Chasing the Dime (2002) by Michael Connelly

Author:Michael Connelly [Connelly, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2011-04-08T01:53:40+00:00

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21

A woman Pierce had never seen before was running her fingers through his hair. She seemed strangely detached and perfunctory for so intimate an action. The woman then leaned in closer to him and he thought she was going to kiss him. But she put her hand on his forehead. She then lifted some sort of tool, a light, and shined it in one eye and then the other. He then heard a man’s voice.

“Ribs,” he said. “Three and four. We might have a puncture.”

“We put a mask over this nose and he’ll probably hit the roof,” the woman said.

“I’ll give him something.”

Now Pierce saw the man. He moved into view when he raised a hypodermic needle in a gloved hand and squeezed a little spray into the air. Next he felt the jab in his arm and pretty soon warmth and understanding flowed through his body, tickling across his chest. He smiled and almost laughed. Warmth and understanding in a needle. The wonders of chemistry. He had made the right choice.

“Extra straps,” the woman said. “We’re going vertical.”

Whatever that meant. Pierce’s eyes were closing. The last thing he saw before escaping into the warmth was a policeman standing over him.

“He going to make it?” he asked.

Pierce didn’t hear the answer.

The next time he regained consciousness he was standing. But not really. He opened his eyes and they were all there, crowded close to him. The woman with the light and the man with the needle. And the cop. And Nicole was there, too. She was looking up at him with tears in her dark green eyes. Even so, she was beautiful to him, her skin brown and smooth, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, the blonde highlights shining.

The elevator started to drop and Pierce suddenly thought he might throw up. He tried to get out a warning but couldn’t move his jaw. It was like he was tied tightly to the wall. He started to struggle but couldn’t move. He couldn’t even move his head.

His eyes met Nicole’s. She reached up and put her hand on his cheek.

“Hold on, Hewlett,” she said. “You’re going to be all right.”

He noticed how much taller than her he was. He didn’t used to be. There was a pinging sound that seemed to echo in his head. Then the elevator door slid open. The man and woman came to either side of him and walked him out. Only he wasn’t walking, and he finally realized what “going vertical” meant.

Once they were out he was lowered and rolled through the lobby. A lot of faces watched as he passed by. The doorman whose name he didn’t know looked down at him somberly as he was rolled through the door. He was lifted into an ambulance. He wasn’t feeling any pain but he had difficulty breathing. It was more labor-intensive than usual.

After a while he noticed that Nicole was sitting next to him. It looked like she was outright crying now.

He found that in the horizontal position he could move a little bit.

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