale again, but this time it wasn't from hunger or paranoia—it was from the sheer physical toll of surviving an impossible siege. Blood soaked the entire left side of his charcoal jacket.
I dropped to my knees beside him, ripping off my chef's apron and tearing it into long, clean strips.
"Take off your jacket," I commanded, my voice firm and authoritative.
"Norah, we have to keep moving—"
"Take it off, Gabriel Hayes, or I will let you bleed out right here on this floor," I snapped, my eyes flashing with absolute defiance.
A faint, tired smile touched his lips. He slowly peeled the ruined coat off, hissing in pain as the fabric pulled away from the bullet wound on his shoulder.
The round had passed cleanly through the deltoid muscle, missing the bone and the major brachial artery. It was a through-and-through wound. Painful, messy, but completely survivable.
Working with rapid, practiced efficiency, I packed the wound with sterile gauze from the elevator's emergency first-aid kit, wrapped the strips of my apron tightly around his shoulder, and tied a firm, secure knot to stem the hemorrhage.
"You're going to live," I whispered, tying off the bandage, my hands finally stopping their violent trembling.
Gabriel looked up at me. His dark eyes were filled with an emotion so deep, so profoundly vulnerable, that it took my breath away. He reached out, his rough, calloused fingers cupping the side of my face.
"You saved me three times," Gabriel murmured, his voice thick with emotion. "Once with food. Once with a pan of boiling soup. And once with a knife."
"I told you," I whispered back, a tired tear slipping down my nose. "I'm a nurse. I keep people from dying."
"You're more than that, Norah Bennett," Gabriel said softly as the freight elevator ground to a halt with a heavy, industrial shudder.
May you like
The doors slid open, revealing the cold, dimly lit subterranean tunnels that led out beneath the city streets, far beyond the reach of the burning tower above.
***
