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When Stratt heard screaming from within the building she knew something was wrong.
The people she’d hired didn’t scream like that over nothing.
She ran for the building, trying to find which room the screaming was coming from.
It was the room nearest to the back door.
She opened the door and nearly vomited.
Blood was everywhere. It coated the walls. Bloody hand prints were dragged along the floor.
The screams were louder now. They were coming from a man she didn’t recognize. He shouldn’t be here. She’d hired everyone personally. She knew every face, every name. He shouldn’t be here.
Off to one side were Dubois, Shapiro and- Grace.
“Get me an ambulance and security to the west side building- now,” she barked into the radio on her hip.
“Copy,” a voice sounded from the radio.
Dubois and Shapiro were on the ground clutching at wounds in agony. Grace was beside them putting his full body weight on coats that covered the most of their wounds. He had a belt with a rag strapped high around his left leg almost at his groin, which had little to no weight put on it, his right leg trembling from holding him up.
The man she didn’t recognize was clutching his chest- his screams gurgling. Blood spraying as he screamed. A trashcan had been dragged through the blood and was flipped upside down and a gene sequencer nearly the size of a refrigerator was sitting haphazardly on top of it.
“What happened,” Stratt barked, her voice cutting through the noise and she marched over. She kept her gaze locked on Grace.
“Sh-shooter,” Grace replied hoarsely. “Got all three of us, but I managed to knock him over before he could get anyone else.” He made a guttural sound of pain but kept talking. “Dubois got hit first in the side. I got hit second in the leg. Shapiro last in the shoulder.” His voice faltered slightly he pushed on. “Ambulance won’t make it in time. I c-called the on site doctor. Should be here s-soon.” His voice was barely a whisper now, his whole body shaking from strain and bloodloss.
Stratt knelt down beside him, not caring that her clothes were now covered in blood.
“I’ll take over here,” she commanded, “you need to lay down or you’ll pass out from bloodloss. Most of this blood is yours- how are you still up?” She asked, swiftly taking over putting pressure on both Dubois’s side wound, and Shapiro’s shoulder.
Grace collapsed to the ground, exhausted. “The shooter,” he groaned, not answering Startt’s question, “is he dead yet-,”
Stratt looked over to the man- not having realized that his screams had dwindled to practically nothing.
“Can’t tell- did you shoot him?” Stratt asked, looking Grace over as she continued to keep pressure on Dubois and Shapiro’s wounds. They both were groaning at the increase in pressure, their eyes wide and unfocused. They were probably both in shock. How Grace wasn’t- she didn’t know.
Grace shook his head weakly from where he lay on the floor. “Sh-Shapiro d-did after I t-tackled him. I k-kicked it under the trash can- m-moved the gene se-sequencer over it so he co- couldn’t get the g-gun again.” His voice was shaky and breathless. His eyes started to lose focus.
“Dr. Grace, keep talking,” she commanded. He couldn’t lose consciousness yet. They needed the doctor now.
His unfocused gaze drifted listlessly. He weakly tried to sit up and cried out as he put more pressure on his inner thigh.
“D-don’t wanna,” he slurred, his voice failing. His skin had turned gray. His face pale.
“That wasn’t a question, keep talking,” she demanded her voice rising with pitch.
He didn’t answer.
“Ryland-,” she barked.
“Wh-what?” He whimpered. “Y-you never c-call m-me th-that,”
A barked, wet laugh escaped her before she could stop it. “You need to focus. Was there anyone else who got hurt?”
He was silent for a moment. She almost thought he’d passed out, but then. “N-no, a-all left-n’ press th-the s-silent alarm,”
“Good. You’ve done so well. Right now you need to focus on staying awake.” She instructed.
“How far is the doctor?” She barked into her radio.
“Two minutes,” the doctor replied, “Grace told me about the bullet wounds. How many and how fatal?”
“Four,” Grace croaked from where he lay.
“Four,” Stratt repeated, “three ours, one the shooter. Shooter might be dead. Grace lost the most blood but Dubois and Shapiro went into shock,” Stratt explained.
Static crackled over the radio for a moment.
“Grace didn’t?” He asked surprised.
“Not yet,” Stratt answered. “He will soon. He started slurring his words a few minutes ago.”
The doctor later told her that he’d worked on Grace for six hours. He nearly lost his leg. He nearly bled out on the table.
But somehow he was alive. Breathing softly, an oxygen mask pressed over his sleeping face. He was on a lot of medications that made him sleepy, but he was alive.
So were Shapiro and Dubois. The doctor said that if Grace hadn’t called when he had- they might’ve all been in worse condition. He’d saved their lives- while also nearly losing his own leg.
They needed to send someone on the mission in three weeks. It was supposed to be Dubois- Shapiro if something happened to Dubois. But now she was considering Grace. Having someone who could work under intense pain during an emergency and not fall apart until help arrived would be a crucial skill to have on the ship- especially if something went wrong. His ability to handle a crisis might be able to save them out in space. She didn’t know.
The first thing Grace asked when he woke up- and somehow he woke up before Dubois and Shapiro despite being on the same amount of medications and having been worked on for far longer than they were- was how Shapiro and Dubois were.
Stratt nearly laughed. “They’re fine. They’re heavily medicated after being stitched up, just like you. They should wake within the hour,” she explained.
Grace nodded, a small smile gracing his lips. “Good,” he whispered, before falling back to sleep.
Stratt had a decision to make. Should she send Dubois like she’d originally planned- or send Grace. He had been at every meeting Dubois and Shapiro had been at- he knew Astrophage just as well- and he stopped them both from dying while also bleeding out.