by Sara Schoen
A terrified scream echoed through the camp before the campers started screaming Kelsey’s name. Their voices were panicked as they called for help, and a few even ran up to us to pull us along. We followed without hesitation to find one of the returning campers, and one who had come on most of my programs, Allison, passed out on the ground. Her friend, Becca, was above her trying to get her to wake up, but Allison wasn’t responding.
“Becca, go call 9-1-1.”
Becca nodded her head and took off toward the payphone in the camp.
“Kelsey, grab water and a towel. If it’s heat related then we can move her to the shade and cool her down.”
Kelsey ordered two other campers to get water and a towel before helping me lift Allison off the ground. Allison was able to stand on her feet, but she didn’t have the strength to move on her own so Kelsey and I each had one of her arms over our shoulders to move her.
“What was she doing before this?” I asked, trying to figure out what happened.
“She was in group fitness and said she was tired, but I thought it was because she wanted to get out of class. She’s been trying to get out of class all week. I didn’t think she’d collapse.” We carried her to the closest tree and laid her on the ground in the shade. The two campers came back with a towel and cold water. We cared for Allison as best as we could, cooling her down and making sure she kept breathing, until Becca eventually returned with EMTs on her tail.
“Please keep the campers away.” I recognized the voice, but I didn’t bother turning around to see him. My focus remained on Allison. How did this happen? What happened? “Please move out of the way, Mia.” Justin gently moved me back as he started to work on Allison. I took a step back, running into someone behind me.
“You know, I wanted to go home after our last call and rest for a bit, but then you had to cause trouble again, didn’t you?” Gage questioned, his usual teasing tone edging his tone. “You’re lucky we were close by on another call. What did you do now, Damsel?”
“I didn’t call for you specifically, we just needed someone with actual medical training. All I can do is first aid and CPR. Sorry we pulled you away from your night with your girlfriend to help get Allison to the hospital.” I could hear the anger in my voice. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that, but maybe it was for the best. He didn’t get any of the hints I had dropped to get him to talk about Kayla before now. Maybe he just needed me to be blunt.
He had tried talking to me after Kayla pulled us apart, but he didn’t make it past my wall. He continued his usual topics, but I reverted back to silence. I could tell he had been concerned, but he didn’t figure it out. Was he that oblivious to not know why I was upset or did he think I wouldn’t care. At one point he purposefully embarrassed himself at the research center by walking off the dock and falling in the lake. He had been trying to make me laugh, probably hoping to break down my wall again, but it didn’t work.
“What are you talking about?” He scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. “I don’t have a girlfriend...”
“I saw you with Kayla that day I fell down. No one looks that pissed off if she’s not dating the guy who’s talking to another girl.”
He laughed loudly in my face. I don’t find it funny, but I’m glad he does. My hands balled into tight fists, ready to punch him if he didn’t stop soon. I didn’t like feeling belittled. It was worse than getting flat out ignored.
“That’s my sister, Mia. I can guarantee you she and I aren’t dating, but it’s nice to see you’re jealous,” he teased with a chuckle.
“Gage,” Justin interrupted, much to my annoyance. “Now isn’t the time. She’s really weak. I can’t get her to move much if at all, her blood glucose level is in the low sixties; we have to get her out of here. She claims that she’s not diabetic, and you know what that means. I’m going to get the stretcher, but we have to get her out of here fast.” Justin got to his feet and ran back to the ambulance to get the stretcher.
“Wait, what does that mean?”
“I can’t really talk about it,” Gage said, shifting his focus to Allison. She stirred at his touch, but she seemed weaker than when we had first moved her.
“Has she been eating, Kelsey?”
“I think so. They have breakfast, lunch, and dinner provided. I don’t watch them eat, but their plates are clean when the kitchen gets them back.” Gage nodded, but didn’t say anything, making Kelsey worry more.
“Is she going to be okay? Was it something I did?”
“No, I don’t think it was something you did. You should wait for a doctor to tell you, but if she’s not diabetic now, then she’s either becoming one or she could have an eating disorder we didn’t know about.”
Justin rushed back in with the stretcher and ordered Kelsey and I back. We stepped away while the guys lifted Allison onto the stretcher and strapped her down. They worked silently until they had her ready to go. They nodded at each other and started moving her. We followed as they made their way to the ambulance and loaded her in. Justin got in the back with Allison, and Gage shut them in before he climbed into the driver’s seat. I followed him to the window, worried about Allison and silently begging for answers.
“Don’t worry, Mia.” He shut the door and placed his hands over mine, which I hadn’t noticed were resting on the open window. My heart rate picked up as he looked me in the eye to comfort me. “I’ll take care of her. She’s in good hands now. Thank you for doing what you could. Now it’s time to keep the other campers calm. It will be all right.” He started the ambulance, a subtle way to tell me to let go of the window and move back. Once I did, he turned on the siren and sped off toward the hospital. Once again, I felt alone and abandoned, but not because he had been distant with me, but because I realized he had kept me calm. He had touched me and I didn’t automatically recoil…This is getting dangerous...
Chapter 6
“I don’t know what to do, Deacon. She’s been avoiding me for the last few weeks because she thinks I’m screwing my sister or something.” I leaned against one of the cars in Jacobs’ Collision. Deacon was busy working on Lottie’s old as dirt car. Apparently, its radiator had called it quits and being the nice guy Deacon could be, he did it for a discount for Ellie since she often brought him food at lunchtime when he didn’t have time to eat. Everyone had a sweet spot for Ellie, Lottie as well, not that I could blame them. They acted like grandmothers to everyone, how could anyone not love them?
“It sounds like you’re shit out of luck,” Deacon said, peeking out from under the hood of the car. His dark hair matched the grease stains on his chin where his hands brushed over. He didn’t look intimidating now, but as a former Marine he could do some damage. Justin and I knew him growing up, but even then he was more of a silent threat. He and I were about six feet tall, which meant no one messed with us unless they had to. “I don’t know why you’re having a problem with this chick. You’ve never had a problem getting girls with your last name. Just use that to get her.”
I grit my teeth, biting my tongue. He knew I hated how my name affected people in this town. I wanted nothing more than to be free of it and no longer held to the standards of a Greystone. Too bad there’s no chance in hell that will ever happen. I wrestled with the memory of my father telling me to get lost; to get out of his house and never come back if I was going to let my life and our family name run into the ground. “If you can’t handle the Greystone name, then you don’t deserve it. If you want to make a mockery of yourself, then be an EMT. Give up and never do anything worth doing. You’re a fuck up anyway, always have been.” Now I just had to live with being a disappointment. “She knew my name when she met me and still turned me down.” I rubbed the back of my neck. I guess that at least shows she’s not interested in the money or anything else that comes from my name. “Even if she didn’t I don’t want to use my name to get her. I’m more than that.”
“You have no chance, man. Just give up,” Justin commented, coming a
round the car to join the conversation. “She’s not worth it.”
“Do you say that because you can’t get a girl like that to give you the time of day?”
I chuckled at Deacon’s quick wit, but Justin didn’t find it as amusing.
“I could get any girl I wanted. Just no one in this town catches my attention. I can turn on the charm when I want, unlike you who’s a dick to everyone.” Justin leaned forward to meet Deacon’s gaze, but Deacon didn’t care. He just shook his head and went back to work. “I never understood why you hated using your family name. You get special treatment and shit all over the place. I’d love that!”
“You’d love it until you had it,” I replied sharply. I wasn’t in the mood for this conversation; not now, not ever. All I heard growing up was I’d make the town proud by following in my father’s footsteps. They wanted a Greystone in charge, someone who would lead them well as my family has done for generations since this town had been founded. The first disappointment was being medically discharged from the military, and now I am a constant disgrace because I chose to become ‘just an EMT’ and nothing more. They thought I’d come running home to take Dad’s job, but instead I came back to help and save people who needed me. This is what I want to do, not politics or some other bullshit. Why couldn’t they accept that? What was so wrong with being an EMT? “Maybe you should have married Kayla so you could have the Greystone name. That’s why Jason took our last name.”
“Fuck no!” Justin cried. “You couldn’t pay me to marry her. I practically grew up with her; I’ve seen firsthand the shit you tell others as stories. The chick has a temper and she’s crazy, then acts innocent. No, couldn’t do it. I don’t know how you dealt with living with her. I couldn’t do it, and the Greystone name isn’t worth it.”
“Then shut up about stuff you don’t know anything about. I’ll leave the politics to Kayla’s husband. He wanted the Greystone name and now he has it. He can take Dad’s place and then maybe they can leave me alone about my life choices.” That’s not likely, but at least then they’d have to cut me a break. I can’t take the job from Jason once he has it. I took a deep breath to calm myself. Taking my anger out on Justin wouldn’t do me any good.
Deacon cleared his throat, regaining my attention. “I’m not getting involved in another Greystone family fight. I was there for you when you told them you were medically discharged and then again when you told them you were becoming an EMT. I’m not getting in the middle of another one.” Deacon’s blue eyes stared me down to emphasize how serious his words were. I didn’t blame him, but I also couldn’t thank him and Justin enough for being there when I needed them.
Why did I need a small Army by my side to tell my family anything? Oh yeah, because otherwise Dad would let me really have it. Nothing was ever thrown, but piss him off and everyone better stay clear. He’d lash out with words and then leave you to wallow in it. Perfect politician. Had all the disappointments and disasters from his opponent’s life at the ready to use for ammo. Nothing is safe when it comes to him.
“As for this girl and your current problem, you’re up shit creek without a paddle. She sounds like she’s already made her choices. She let you in for that call because she was worried about the camper. I don’t know if you can recover from this or if it’s worth it to be honest. What girl is?”
“The one who gives great head.” Justin leaned on the side of Ellie’s car and cracked his knuckles, bored already and probably hungry again. Maybe I should start carrying snacks around with me again like I did in high school for him. He’s more tolerable when he’s not complaining. “Other than that, they’re kind of a mess.”
“Coming from the guy who tried to salvage his mistake by asking two girls for a threesome?” Deacon gave Justin a stern glare, disbelief in his eyes. “Maybe you need to work on your personal standards before you try to date anyone else. I don’t think you even deserve a girl’s attention right now. At least Gage can get a girl and I’m not hearing about tits, ass, and sex every ten seconds. Seriously, get your act together and get off the car.” Deacon shoved Justin off the side. “If you put a dent in it with your fat ass, then you’re paying to repair it before I give this back to Ellie.”
“Fuck off or I’ll call Caroline over here. I hear she has a thing for you and Gage,” Justin threatened. Caroline, one of the locals, seemed to have something for everyone in town, but it did seem like Deacon and I were at the top of her list. I’d caught her following me around before when I went to the hospital on calls. She’d find me every time without fail and then follow me from room to room. I didn’t have a nice way to get rid of her so I dealt with it, but I didn’t want to give her the wrong idea. She’s crazy, and as Justin would say ‘don’t stick your dick in crazy.’ I’d prefer to not get involved in any way. “I’m sure a friendly stalker would change your tone.”
Deacon and I both shot him a ‘don’t you fucking dare’ glare, but Justin gave us a roguish grin and winked. I wouldn’t tempt him. I didn’t want Caroline here. She got pissed every time I so much as talked to someone else. I assumed it was something that had to do with why she was in the hospital, but none of the nurses could tell me anything. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I didn’t need to worry about Caroline, I needed to figure out what to do about Mia. “Come on Deacon, help me out with Mia.”
“I don’t know what you expect me to do. I don’t know the girl, and right now I want you to get his fat ass out of here if he’s threatening to call Caroline. Don’t you guys have some stranded hiker to fix up or something? Maybe you should check in with Joe and see if he needs you.”
“Not yet, but give it an hour and I’m sure we will.” Hikers thought they could take on the trails easily up here, and then continue up the mountain without a problem. Most were sadly mistaken and ill prepared. I felt like I never got the chance to go home, and when I did it was well past midnight so all I wanted to do was sleep. Our schedule was 24-hour shifts, and then the volunteers would take about 12-hours then switch. What I wouldn’t give for a 12-hour shift.
“Look, if it gets you out of my shop faster, take Mia to the fireworks show on Friday. The town will be packed for the Fourth of July festival. Take her out on a date, make it a good one, and then call it a goddamn night!”
“But I’m supposed to help you shoot off the fireworks.” I rubbed the back of my neck before cracking it. “I can’t leave you to do it alone.”
“I wish you two fuckers would leave me alone right now.” He glared at each of us, annoyed we had come into his space to bother him. What did he expect though? I couldn’t keep taking advice from Justin. He’s useless when it comes to girls. “But since that won’t happen until this is fixed, then I’ll take one for the team and get one of my brothers to help me set off the fireworks. Just go get the girl and get out of my face.”
“How do you suggest I do that? She won’t even talk to me.”
Deacon’s gaze met mine once again with a mischievous smile I knew all too well. I knew I wouldn’t like whatever he was about to say. “If Kayla is the problem, then make her the solution. Get Kayla to talk to her.” I was right, I didn’t like it.
“Oh, yeah that’s a great idea!” My voice hit a fake octave to feign excitement before it dropped down to normal. “Then while she’s at it, she can interrogate Mia and scare her even more. That wouldn’t do anything except make it worse!”
Deacon sighed. “Then get Emmy to help you out. I was talking to her at Outsider’s last night over a beer. They have to go survey caves again tomorrow to figure out which are safe for kids and tourists. She’ll listen to Emmy. That’s probably your best shot and then at the end of the day, ask her out. If that doesn’t work, then it kills me to say it, but Justin is right. She may not be worth it, but that’s up to you.” He glanced at me to make sure I heard him. I gave him a nod, but didn’t say anything else. “Good, now get out of my shop. I’ll see you guys at Outsider’s at the end of the day.”
Justin popped up
instantly. “Great, now that that’s over, let’s go to Ellie’s. I’m starving.” He ran out of the shop and turned to head to the diner.
I looked back at Deacon in disbelief, but he just shrugged. “Dude, he’s your friend. You just bring him with you every time you come to see me. Good luck with Mia.” He smiled before going back to work on the car.
Thanks. I’m going to need all the luck I can get.
Chapter 7
I could see why Emmy didn’t have a boyfriend. It’s not that she wasn’t stunning; her long brown hair framed her face to show off her one blue eye and one brown. I found her heterochromia beautiful and she wore it as a badge of honor. She oozed confidence and independence, two traits I didn’t have. She was even friendly and outgoing. Hell, if I was interested in girls, I’d go after her. I’d at least have a better chance than the guys in Escape. The reason Emmy is single wasn’t because she was unattractive, it was because no one could keep up with her; except me. That’s why David had us team up to lead the cave tours this summer. Emmy did research in geology and ecology, so these caves were her home and she wanted to share them with tourists.
Escape is full of caves tucked into the mountain sides. Some hold gemstones, which is what Emmy studies, others are vapor caves, and some are stalactite caves like the ones I had known in Virginia. Every year Emmy went through the caves and mapped out the ones for cave tours. Some caves would experience cave ins at times and it was her job to make sure the ones we led tours in were safe, though the ones she did research in were susceptible since she did minor digging. That automatically crossed them off as a safety precaution and so her research wouldn’t get messed up again. It made my blood boil to think about her losing years of research because of some careless tourists.
