Jennifer Snow – Fighting for Keeps (страница 8)
Sighing, she tossed the now-soggy sandwich into the trash and pulled the plastic bag out and tied it.
Carrying the bag outside, she tossed it into the large garbage bin. Then, back inside, she set the alarm.
“All doctors and nurses report to Emergency stat,” came the call over the clinic’s PA system as the alarm started to beep.
Lindsay groaned. So close...
After disarming the security system, she made her way quickly down the hall toward the elevators. Emergency was on the third floor and after hitting the button, she shook herself awake. Double shifts were not uncommon, though emergency stat orders were.
And there was no questioning the severity of things as the elevator doors opened and she stepped out into the hall. An ambulance stretcher whizzed past her, followed immediately by a second.
Her heart raced. An accident? Outside, she could see the flashing lights of the ambulance and the fire truck, and her mouth went dry. She rushed to the nursing station. “What happened?” she asked Kimberly-Ann, one of the ER nurses on duty.
The woman looked pale as she shook her head.
“Kimberly-Ann!”
A man she didn’t recognize, wearing a Brookhollow Police Station jacket, spoke. “There was a collision on Highway 14. A transport truck lost a load of plywood.” He paused. “I’m Sherriff Matthews, the new...”
Lindsay didn’t care who he was. She shot into motion, heading toward one of the operating rooms where the two doctors on staff were talking to the paramedics.
She was a step away from them when, from behind, an arm wrapped around her waist, preventing her from going farther. She whipped around, freeing herself. Noah, in his firefighter uniform, grabbed her arm, keeping her in place.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
He swallowed hard, his expression dark. “I don’t think you should go in there,” he said firmly.
Oh, no. “Why not? Who did they bring in?” Her mouth felt like sandpaper and her knees buckled slightly.
He hesitated.
“Who is it, Noah?” She broke away from him, ready to run to the operating room.
“Nathan and Rachel.”
Turning, she made to sprint toward the double doors leading into the first operating room, but Noah’s strong arms around her waist lifted her off the ground and moved her away.
“Let me go.” Frantically she struggled, but his hold tightened. “I have to get in there...
“No. You can’t keep a straight head in this situation.”
“Put me down.” She pushed against his arms as Kimberly-Ann stepped in, the new Sherriff beside her.
“Dr. McCarthy said not to let you go in...not yet.”
The struggle left her and her body went limp in Noah’s arms. It was serious... They weren’t okay... They weren’t letting her in. That only meant one thing.
She broke out of Noah’s grasp, but he stood guard, blocking her access to the hallway.
“How bad are they hurt?” She didn’t recognize her own voice as she asked the question.
“Lindsay...”
“How bad!”
His gaze and shoulders dropped simultaneously. “We were first on scene. There was nothing we could do for Nathan.”
Her chest tightened and she couldn’t catch a breath as the room spun around her. What exactly was he saying?
“Paramedics confirmed time of death when they arrived,” he said gently. “I’m so sorry, Lindsay.”
“Here...sit,” Kimberly-Ann said as she took her arm and they tried to help her to a chair.
She fought them. “What about Rachel? Where are the kids?” Her stomach turned and she swallowed to keep from vomiting.
“The kids weren’t in the van.”
A sob of relief escaped her and her hand flew to her mouth.
Noah hesitated, casting a glance toward Kimberly-Ann before saying, “Rachel is in critical condition. It doesn’t look good...” His hands were rubbing her arms, but she felt nothing.
His voice faded as her mind reeled. Nathan—dead? Rachel—critical? How? How was it possible that this could happen? She’d seen them two days ago...
The kids... Thank God they hadn’t been in the vehicle. She dove for the trash can behind the ER desk, emptying the contents of her stomach.
Noah was bent at her side as she fought to catch her breath. “How...how...what...I need to...”
“Just breathe...” He glanced at Kimberly-Ann. “Is there something we can get her?”
“I need...to...to see Nathan.” She stood and tried to move past him. Nathan couldn’t be dead. That was ridiculous... He had five children...five
Noah wrapped his arms around her tightly and pulled her against him on the floor. “Not yet,” he whispered.
She clutched the fabric of his jacket and buried her face in his chest as her tears soaked the front of his shirt. “I need to see him.”
He hugged her tighter. “I’m so sorry, Lindsay. There’s nothing you can do for him.”
* * *
LINDSAY CLIMBED THE stairs to the living quarters of the B and B three hours later. The house was silent in the 3:00 a.m. darkness, the only light escaping beneath the bedroom door of the nursery, where she knew the twins’ butterfly night-light provided the toddlers a sense of comfort while they slept.
Her eyes were heavy and her legs were cement blocks as she walked down the hallway toward the room that had been Rachel and Nathan’s. A room they would no longer sleep in...
Rachel had passed away an hour ago. Her struggle to survive the heavy brain trauma she’d suffered in the accident had been a fight she couldn’t win, and her soul had joined her husband’s.
Opening the bedroom door, she stepped inside and her legs immediately gave way beneath her.
They were gone. No matter how many times the thought crushed her, she couldn’t believe it. She’d witnessed the coming and passing of life so many times as a nurse, but this loss was beyond her comprehension.
They were so young. They were so in love. They had five precious children who needed their parents.
A sob choked her as she lay on the hardwood floor and pulled her knees to her chest. Her shoulders trembled violently as tears pooled on the floor beneath her.
She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and wake up to find this was all just a nightmare. That her brother and sister-in-law were fine.
But the cold truth remained. In three hours the sun would come up and she would have to tell the children their parents wouldn’t be coming home.
* * *
THE AIR WAS cool as Noah headed away from the bed-and-breakfast after first driving Lindsay home to collect her things. She hadn’t even put up a fight about handing over the keys to her Jeep and allowing him to drive. She’d mumbled, “The B and B,” when he’d asked her where she wanted him to take her and then she’d been silent on the short drive there.
Torn between wanting to give her space and to comfort her, provide a safe place for her to grieve, he’d driven slowly and quietly, leaving her alone with her tumultuous thoughts.
He knew loss. It created a hole that couldn’t be filled with kind words or warm hugs. She had to learn how to deal with this her own way, to find her own coping mechanisms to face the days ahead.
Big raindrops started to hit the ground in front of him as he walked. He shivered in the fog. In the distance the town clock bells rang three times. He quickened his pace as he rounded the corner to the street, heading toward the fire hall.
In four hours his shift would be over and he’d head back to the B and B where he intended to be whenever he was needed and not too far from when he wasn’t.
Lindsay wouldn’t be alone.
* * *
LUKE FORCED A steaming cup of tea into Lindsay’s trembling hands early the next morning before joining his wife on the sofa across from her in the B and B’s living room.
Victoria had yet to speak a word without sobbing, so she sat quietly, numb from shock as tears flowed down her cheeks.
“Try to drink this,” Luke said, handing another cup to his wife.