A Shot in the Dark (Dark #1)

by J. G. Sumner

  Rebecca lifted her head and watched as Dr. Stone felt pressed two fingers against the artery in Skyler’s groin.

  A smile spread across Dr. Stone’s face. “Folks, he has a pulse. Peyton, continue running IV fluids wide open for the first two liters. After that, continue it at one hundred twenty-five cc per hour. Ms. Smith, I’m not sure what that song was about, but your son is a fighter.”

  Rebecca let out a heavy sigh and smiled.

  “That was his favorite song when he was little. It used to make him giggle. I sing it sometimes when he’s having a hard time going to sleep before a big race day.”

  “I want you to know this doesn’t mean he’s out of the woods yet. He still has a long way to go. And as I mentioned earlier, the next twenty-four hours are the most critical.”

  “Is it okay if I stay with him tonight? I don’t want to leave his side.”

  “That’ll be fine. The nurses will bring you a recliner to sleep in.”

  “Thank you, Doctor. And thank you for everything.”

  “Let’s just get Skyler through the next twenty-four hours.” Dr. Stone glanced at Peyton. “Keep a close eye on him and let me know if there are any changes.” Stone left the room abruptly.

  Laney approached Rebecca and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I have to head back down to the emergency department.” She gestured toward the other woman. “Peyton is an excellent nurse, and Skyler is in good hands with her. Please let her know if you need anything.”

  Rebecca took Laney’s hand. “Thank you for everything.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ll check on you later.” Laney turned and left the room, suddenly leaving Rebecca alone and unsure about the future.

  Chapter 7

  Laney entered the emergency department to find it in full swing. Early evening was always the busiest time of day. She stopped by the radio room and found Dinah feverishly typing away on the computer.

  “Hey, Dinah! How’s it going? Anything good coming in that I should be aware of?”

  Dinah smiled. “Oh hey, kiddo. Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in hours.”

  “You know that trauma that came in earlier?”

  Dinah closed her eyes as though she were searching for an answer, “The dirt bike accident?”

  “Yes. Well, I’ve been with his mom. She was all alone and unfortunately, it looks like her son probably won’t make it.” Laney filled Dinah in on the day’s events.

  “That must’ve been so hard for her.”

  “Yeah, I didn’t want to bring her into the room, but I’m glad he made me. The most amazing thing happened.”

  “What’s that?”

  Laney told her about the singing.

  Dinah’s eyes grew wide. “Wow, really? That just goes to show you the bond between a mother and child is a force to be reckoned with.”

  Laney tugged a hand through her hair. “Everyone had tears in their eyes while she was singing.”

  “That’s why we have you as our trauma lead. I’m glad she was able to have you by her side through this.”

  Laney smiled. “Thanks.”

  “Speaking of traumas, there’s another one coming in about twenty minutes. I hadn’t called you yet because I haven’t gotten all of the details. So far, it sounds pretty minor.” Dinah reviewed her notes. “It’s a car accident up on Palomar Mountain. The car went off a fifty-foot embankment. The driver was unconscious initially but has since woken up. There was some starring to the windshield, so he is coming in to get his noggin checked out. They’re supposed to get back to me with updated vitals.”

  Laney let out a small sigh. “Here we go. I can’t wait for this day to be over. It’s been emotionally draining, to say the least.”

  “Hopefully this one will be quick and easy. You only have a couple more hours before you’re off. By the time you get done with this one, it should be time to go.”

  “I think I’m going to stop for a drink after work tonight. Are you up for joining me?”

  Dinah shrugged. “I need to get home to the kids tonight. Rain check?”

  “Sure. I probably won’t be good company anyway.”

  “Oh, you’re always good company.”

  Laney forced a smile, “I’m heading back into the trauma room. I ordered some supplies for restocking. They should already be in there.”

  “Sounds good. If I get any more pertinent information, I’ll let you know. And Laney, cheer up. Not much left of your shift.” Dinah flashed her a warm smile.

  ***

  Laney took a look around the trauma room. She found the supplies she had ordered stacked on top of one of the extra gurneys. As she restocked, she looked through the cabinets to make sure there wasn’t anything that she had missed earlier. Often, when people couldn’t find a piece of equipment elsewhere, they took what they needed from the trauma room because it had everything.

  “So, what’s coming in?” The gruff voice was familiar.

  Startled, she spun to find Dr. Stone standing behind her. She put her hand on her chest to calm her rapid heartbeat and took a deep breath.

  “You startled me. You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that!”

  “I walked into the room. Perhaps you were a little focused on what you were doing.” The corners of his mouth curved as though he was trying to hold back a smile. “I got paged. Do you have details?”

  “It’s a car accident. The car went off a fifty-foot embankment by Palomar Mountain. I’m not sure how many passengers, if any. The driver lost consciousness at the scene but has since regained it. There’s some starring on the windshield. That’s all I know.”

  “Let’s hope this one turns out better than the last. How soon until they’re here?” Dr. Stone checked his watch.

  “Probably about another ten minutes.”

  “Ten minutes? They aren’t supposed to page me until the traumas are five minutes out.”

  “I suppose you should talk to Dinah about that. She probably had a good reason for paging you early.” Laney was ready to brush Dr. Stone off. She didn’t want to deal with him anymore today.

  Just as she finished speaking, the ambulance crew and medics came through the doorway.

  “I guess that would be the reason,” he muttered. Right behind the patient entered the rest of the trauma team.

  “Who can give me the details on this patient?”

  “I can tell you what happened.”

  Laney shifted her attention to the elderly gentleman on the gurney. His plaid shirt and jeans were covered with spots of blood most likely from the big gash on his forehead.

  “Some jackass thought it was a smart idea to pass me around a curve in the road. He almost hit another car head on. I swerved to avoid missing both cars and next thing I know, I’m down an embankment pulling my head out of the goddamned windshield!”

  Laney suppressed a smile. She had a special place in her heart for cantankerous old men.

  “I guess we can say there is full recall of the event,” Dr. Stone said drily.

  Laney leaned over the patient. “Sir, my name is Laney. I’m going to be the nurse helping you. I can see you’re upset, but I need you to stay calm. We have you on this backboard so we can make sure there’s nothing broken in your spine. I need you to let us finish checking you out. Is that okay?” She placed a hand on his to calm the man and provide some reassurance.

  “I can tell you right now there’s nothing broken. I got out of that car and walked halfway up the embankment before any of these fine gentlemen came to get me.” He motioned to the medics standing beside him.

  “Can you tell me your name?” Dr. Stone asked.

  “Yes, it’s Charles London.”

  “And how old are you, Mr. London?”

  “I’m eighty-six years young.”

  Dr. Stone chuckled. “Great. That helps out a lot. Now I just need to get some information from these medics and then I can get you checked out and then hopefully you can go home. Is there anyone who can come get you?”


  “Probably one of my kids if they’ll ever answer those damned cell phones that everyone’s carrying these days.”

  Dr. Stone patted the old man on the shoulder. “Okay, I’ll make you a deal. If you can hang tight and let me finish evaluating you, I’ll get you out of here as soon as possible. I’ll have the social worker get started on locating one of your children to come pick you up.”

  “Fine, but make sure they know it was the other jackass driver’s fault and not mine. I don’t want them thinking they need to take my driver’s license away.”

  “It’s a deal.”

  Laney started the IV and took blood for labs while Dr. Stone turned to the medics. “What can you tell me besides what Charles here has offered?”

  The lead medic looked to be in his late twenties, in good shape, he had brown hair and brown eyes and wore a cap with the Palomar Mountain Fire emblem. He was wearing yellow fire fighter pants with a navy blue T-shirt with the same emblem on it. His biceps and pecks hugged his shirt.

  “Charles here told you everything that happened prior to our arrival,” the medic said. “We did find him walking up the embankment and the blood on his pants is from a nice three-inch laceration across his forehead. We applied pressure and put on the bandage that you see over and around his head. He has some other very minor scratches that we did not treat. His vital signs have all been stable. His blood pressure was one fifty-six over seventy-two, pulse eighty-six strong and regular, and respirations sixteen. The only medical history he has is hypertension, which Charles takes medication for.”

  “Sounds good. Thank you.” Dr. Stone returned his attention to Charles. “Sounds like you’re a pretty healthy guy for eighty-six.”

  “You’re damned right I am!” Charles crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Let’s get you off this backboard and take a look at the cut on your forehead. We’ll see if you need any sutures. We’ll also need to get a CAT scan to make sure there’s no bleeding in your head. After that, if everything looks good, we can get you out of here. Does that sound good?”

  Charles waved dismissively. “Well, get a move on. The sooner you can get me out of here the better. I’ve got things to do. My dogs are going to be missing their old man.”

  “Sounds like a deal.”

  ***

  After finishing up with the older gentleman, passing on the report to the oncoming nurse, and seeing that the clock read 7:28 p.m., Laney realized she could finally clock out.

  She walked into the break room and swiped her badge against the time machine. As she turned to leave the lounge, Dinah barreled through the door, almost hitting her.

  “Sorry! I didn’t expect you to be there.”

  Dinah was usually relaxed, not frantic. “It’s okay. Is something wrong?”

  “No, just in a hurry. I have to pick up the youngest from soccer practice. I can’t wait until he can drive himself!”

  Laney laughed. “I can’t imagine.”

  “Are you still going out, honey?”

  “After I check up on Skyler’s mom, I was going to head over to O’Sullivans. It’s been a long day, and I can get dinner there too.”

  Dinah waved to Laney as she walked out the door. “Don’t drink too much. See you tomorrow.” Before Laney could say good-bye, Dinah was gone.

  What was that? Laney shook her head. She left the department and headed up to the fifth floor. As the elevator doors opened, she walked to the entrance of the ICU, and swiped her badge to enter. She hadn’t heard any “code” calls to Skyler’s room in a couple of hours. Hopefully that meant things were going better, and he was stabilizing.

  As she rounded the corner toward Skyler’s room, she almost bumped into Peyton and another nurse coming out.

  Peyton smiled. “Hey! Are you back for more?” She gestured toward Skyler’s room.

  “Yeah, I just wanted to see how his mom was doing.”

  “She’s in there talking to the police officer you have a crush on.”

  Laney closed her eyes for a moment. Laney tried to control the embarrassment that was warming her cheeks. The last thing she wanted was for all the nurses to know she had a crush on Stephen. “Is it okay if I go in?”

  Peyton shrugged. “I don’t know why not. He’s just asking her some routine questions.”

  “How’s Skyler doing?”

  Peyton’s enthusiasm waned. “The good news is he’s been stable since you left. The bad news is he has not done much of anything to show us he’s getting better. We’ve started him on cooling measures, which will give him time to heal. Dr. Stone would like to do that for at least until tomorrow. That also means we won’t be trying to wake him anytime soon.”

  Laney frowned. How much could Skyler possibly endure? “I figured that was the next step.” She tried to lighten up. “I’m headed to O’Sullivans right after this. Do you want to go?”

  “Any other day I’d love to. Tonight I have a hot date.”

  Laney smiled. She wasn’t much of a dater and lived vicariously through Peyton’s experiences. “Really? Where did you find this one?”

  “I met him while I was running Jack by the beach.” Jack was Peyton’s beloved German shepherd.

  “He’s this big and tall Marine. I don’t know what Jack’s problem was, but he went up to the guy and just started barking for no reason. The guy didn’t seem to care and he actually calmed Jack down. We started talking.”

  “Does he have a name?”

  “Jarod McIntosh.”

  Laney shook her head. “I’ll expect all the details tomorrow.”

  “Sure thing. And Laney? Don’t stay there too long. Go home and get some sleep. This will all be here when you get back tomorrow.”

  “Thank you for the reminder.”

  In Skyler’s room, Laney found Officer Miller sitting next to Rebecca. “Am I interrupting?”

  Rebecca stood up. “Not at all. Thank you for stopping back by. Officer Miller was just asking me some questions he didn’t get a chance to earlier.” Rebecca seemed much calmer than she had all day.

  “Where’s your friend? Did she show up?”

  “Yes, she just left to go get some food and a few things so I could stay here tonight. She should be back soon.”

  “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but you seem to be doing remarkably well. What’s changed?”

  Rebecca smiled as her eyes lit up. “After that whole episode with Skyler, something hit me. I knew he could hear me. I knew he was fighting to come back. It may take him a while, but he’ll do it.”

  Shock, disbelief, and amazement flooded Laney’s mind. She didn’t know what she was feeling, but she was glad to see Rebecca looking less fragile.

  “I’m glad to see you’re doing better. But the reality is…”

  “I know. I know Skyler’s odds are low. But I have something that no one else does: mother’s intuition. I know Skyler is going to pull through this.”

  “I pray you’re right,” Laney said. “I’d love to see Skyler wake up, make a full recovery, and finally meet him.”

  “You will. Then he’ll give you a run for your money. He’s a very funny and awesome guy.” Rebecca smiled.

  “I look forward to it. Is there anything I can do for you while I’m here?”

  Rebecca placed a hand on her shoulder. “I appreciate everything you’ve done, but you need to go home and get some rest. We’ll be here when you get back.”

  Laney smiled. Rebecca’s confidence allowed her to relax a bit. “Okay. I’m working tomorrow. I’ll stop back by sometime then.”

  Rebecca gave her a hug. “See you tomorrow. Thank you for being Skyler’s guardian angel.”

  “You’re welcome.” Laney peered around Rebecca to Stephen Miller. “Thank you for letting me borrow her for a few minutes. Have a great night.”

  Stephen nodded. “You’re welcome. Thanks for helping me out earlier.”

  “No problem.” Laney made eye contact with Rebecca again. “Stay strong.”

  ***


  Rebecca

  “So where were we?” Officer Miller asked Rebecca.

  “You just asked me if I was at the race.” Rebecca covered her shoulders with a warm hospital blanket.

  “Correct. So, were you there?”

  “Yes. I attend all of his races.”

  “Can you tell me what you saw?”

  Rebecca paused before answering. “I met Skyler there. He usually drives himself to the races because his motorcycle fits in his truck and not in my car. When I got there, he was with his friends next to the track getting his gear together.”

  “Could you tell what kind of mood he was in?”

  “He was laughing and joking around with his buddies.”

  Officer Miller was taking notes as she spoke. “Did anything seem out of the ordinary?”

  “Not that I recall. It was just like any other race. Although Skyler mentioned earlier in the week that this one was more important because he could get sponsored if he did well.”

  “Do you know which sponsors were going to be watching?”

  Rebecca paused. “No, he didn’t mention any names. But I wouldn’t know them even if he did tell me. I’m only familiar with the main brands like Foxx and Yamaha. And I’m sure nobody that big was looking at him yet.”

  “What happened next?”

  “It was his turn to race. He gave his buddies a high five, put on his helmet and got on his bike. He moved up to the starting area and when the horn sounded, he took off.”

  “Did anything seem out of place at that point?”

  “No. Why are you asking these questions? Do you think someone did this to him?”

  Officer Miller looked up from his tablet. “Right now, I’m just trying to figure out what happened. My partner and I are interviewing everyone involved, and we’ll be putting the pieces together to get the full picture. It’s too early to say if there was any foul play involved.”

  Rebecca suddenly lost her nerve. She didn’t like the feeling that perhaps someone did this to Skyler; that what happened wasn’t an accident.

  “Skyler was racing around the track. He had gone off a few of the small jumps. He didn’t land them as perfectly as he had in the past. I thought maybe it was his nerves. Unless you knew how Skyler rode, you wouldn’t be able to tell the jumps weren’t perfect.