Sin of Silence (Sinner's Empire #1) - Nikita Slater Page 0,6

her shoulder. She glanced back, and realized they weren’t alone. There was a human-shaped bundle of rags on the ground. She stared at it for a few seconds, then took a tentative step forward, the doctor in her both curious and worried. If there was an injured person there, she would have no choice but to try to help them.

The stench of urine became strong as she approached warily. She dropped to her knees next to the bundle, realizing right away that she was correct, there was a person underneath the dirt, blood and torn clothes. She glared up at her captor before turning her attention to the man on the floor. She did her best to assess his injuries both visually and with her hands. He was still breathing, though his breaths were shallow. His pulse was weak but erratic and there was a blue tinge to his lips.

“You want me to attend this man?” she asked without looking up, her fingers flying over his injuries, while her brain assessed what she would need to heal him. She checked his circulation, airway and breathing. “It looks like he might be suffering from cardiac arrest, but I can’t know for sure without the proper equipment. He’s going to need the hospital. We need to transport him right away.”

Her captor grabbed hold of her head and wrenched it around until she was forced to look at him, his fingers biting painfully into her chin. She tried to scramble backwards, but his grip was so painfully tight that she had no choice but to sit still. He pointed at her, pointing two fingers to indicate her eyes, then he pointed at himself.

He let her chin go and stepped back.

“Y-you want me to watch you?” Was it possible that he was non-verbal? She’d been so terrified that she hadn’t questioned why he hadn’t said a single word during the kidnapping.

He lifted his hands and began making rapid signs. Her heart sank. Sign language. That was why she’d been chosen, of all the hospital personnel. She understood sign language, both Quebec sign language and French sign language, the latter being the version he was using. Shaun could sign back if needed, though she was rusty. She’d learned as a child, so she could communicate easily with her cousin, Monique, who was hearing impaired.

You fix him, he signed to her.

“Of course,” she readily agreed, then she hesitated. “But what will you do with me after? W-will you let me go?”

He stared down at her, and her heart sank even further. Of course he wouldn’t let her go. At least he wasn’t outright lying to her. He seemed to understand her though, so either he could read lips or he wasn’t hearing impaired.

“Are you going to kill me?” she asked bluntly.

He pointed at her, then toward the man on the ground, then signed, fix him.

“He needs a hospital!” she snapped.

No hospital.

“Then I can’t fix him, I don’t have what I need. I think he’s had a heart attack and there’s no way to treat that kind of illness without the proper medical equipment.” She sat back on her haunches and lifted her hands helplessly. The man was going to die in that dirty basement, and she was likely going to die alongside him.

Her captor pulled his gun from the holster underneath his leather jacket and pointed it at her head. She flinched back but held his gaze. If she had to die, then she preferred to see it coming. Preferred to look her executioner in the eyes. He held his hand steady and stared down at her, speaking with his stony expression. Either she fixed the man, or she died.

“Okay,” she whispered. “I’ll do what I can.”

He reholstered his gun and signed to her, what supplies do you need?

She stared helplessly down at the guy. She’d been truthful when she told her captor that she didn’t have what she needed to fix the man. If he was indeed suffering from a heart attack, his pulmonary artery was blocked. Likely from the stress of the beating. She would have to do the best she could.

“Okay, get me some aspirin and a spoon.” She would try to crush the aspirin and administer it orally. It would work faster intravenously, but again, she didn’t have the equipment. Hopefully she could thin his blood enough to partially unblock the artery and buy him some time. Glancing over his other injuries, she added, “I’ll also need some bandages, antibiotic ointment, clean