Falling Hard (Colorado High Country #3)

by Pamela Clare

  “The IV fluids are warmed, and so is the oxygen. They’ll help raise your core temp.”

  The woman saw Jesse and pointed. “Can he warm me up?”

  Ellie glanced over her shoulder at him, clearly fighting not to laugh, then finished the IV. “Mr. Moretti, I believe Donna here would like you to take over. She still needs a warm blanket, and you’ll need to turn on the heating pad. I’ve already called for an ambo. Donna used to be the town librarian.”

  “I got to reserve all those sexy romance novels for myself—a perk of the job.”

  Ellie walked out of the back room, a little smile on her face. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “You certainly know how to bring the heat.”

  Jesse couldn’t help but smile, memories of last night on both of their minds. He took off his parka and walked into the warm-up room. “So, your name is Donna?”

  She nodded, looking like she was about to fall asleep.

  “We’re going to have you feeling better soon.” He reached into the blanket warmer, took out a heated, thermal blanket, and tucked it around her, then flipped on the heating pad that lay beneath her.

  She smiled at him from behind the green oxygen mask, then gave him a wink. “I feel better already. I like men, you know.”

  Ellie spoke from behind him. “Jesse is a ski patroller. He’s also a member of the Rocky Mountain Search and Rescue Team, an EMT, and a former Army Ranger.”

  Donna’s smile got brighter. “Be still my heart.”

  Jesse looked over at Ellie, wondering what the hell she was doing.

  She gave him an innocent look, those green eyes wide. “I just want Donna to understand that she is in very good hands.”

  Just then Ellie’s father walked in carrying Daniel. A woman who looked so much like Ellie that she could only be her mother walked behind him holding Daisy.

  The children’s faces lit up, Daisy reaching for Ellie. “Mama!”

  “We thought they might like to see all the pretty lights and the snow sculptures,” Ellie’s mother said.

  “Great idea.” Ellie took Daisy, gave her a little bounce, the pink tassel on top of her hat bobbing. “Are you ready to see some snowmen?”

  “They’ve been talking about horses nonstop—and they’ve mentioned you a lot too,” Ellie’s father said, looking Jesse squarely in the eyes.

  Uh-oh.

  Yeah, the old man knew.

  “Are those your kids?” Donna asked Jesse.

  Some part of him wished he could say they were.

  “Those are Ellie’s twins.”

  “They’re cute.”

  He couldn’t disagree with that.

  Ellie’s parents stayed for a few minutes, leaving with Daisy and Daniel just as two of Hawke’s crew— Brandon Silver and Jenny Miller—pushed through the door with a gurney, playing EMTs today instead of fighting fires.

  “Who have we got here?” Brandon asked.

  “Ooh, he’s handsome, too,” Donna said. “You mountain boys grow up big and strong, don’t you?”

  Silver blinked, looked at Jesse.

  Jesse couldn’t help but laugh. “This is Donna. She likes men.”

  While Ellie went over Donna’s chart with Jenny, Jesse and Brandon lifted Donna onto the gurney. Jesse moved the bag of IV fluids, then bent down and gave Donna a peck on the cheek because, well, why the hell not?

  She giggled.

  Jesse and Silver maneuvered the gurney through the tent and outside, and then Jenny stepped in. “We’ve got it from here, Moretti. Thanks.”

  “Have you seen Daisy?”

  The words had Jesse’s head turning.

  Ellie’s mother stood about twenty feet away, glancing around her. “I set her down for just a second to zip Daniel’s coat.”

  Jesse stopped where he was, looked around.

  His heart gave a hard knock.

  Jesus Christ!

  A pink tassel. Blond hair.

  He started running. “She’s by the water!”

  Ellie’s parents turned and saw her, but it was too late.

  Daisy slid on the ice and slipped over the edge and into the frigid reservoir.

  Ellie heard Jesse’s shout, heard her mother scream.

  “Daisy!”

  She ran outside to see Jesse sprinting toward the polar bear plunge area, her parents running behind him. Her father had Daniel. But where was Daisy?

  Oh, God! No!

  “Daisy!” She ran, slipping on snow, her heart slamming in her chest. “Daisy!”

  Jesse reached the water and without a moment’s hesitation jumped in. He looked around for a moment, then dove under the water.

  A crowd had begun to converge, people drawing closer to see what had happened.

  Ellie fought her way through them. “That’s my little girl! Move! My little girl’s in the water!”

  She broke through, saw Jesse come up, take a breath and go under again. “Daisy!”

  Dear God, not Daisy!

  “Daisy!” She sank on her knees next to the hole in the ice, oblivious to the cold, every catastrophic scenario she’d ever seen as a nurse flashing through her mind. Daisy drowning. Daisy’s heart stopping from cold shock. Daisy severely hypothermic.

  And Jesse.

  The human body could only last so long in 34-degree water.

  His head came up again, teeth chattering. “The current took her.”

  His words made her panic crest. “Not Daisy. Not my baby, too.”

  He looked into her eyes, took a deep breath, and dove under again.

  “The fire chief’s on his way!” someone shouted.

  A thousand prayers raced through Ellie’s mind.

  God, no. Please don’t let me lose her. Don’t take Jesse either.

  She couldn’t take that. She couldn’t lose her baby girl. Not Daisy, too.

  But where was Jesse? He’d been down there a long time now. He had to breathe. Daisy had to breathe, too.

  “He’s been down there a long time. Maybe he drowned, too.”

  Dear God, she was going to lose both of them.

  No. No. No no no no!

  Then Jesse broke the surface, gasped for breath, Daisy in his arms.

  He held her up to Ellie, who grabbed her and pulled her onto the ice.

  Daisy was blue. She wasn’t breathing.

  Ellie tried to rein in her panic. She needed to start CPR.

  And then Eric was beside her with Brandon Silver. “We’ve got this, Ellie.”

  They took Daisy from her, forced her to scoot aside.

  “Start chest compressions and don’t stop,” Eric told Brandon, then he turned to the crowd. “Is anyone from the Team here? Moretti’s still in the water.”

  Ellie glanced over, saw Jesse struggle to climb out and then slide back in, his strength gone, his muscles no longer cooperating. “Help me! Someone, please!”

  She reached for him, took hold of one wrist, and pulled, but Jesse’s weight dragged her toward the edge of the ice. If only she’d had a rope or something.

  Eric caught Jesse’s other wrist. “Don’t you fucking dare go into shock and drown on me, Moretti!”

  “We got the page, Hawke. What the hell…”

  Megs?

  Megs and Mitch Ahearn were there—and Creed Herrera.

  “Ellie, let go before he pulls you in, too!” Megs barked, a rope in her hands.

  Ellie did as she asked and backed out of the way, crawling over to where Brandon was still doing chest compressions and rescue breaths for Daisy.

  It was all a blur after that.

  Her father wrapping his coat around her shoulders. The sound of her mother crying. Two paramedics lifting Daisy onto a gurney, wrapping her in a warm blanket while continuing CPR. Someone wrapping a heated blanket around Ellie’s shoulders, helping her to her feet, telling her she was probably hypothermic.

  “You’ve been out here for a while with no coat, lying down on the ice. Your scrubs are wet, and in this wind…”

  Mind and
body numb from shock and cold, she followed Daisy to the ambulance. “Jesse? Where’s Jesse?”

  She looked back over her shoulder to see him lying motionless on the ice.

  Every bone in Jesse’s body hurt. His muscles ached. He struggled to speak, to open his eyes, fear snaking through him. “D-daisy? Where…?”

  “You got her out, buddy. She’s in the ER by now. Ellie is with her.”

  “S-she’s a-a-live?”

  They didn’t answer.

  “Body temp is ninety degrees.”

  Hypothermia.

  “Let’s get a line going, get some warm fluids in him.”

  They’d already put him on oxygen, and they’d wrapped him in a heated blanket, one of fancy ones that blew warm air against the skin. Jesse was so cold, so numb, that he could barely feel it.

  “Hey, Moretti, how do you feel, buddy?”

  But Jesse was drifting again.

  It was dark, so dark, the cold sucking the breath from his lungs. Where was she? He couldn’t see her. The current pulled at him, carrying him away from the open water and beneath the ice. He reached but felt nothing.

  Come on, little girl!

  God, please!

  “Jesse! Hey, Moretti, you got her. You found her.”

  Hawke?

  Jesse opened his eyes, found himself being wheeled into the emergency room. He was shivering now, his teeth chattering, his body shaking. “Is Daisy… Is she…?”

  “You did everything you could for her, buddy. Now let us take care of you.”

  You did everything you could.

  Was she…? Jesus, was Daisy … dead?

  His heart seemed to crack, pain lancing through him.

  Jesus, no!

  And then he was out again.

  “We’ve got a pulse.”

  Ellie could hardly breathe, her gaze shifting from the cardiac monitor to Daisy. She lay still and pale, her little body resting on a heating pad inside a forced-air warming blanket, warm oxygen going into her lungs through a ventilator, IVs in both of her arms and electrodes on her chest.

  Ellie held her little hand, still so cold. “Daisy, sweetie, can you hear me? It’s mommy. I’m right here, honey.”

  They’d flown the two of them via Life Flight to Children’s Hospital in case it became necessary to perform a cardiopulmonary bypass on Daisy, using a heart-and-lung machine to warm her blood and restore her body temperature. But Daisy’s little heart was beating again, her body temperature slowly rising.

  “You’re a fighter, Daisy Mae.” Ellie kissed her forehead.

  “Your parents are here,” said one of the nurses. “They’re out in the hallway.”

  “Thank you.” Ellie didn’t ask for them to be brought back. She didn’t want to talk to them right now. They’d somehow let Daisy wander off, and she’d almost died. She might still die—or have brain or cardiac damage.

  If it hadn’t been for Jesse…

  He had rushed forward when everyone else had stood by, frozen by fear or shock or indecision. He’d jumped into the water without a moment’s hesitation, risking his life for her precious girl.

  She’d asked how he was doing, but no one here knew. She would have called or texted him, but her cell phone was in the first-aid tent back in Scarlet. He’d been so weak when they’d taken him out. Hypothermia could kill. She’d seen it happen. She couldn’t bear to lose him, either.

  Her father came up beside her, his gaze on the monitor and Daisy’s vitals. “Thank God. Is there anything we can get you, Ellie?”

  Ellie struggled with her anger. “How could this have happened?”

  “Your mother and I feel terrible about it, just awful.”

  You should.

  Ellie bit back the hurtful words. “Could you please call Mountain Memorial and find out how Jesse is? I have to know.”

  “Yes, I can do that.” Her father nodded and walked out of the treatment room.

  Chapter 22

  Was Daisy alive? Was she okay?

  No one would answer Jesse’s question. They said they didn’t know.

  “They were still doing CPR when Life Flight flew her to Children’s Hospital,” one of the nurses had told him.

  “She’s in the best place possible,” said another.

  “We’ve all worked with Ellie. We’re praying for her.”

  That was great—but it didn’t answer his question.

  His cell phone was shot—it had been in his pocket when he’d jumped into the water—and there was no phone in his little treatment room. He’d asked the nurse and the doctor and the guy who’d drawn his blood to call Children’s Hospital to find out how Daisy was doing, but no one had come back to him with news.

  Jesus.

  He’d tried. God, he’d tried.

  Ellie.

  He couldn’t imagine what she was going through. He’d seen the terror on her pretty face when he’d come up for breath, and he’d vowed to himself he wouldn’t come up again, not without her baby girl. And when his right hand had finally touched that pink tassel on Daisy’s hat…

  Jesse wanted to rip the fucking IV out of his arm, get out of this damned bed, and drive to Denver. The only thing that stopped him was his core temp. He was still hypothermic—drowsy and chilled to the bone. He didn’t want to get into an accident and hurt someone in the hour-and-a-half drive to the city.

  What the hell was everybody doing? Could no one help him?

  Fuck this.

  He climbed out of bed and walked out of his treatment room, dragging the IV pole with him. He was going to find a goddamned phone and call Ellie. He walked over to the nurse’s station. “I need to use the phone.”

  A nurse in green scrubs looked up at him, a startled expression on her face, phone pressed to her ear. She held out the receiver. “This is for you.”

  Jesse grabbed the phone. “Ellie? How is Daisy?”

  “This is Troy Rouse, Ellie’s father. Daisy looks like she’s going to pull through, thanks to you. I don’t know how we’ll ever repay you.” The man’s voice cracked. “Her little heart is beating—normal sinus rhythm—and she just started breathing on her own. She’s still very hypothermic, but her core temp is rising.”

  Jesse sagged against the counter, relief making him boneless, tears blurring his vision. “That’s good. That’s such good news.”

  “Ellie wanted me to call and find out how you’re doing. She’s with Daisy and doesn’t have her cell phone.”

  “I’m fine. My core temp is still a little low. I jumped in the water with my cell phone in my pocket, so I don’t have a phone at all.”

  “You did an incredible thing today. You saved my granddaughter—and my daughter. Ellie…” His voice cracked again. “Ellie wouldn’t have made it through losing Daisy. Let me give you my number. You can let us know if there’s anything you need.”

  “I appreciate that. Thanks.” Jesse grabbed a piece of note paper off the desk, along with a pen, and took down the doc’s number. “Tell Ellie…” I love her. “Tell her I’ll be there as soon as I can be.”

  Jesse handed the receiver back to the nurse. “Daisy’s breathing on her own. She’s going to make it.”

  The nurses cheered.

  “You belong in bed.” An older nurse named Lolly came around the desk, guided him back toward his room. “You’re going to need your strength. There are newspaper reporters and camera crews out there in the waiting room hoping to interview you.”

  “What?”

  “You’re a media star. A Denver TV station was there doing a piece about SnowFest. They got it all on camera. The reporter from the Scarlet Gazette is here. Lots of bystanders filmed you with their cell phones, so you’re trending right now. I can see how thrilled you are by all of this.”

  “Jesus.” Jesse didn’t understand people. Why hadn’t they put their phones and cameras down to help?

  “I can bring you some paper and a pencil if you want to write a statement. It might be best to give the reporters something. M
aybe they’ll go away.”

  “What should I say?”

  “Hell if I know. I’m an LPN, not a public-relations consultant.”

  That gave Jesse an idea. “I need to make a phone call.”

  An hour later, Jesse’s body temperature was back to normal, and Victoria and Hawke sat next to his bed, proofreading the statement Victoria had helped him write.

  “It looks good,” she said. “If only I had a printer…”

  “I’m sorry,” Lolly said loudly as if she wished to be overheard. “We can’t let you use the hospital’s printers.” Then she whispered. “Give it to me. I’ll type it in at my station and print it from there.”

  Jesse opened his mouth to ask when they were discharging him.

  Lolly pointed at him. “You stay put. I’ll get back to you as soon as I’m done breaking the rules.”

  She and Victoria left the room together.

  Jesse sat back in the bed, impatient to be out of here. He wanted to get to Denver, to see Daisy for himself, to see Ellie. He had so much he wanted to say to her.

  “You did a hell of a thing today, man,” Hawke said.

  “Thanks for being there, for getting me out.”

  “You saved that baby girl’s life, Moretti.”

  “Hey, you and Silver did your part, too.”

  Hawke shrugged. “We did our job, but you risked your life. You seem to have a habit of doing that.”

  “I couldn’t let her die. I love that little girl.” He loved her mother, too, but that was harder to talk about with another guy than his feelings for Daisy.

  Hawke changed the subject. “Once we get this printed out, we’ll wait till you’re discharged. Vickie will go out to the waiting room and read the statement while you take the hallway and head out the loading dock door. I’ll meet you there and drive you to your vehicle. How does that sound?”

  It sounded good to him. “Thanks so much for your help. I just don’t have it in me to deal with reporters right now.”

  “Happy to do my part.”

  It was dark outside and bitter cold, the chill bothering Jesse in a way it hadn’t before. “Can you crank the heat?”

  “Sure.”

  The escape plot went off without a hitch—until Hawke pulled up to Jesse’s Jeep. A woman stood next to it, camera bag over her shoulder.