Closer: Bay City Paranormal Investigation, Book 4

hospital?”
“Probably so, yeah. I don’t know if Bo has his car keys with him or left ’em in the car, but either way we don’t really have time to find out. They’re gonna be loading him into the ambulance any minute now.” Dean took Kyle’s hand, threading their fingers together. “Do you mind? If you can’t drive us that’s okay, we’ll get a cab or something.”
“No, I don’t mind at all.” Kyle glanced at his car, chewing on his bottom lip. “I hope he’ll be okay.”
Dean didn’t answer, and Sam’s heart clenched. If Dean couldn’t muster enough optimism to reassure the boy, Bo must be worse off than Sam had thought.
Don’t think about it. You’ll drive yourself and everyone else crazy if you do.
As Sam watched, the two paramedics eased Bo out of the backseat, lying strapped in on his side on a narrow gurney. The folding legs of the gurney snapped open, the wheels hit the wet pavement, and the medics rolled it toward the ambulance. The man held an IV bag in one hand, feeding fluids into a vein in Bo’s arm. Clear tubing ran from an oxygen mask over Bo’s nose and mouth to a green tank sitting on the stretcher beside him. A large bandage was secured to Bo’s back with what looked like elastic tape.
Sam trotted over, Dean and Kyle at his heels. “Is he okay?”
The female paramedic—Julia, according to the nametag pinned to her shirt—glanced at Sam while she and her partner loaded Bo into the ambulance. “He’s breathing and his vital signs are stable, but he’s unconscious. That’s probably partly the seizure and partly the lorazepam we gave him to stop it.”
“Your friend there said Bo was unconscious for a little while before the seizure,” the man said from inside the vehicle. “Did he hit his head when he fell?”
“No. Well, not that I know of,” Sam amended. “The…um, the attack happened right after I got here. I’d just spotted him. But I caught him before he hit the ground so if he did hit his head it wasn’t then.”
“What about the attacker? Did they hit him in the head?”
“I don’t think so. I just saw…a shadow behind Bo. It looked like whoever it was stabbed him with a big knife or something. Oh, and he hasn’t taken any medications or anything. Dean said you asked.”
“We did, thank you.” With Bo safely in the ambulance, Julia turned and touched Sam’s arm. “We’re taking him to the hospital in Foley. It’s about thirty miles away, but it’s the closest one we can get to from here. Y’all know how to get there?”
“I do.” Dean grabbed Sam’s elbow, stopping his protest. “We’ll follow you as far as we can, but if we lose you I can get us there.”
The young woman nodded. “Good. Oh, are you relatives of his?”
Sam and Dean glanced at each other. Dean grimaced. “We’re just friends. He’s divorced, his sons are minors, and I have no idea how to get in touch with his parents. Hell, I don’t even know if he has brothers and sisters.”
“Three sisters,” Sam added, wrapping his arms around himself. “I don’t know how to reach them, though.”
“Hm. Well, it’s okay for right now, but you may need to find his next of kin if he doesn’t come around.” Julia slammed the ambulance doors shut. “We’re going. We’ll tell them you’re on your way. What’re your names?”
“I’m Dean Delapore,” Dean said. “This is Sam Raintree and Kyle DuPree.”
“Got it.” She gave them a smile. “Try not to worry. We’ll take good care of him.” She turned and jogged to the driver’s side door.
Sam followed Dean and Kyle to Kyle’s car and climbed into the backseat. A few drops of blood dotted the gray vinyl seat. It amazed Sam that there wasn’t more. Most of it seemed to be puddled on Dean’s raincoat.
Picking up Dean’s ruined T-shirt from the floorboard where it had fallen, Sam wadded it into the middle of the raincoat. The blanket seemed to be largely blood-free, so he left it on the floor. He told himself he was trying to keep Kyle’s car as clean as possible, but the truth was he didn’t think he could stand to look at Bo’s blood any longer. It made him focus on the fact that Bo was gravely injured, and there was no guarantee he’d be all right.
    This is exactly what I was afraid of. Exactly. I know he shouldn’t be here. I knew we should’ve left. Why didn’t he listen to me?
    Sam’s eyes stung. He blinked away the gathering moisture and stared out the window as the Nova zoomed along the dark,