“Okay. I need you to wrap up this wound with gauze fairly tight, but not too tight. Don’t worry about the hemostats. Just leave them where they are and work around them. Shave the area around her head wound, clean it up, and lay gauze over it, not taped. Try to keep her hair out of the cut. Keep an eye on her IV. She’ll need another bag of saline in a few minutes. Can you stick around until more of our people arrive?”

“You got it. No problem.”

“I appreciate your help.” The doctor looked Nathan’s face over. “Looks like you’ve had some trauma yourself. Do you know how to hook up an intracranial pressure monitor?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just do what you can.” As the doctor moved to the next gurney, Nathan wrapped her arm.

“That’s Special Agent Ashley Banks,” Henning said.

“Find me a bag of saline.”

The man didn’t move.

“Henning!”

“Yeah, okay, I’ll be right back.”

For the next twenty minutes, Nathan went through a dozen pairs of gloves assisting other doctors, nurses, and EMTs. He and Henning spent most of their time acting as a couriers, bringing monitoring machines, medical instruments, and bandages to the doctors and nurses who called for them. He kept looking for Holly, but she wasn’t here. She must be undergoing emergency surgery. That had to be it. They were operating on her, right now, at this very moment. He wasn’t willing to distract anyone by asking. Now wasn’t the time, and no one up here would know her status anyway. Stay busy, he told himself, stay focused.

As each minute passed, more of the hospital’s staff arrived. By the time he felt some sense of sanity had returned to the room, the ICU had close to fifty doctors and nurses attending the wounded. Nathan respected the dedicated people working here. Although he’d only been helping for a short time, he felt drained, as though hours had passed, not minutes. Most of the victims were burned to one degree or another, some severely, and the smell of charred flesh permeated the room. Nathan was no stranger to the sight of blood, he’d seen plenty, but Henning was another matter. All things considered, the man had managed to hold himself together pretty well.

* * *

Senator Stone McBride was on the phone in his office when he heard a knock. He covered the mouthpiece. “Come in.”

His secretary handed him a note. Leaf Watson holding on line two. SUPER-URGENT. He nodded and she left the room, closing the door behind her.