by Lexi Blake
“That’s been going on a lot between us,” she shot back. “We don’t know each other. You saw me. You thought I was new and shiny. I’m not. I’m busted up and battered, and that shine is not coming back. You gave me some advice. I’m going to give you some, too. Don’t coddle her. She’s smart and capable and she’s planning on spending her life here because she doesn’t think she can hack it anywhere else. You don’t mean to, but you’re holding her back.”
His blood started to heat up. Had she really just said that? “Are you talking about my daughter? You don’t know a damn thing about the situation.”
He was a good father. Sometimes it was the only thing he had to hold on to. He’d sacrificed for Noelle, and now some woman he barely knew was criticizing him?
Lila’s expression didn’t change at all. It was the blank face of a professional stating her opinion. “I know she should be more mobile than she is. I studied her scans. When was the last time she had a physical therapist who got her on her feet?”
He did not have to take this. “That is none of your business.”
“I’m her primary care provider. I assure you this is my business. It’s exactly what you pay me for.”
There was an easy solution to that problem. He’d been blinded by her beauty, her drive. She was right. He’d seen her as something different and thought different had to mean good. “Maybe I should pay someone else if you’re going to be this nosy.”
She sat back and her energy seemed to deflate. “All right, then. I’m going to take this to go, and I don’t think Friday is a good idea.”
“Maybe it’s not.” Maybe she was too prickly even for him. “If you can’t take good advice, then you won’t last long here.”
She didn’t reply, merely grabbed her purse and pulled out her wallet. “I’ve lost my appetite. This should take care of my part of the bill. Good afternoon, Sheriff.”
She pushed out of the booth and dropped a ten on the table.
How had this gone so wrong? One minute he’d felt close to her and now it was like a damn wall had come up. He wasn’t sure he wanted it to come down. But he also wasn’t sure he didn’t. They’d both said some things they probably shouldn’t have said. “Hey, let’s take a breath.”
She didn’t look back as she headed for the door.
* * *
• • •
She was not going to cry. She wasn’t. The tears were right there, pulsing behind her eyes, threatening to rob her of her vision and her dignity. But she wasn’t about to shed them. Certainly not in front of this crowd. That’s probably exactly what they wanted.
“Hey, are you okay?” Noelle was staring up at her.
Damn it. She shouldn’t have said anything. She didn’t think Noelle could have heard the advice she’d given her father. She’d kept her voice low, but honestly, she’d also meant it. Not that she should have an opinion at this point. It hadn’t been fair to throw that on him, but she couldn’t take it back now. She plastered a smile on her face. The other girl sitting with Noelle stared at her like she expected her to grow horns at any moment.
“Of course,” Lila replied. “I have to get back to the clinic. That’s all. I hope everything works out for you.”
She was going to have to hope since her father likely wouldn’t bring her back to the clinic again. Of course, once her father found out she’d helped his daughter with her masturbation techniques, showing her how to order a vibrator over the Internet on her phone, the relationship probably would have gone to hell anyway. Like all her relationships had.
She was too fussy. Too picky. Too intimidating. Too uptight.
Too much.
It wasn’t anything she hadn’t heard before.
So why did it hurt so damn much coming from him? It was an actual ache in her gut. She should have stuck to her plan. Work. Sleep. Visit with her sister. Repeat.
Except she didn’t have much work to do. She didn’t sleep well at all. And her sister didn’t have a ton of time for her.
When had she become this needy, clingy thing?
“Whatever he said, he didn’t mean it,” Noelle offered. “He’s not good with women. Or people at all, really.”
She disagreed. He was excellent with everyone, and he’d meant every word he’d said. “Everything’s fine. Like I said, I have to get back to work.”
“I guess you changed your mind about lunch.” Dixie was staring at her with a frown. “You don’t want the bacon anymore? You know we had to make it. We didn’t simply have it sitting around in case someone wanted it.”
She didn’t want any of this. Somehow she’d thought she would come down here and everything would fall into place. It was a sleepy town, and she’d made the mistake of thinking it would be different here. In the city, most of the time people ignored her. No matter how good she was at her job, there was always someone who could take her job. She’d thought she would have a place here. She hadn’t expected to make a ton of friends, but she certainly hadn’t thought people would actively hate her.
What the hell had she done? She’d given up a great job, awesome salary, pretty apartment, and for what? Everything she had was sunk into a clinic no one wanted to come to and a house that was full of a dead man’s junk. Now she apparently had a dog to take care of, and she would have to avoid the hot sheriff at all costs.
Not that she would be here long if the town turned on her.
“I left the cash on the table. I’ll brown bag it from now on.”
Dixie sighed and put a hand on her hip. “Food’s not good enough for you?”
Yeah, she’d gotten a lot of that. “Given the fact that I grew up eating whatever my brother could scrounge from a dumpster half the time, I’m absolutely certain that your food is delicious. You seem to think I’m some almighty, powerful city girl. Yeah, I grew up in a city, but I assure you there were days in my childhood when I would have given anything to have what you have here because most of you had parents who loved you, had someone besides your teenage brother who could provide for you. I had a mom who was in prison more often than not. Your food is fine. What I can’t take is the judgement that goes along with it. I’ll avoid that from now on.”
“Oh, hon,” Dixie began, her eyes going oddly soft.
But she was done for the day.
“Lila,” a deep voice called out behind her.
She ignored him and the stares of every single person in the dining room who had heard her describe her crappy childhood. That would go a long way to making them embrace her. They would likely think since her mom had been an addict that she was on drugs, too. And she’d outed her sister. God, she had no idea what her sister had said about their childhood. Remy knew, but he had a mom, sister, and brother who Lisa might not have shared her history with.
She strode toward the door and then stopped because there was the horrible sound of tires screeching, and then the ground beneath her shook as a crashing sound hit her ears. The entire café went still, trying to figure out what was going on, but Lila knew.
Car accident. She took off, pushing through the double doors.
“Lila!”
She didn’t stop, couldn’t stop. This was what she did.
She didn’t have far to go. A pickup truck had smacked against the building that housed Dixie’s café. It looked like it had struck two cars in the parking lot before it had come to rest against the solidly built brick building. That was fortunate because the other cars had slowed the truck down. What was unfortunate was the man on the ground who had apparently also slowed the truck.
She dropped to her knees because the man’s leg was broken and he was losing blood. A lot of blood. It stained the street. She looked down at him and emerald eyes looked up.
“I can’t feel it.” He was dressed in a dapper-looking suit. His reddish-gold hair had likely been slicked back to perfection once, but now it hung a
round his face. “I should be able to feel it.”
His foot wasn’t where it should be. It was at an odd angle. “You have a compound fracture, but what I’m worried about is the blood loss. I need you to stay calm while I find something to use as a tourniquet.”
“We can use my belt.” Armie was behind her, pulling his leather belt from the loops on his khakis.
No matter what had happened between them in the diner, she was happy he was here. He was calm, his expression showing nothing but stable professionalism.
“Did you call it in?” She took the belt and wished she had her kit. She carried it with her in her car, but they’d walked the block to the café. “And do you have a knife on you?”
“Roxie’s on her way and so is the ambulance, but it could be a while. We have one ambulance and it serves the whole parish. They’re fifteen minutes out.”
Fifteen minutes out. Another thirty to the hospital, potentially. It struck her hard how vulnerable they were. She was the only thing standing between this man and potential death, because he wouldn’t last fifteen minutes without care.
“Rene, it’s going to be okay.” Armie opened the Swiss Army knife he’d pulled from his pocket.
“I’m not even sure what happened.” The man named Rene winced as she neatly sliced through his slacks.
“Keep the ambulance coming, but I think we need to call in a chopper.” That was definitely a compound fracture, and it was going to require surgery and probably a metal rod. This man was looking at automatic pat-downs whenever he flew from now on. But she was going to ensure he lived so he could endure all the joys of the TSA. If she could stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, she was worried it was his femoral artery. “I need something to stanch the bleeding while I’m putting the tourniquet on.”
Armie was on his phone again, arranging for the Life Flight. She might be going into overkill, but they were isolated and moments would matter.
“These are clean.” Dixie was pale but she had a stack of towels in her hand. “I can do it. Do I put it over the wound?”
Lila grabbed a couple of the towels. It wasn’t gauze but it was all she had. She found the bleeder and eased the towel on. She immediately needed a new one, taking a couple from Dixie and putting them on top. “Come down here and apply pressure. Don’t let up. You have to put some strength behind it.”
Armie had moved away, going to check on the vehicle. “Lila, it’s Janice Herbert, her daughter Hallie, and the baby. The adults are unconscious, but I think something’s wrong with the baby.”
Shit.
There was a crowd around her, everyone coming out of the buildings that formed the small square of downtown Papillon. They were watching on, some of the women crying. But she needed help.
It came in the form of her nurse. Mabel was running like a damn track star as she rounded the building, Lila’s kit in her hand. She was in her scrubs and Peanut was chasing after her.
“I’ve got this.” Mabel dropped to her knees. “I’ll put the tourniquet on. You go deal with the baby.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Noelle. Her face was flushed and she appeared out of breath.
Smart girl. She’d gotten Mabel and now they had a chance.
“We’re going to need water and maybe more towels. Someone get them.” It was often best in an emergency to give people something to do. “And clear a way for the ambulance.”
Comfortable that Mabel knew what she was doing, Lila raced to the truck. Her slacks were coated in blood, but she couldn’t think about that right now. Armie had the baby in his hands. She was running on pure adrenaline, a drug she knew well. It had fueled her many a crazy night in the ER. Adrenaline made her stronger, faster, more able to focus. It took her to that place where she could do what she needed to do.
The baby was turning blue. There was no blood on the child. “Was she restrained properly?”
“What? Momma?” Hallie was coming to, but Lila didn’t have time to update her.
“Yes, I had to get her out of the car seat,” Armie replied to her question.
She held her hands out to Armie, glancing into the car. Armie immediately went to Hallie, who was starting to understand that something had gone terribly wrong.
“Gracie!” Hallie was fighting to get out of her seat belt. “Where’s my baby?”
She left Armie to deal with Hallie. She needed to figure out why Gracie wasn’t breathing. There was a car seat where it should be and a diaper bag beside it. The scent of burnt chemicals filled the air, letting her know without seeing it that the airbags had deployed. Her brain quickly processed the scene, the visuals clicking into place. Baby girl’s hands were covered in doughy goo. It smelled like vanilla. Teething biscuit. She’d been gnawing on a teething biscuit and the accident had caused a chunk to lodge in her throat.
The baby’s eyes were open, desperation clear in those blue orbs. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t cry.
Lila flipped the baby over, cradling the one-year-old head in her hand. She put her foot on the running board and rested her arm along with the baby on her thigh. The baby’s delicate jaw was cradled between her thumb and forefinger.
She was ready.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
Five firm blows from the heel of her right hand between the baby girl’s shoulder blades.
There was a coughing sound as the chunk of cookie hit the back seat. Then the baby wailed.
“Gracie?” Hallie was standing there, holding her arms out.
Lila turned over the baby. “What happened?”
Hallie clutched her daughter. “Momma was driving along and then she went pale and said her arm hurt, and then I swear we were going too fast and she wasn’t responding. I tried to take the wheel but I think we hit someone. Oh my god. Is that Rene?”
Lila made it to the driver’s side of the car. Hallie’s mother was slumped over the airbag, which covered the steering wheel. She was wearing a seat belt and the airbag had deployed properly. Given what Hallie had said, she had to think either cardiac arrest or stroke. No pulse. She had to take the chance and get Mrs. Herbert on the ground, where she could start CPR.
“Armie, help me get her out of here. She’s in full arrest. I don’t know how long she’s been down.”
Armie didn’t hesitate. He unbuckled the belt and eased Mrs. Herbert to the pavement.
“Get the AED from my kit.” She didn’t explain to him that she was talking about the automated external defibrillator that would be in the kit Mabel had brought with her. Armie had enough training to back her up and she was so grateful. Lila fell to her knees, found the xiphoid process, interlocked her hands, and started CPR, the rhythm ingrained from years of work. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. She kept going until she’d counted to thirty.
Lean over and breathe. Once. Twice. Listen for breath sounds.
Back to compressions.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five . . .
Around her, somewhere in the background, she knew people were crying and the world was moving, but she was caught in this moment. The world slid away and there was only her work. In this place, she was strong. In this place, there was no fear, no hesitation. There was life and death and a battle she knew well.
Armie moved in beside her. “I’ve turned it on.”
Thirty.
She tore open Mrs. Herbert’s shirt. Her skin was dry so Lila properly placed the electrodes as the machine began to do its work.
“Everyone stand back.” Her patient needed the shock the AED would administer. Lila pressed down on the button.
Mrs. Herbert’s body convulsed as her heart started again. Her eyes came open, shock plain in them. She was shaky, but Lila felt her heartbeat pulsing under her fingers.
“Gracie? What happened to the baby? My babies?” She croaked the words out.
“They’re fine. Stay dow
n. The ambulance is on the way. I need to check on Rene. Armie, keep her comfortable and find a way to elevate her feet.” She stood, positive that Armie would do the job and the AED would keep working if she needed it to.
The deputy had shown up and she was working crowd control.
“Deputy, I need an ETA on that ambulance.” She was going to have to make a decision on who to send in the ambulance and who got the helicopter.
Mabel glanced her way. “Lila, I’m worried he’s going to have this tourniquet on his leg for more than an hour if we send Janice in the ambulance and have to wait for it to come back.”
“I’ve got a chopper coming, but I don’t know if it can take both of them. I don’t know how big it is.” He would lose the leg. She was going to have to make a decision.
“Send her,” the man Armie had called Rene said. His skin had paled considerably. “I can wait.”
She wasn’t making that choice. Not when she could make a play to save everyone. “Deputy! We’re going to need to get Mrs. Herbert to the clinic.”
“The chopper is on its way. ETA is ten minutes,” Armie shouted. “There’s a landing pad on top of the clinic for just this purpose. The ambulance will be here in five. Who’s going where?”
She wasn’t about to move Rene more than she had to. And Mrs. Herbert could go into arrest again at any moment. She needed to get to a cath lab as quickly as possible. “I need you to carry Mrs. Herbert to the clinic. Rene is going in the ambulance. The bleeding is controlled for now.”
Armie nodded as the sweet sounds of sirens hit her ears.
“I’m fine.” Janice Herbert was trying to get up on her own.
Damn stubborn woman. “You had a cardiac arrest. You’re still hooked up to a defibrillator and you and I will have a serious problem if you unhook it. You will go to the hospital.”
“I want to see the real doc,” Janice said.
Hallie had gotten Gracie calm again. The baby clung to her momma. Momma, however, was obviously taking charge. “You will do whatever Ms. Daley tells you to do, Mother. You will let the sheriff carry you to the clinic. You will take whatever drugs they give you, and you will get in that damn helicopter because that woman saved your life. She saved your granddaughter’s life. So shut the hell up and do what she says.”
