Chasing the Wind

by Patricia H. Rushford

  “The hospital is only about three blocks away. Drive back that way and get help.” James wiped the rain out of his face with the back of his hand. “Then I want you to go home and stay with your mother.”

  Gideon shook his head. “I’ll take Nelson home. Then I’m coming back.”

  Watching Gideon drive off filled James with a sense of pride. The people in Deerford would need every able-bodied person to get them past this disaster. He made his way back to Hank. “Help is on the way. Just hang in there.”

  James hurried back to the first car and ripped off as many small branches as possible to get to the elderly woman. He pulled out the broken glass until he could reach in to check her pulse. He felt along her neck for a carotid pulse, but couldn’t find one.

  Flashing lights came toward them and James released the breath he’d been holding.

  James and two police officers managed to lift the tree branch off the first car. They then began working to pull away the shattered safety glass that had once served as a windshield.

  Gideon appeared at James’s side. “Nelson is with Mom.”

  James nodded. He was too choked up to speak. Somewhere along the way, his oldest son had become a man.

  Chapter Sixteen

  CANDACE’S COMFORTING OF HER TWO YOUNG children didn’t work so well when she was just as frightened.

  They had crawled into bed with Candace when the thunder and lightning began. Hail hit with such force, Candace feared the stones would come right through the roof.

  The total darkness, sounds of shattering glass, crying children and the fury of the storm were almost more than she could bear.

  “Candace.” Her mother opened the door letting in the blessed light of a candle. “We need to go downstairs. It isn’t safe up here.”

  “Go with Grammy, kids. I’ll be right behind you.” Candace grabbed a bathrobe and hurried after them.

  Her mother had already lit some candles and brought out quilts and snuggly blankets to wrap up in.

  Candace lowered herself to the couch beside Janet and leaned her head against her mother’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

  Howie drew up his knees and snuggled on Candace’s lap, and Brooke squeezed between the two women.

  Candace held her little guy close and kissed the top of his head.

  “Don’t be scared, Howie.” Brooke reached for his hand. “God will take care of us.”

  Janet smiled. “Yes, He will.”

  Candace tried not to worry about the damage the storm would do. She shuddered to think of leaving her children and venturing out into the storm, but she knew a storm like this would not be without incident. “Mom, I need to get to Hope Haven.”

  “Of course. I’ll watch the kids.”

  “No.” Brooke clung to Candace, tears spilling onto her cheeks. “It’s too dangerous. You might get hurt.”

  “It’s okay, honey, the storm is over. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “Mommy, no.” Tears brimmed in her eyes.

  Candace melted. “Sweetie, you know Mommy’s a nurse, and you know nurses take care of people. After this storm, there may be hurt people who need my help.”

  Janet took hold of Brooke’s shoulders and gave Candace a look that said go. Candace gave Brooke a hug and kissed her cheek. “I’m going upstairs to change now.”

  Candace grabbed a flashlight off the coffee table and hurried upstairs. It took less than three minutes to change into her uniform and shoes. What was she thinking? She would be going into a situation that could be equally as bad as what she’d seen with Dr. Hamilton.

  Candace sucked in a deep breath as she ran a brush through her hair. “You can do this,” she told herself.

  When she came back downstairs, Howie and Brooke ran to her with hands outstretched. “Look!” Howie and Brooke lifted up hailstones larger than any she had ever seen. “It’s bigger’n a snow cone.”

  “No wonder they made so much noise.” Candace examined both specimens.

  Brooke nodded. “We’re going to freeze them so people will believe they really did look like baseballs. Do you want one too, Grammy?”

  Janet laughed. “No thanks. I think I’ll remember this storm well enough without a memento.”

  Candace took the hailstones to the freezer and placed them on the shelf. She turned back around and said a hasty good-bye while the children were still in a good mood.

  In the employee parking lot, Candace stepped out and opened the umbrella, facing it against the wind. About halfway there, a gust tore it out of her hand. She debated going after it, but decided she’d buy another one instead.

  Candace ran the rest of the way and ducked into an ambulance bay. She’d never worked ER before, choosing instead the usually slower paced specialty of obstetrics. Even so, she was a nurse and could perform emergency procedures if necessary.

  Candace hurried through the ER and into the waiting room. Her heart raced. Her stomach churned as if gearing up for panic mode. She couldn’t help but remember the day she’d rushed to the hospital when she’d gotten the call about Dean. The only storm that day had been in her heart, and it had all but done her in.

  With Isabel finally asleep in Elena and Cesar’s bed, the storm now having passed, Elena paced back and forth across the living room floor, into the kitchen, then back again.

  Frustration nipped at her. She should be at the hospital, but with Cesar and Rafael gone, someone had to stay with Isabel.

  The poor child had been absolutely terrified during the hailstorm, her head buried in Elena’s shoulder during the ordeal. Of course, Elena hadn’t been all that calm herself, especially when the windows started breaking and an exceptionally large stone slammed through the skylight in the entryway.

  Once the hail had subsided, Rafael had wiped the tears from his little girl’s face then gone up to the roof to cover the hole, while Elena cleared the debris inside. Together they swept the glass shards and tossed the dozen or so hailstones into the sink. When the broken windows had been covered with boards and tarps, Rafael headed out to help where he could.

  Elena stepped outside into the damp, chilled air and examined the yard and front of the house. As a police officer, Cesar had been on duty the entire time, and Elena hadn’t gotten any word from him yet. Of course, neither her cell phone nor the land line were working. She feared the possibility that he might be injured.

  “No point creating trouble where there is none.” It had been one of her grandmother’s favorite sayings, and it fit here. She’d do her best to avoid nightmare scenarios from now on, given all the anxiety she’d experienced after receiving Sarah’s call. Elena wrapped her arms around herself to lessen the chill. Their single-story ranch home would need a great deal of work—they’d need a new roof and a number of windows at the very least. She hoped their home insurance would cover the damage.

  Seeing the candlelight in her neighbor’s front window, Elena had an idea. She made her way through the rain and knocked on the door.

  “Elena?” Marion drew her inside. “Is everything all right?”

  “We’re as fine as we can be, given what just happened. I am hoping you can help me. Isabel is asleep, and I would like very much to go to the hospital to work. I know they probably need as many nurses and doctors as they can get.”

  “Say no more. I will be happy to stay with Isabel.”

  Marion blew out her candles, grabbed a flashlight off the entry table, shrugged on a pink fleece jacket from the coat rack and hooked an umbrella from the stand next to the door. Stepping outside she said, “The sooner you can get there the better.”

  “That’s what I was thinking.” Elena paused, flicking the light from her own flashlight over the white, uneven ground and stepped across the ice-laden walk. “Be careful. The last thing we need is for either of us to fall and break a hip.”

  “Been there, done that.” Marion followed in Elena’s wake.

  Getting into her car a few minutes later, Elena wished she’d thought to ask Mario
n earlier. She backed down the driveway thankful that her car had been under cover of the carport, which had offered some protection.

  Nothing could have prepared Elena for the chaos she passed on the way to Hope Haven. Stranded vehicles lined the road, all looking like they’d been battered by baseball bats. When she reached the hospital, she drove around to the back and was stopped by a police officer at the entrance to the employees’ parking lot. Water dripped off his hat and ran in rivulets down his yellow slicker.

  “We’re only letting staff in here.”

  “I’m a nurse.” Elena showed him her badge.

  He smiled in recognition. “You’re Cesar’s wife.”

  “Yes.” She peered up at him but didn’t recognize him. “Have you seen Cesar? Is he all right?”

  He nodded. “He was fine a few minutes ago.”

  “Thank the Lord.” Elena drove on and parked as close to the building as possible, finding a place in the fifth row back. She felt sorry for the staff members who had been working during the storm. Their vehicles were a mess.

  Stepping around hail that still littered the ground, Elena hurried to the staff entrance. All available wall space was taken up with stretchers that had spread out from the ER. Every seat in the large reception area was taken as were the chairs that lined the wall across from the lab.

  An older woman knelt on the floor, raising her hands and praying loudly in Spanish. A middle-aged woman, probably her daughter, sat with her and acted as though this were a normal event. Elena paused to offer assistance, but the younger of the two waved her on. She was probably mourning for a family member.

  The din from dozens of people all speaking at once was deafening. Somewhere nearby, a tray clattered to the floor. Someone screamed.

  Elena made her way back through the ER. She had no idea who was in charge, but she was determined to find out fast and get to work.

  When she reached the emergency room, Anabelle took a moment to orient herself.

  Medics rushed past, wheeling a patient into the ER bays. Anabelle stepped back, brushing into the stretcher behind her. She turned and looked into the rheumy gray eyes of a woman probably in her late seventies.

  The woman groaned and lifted her hand. “Help me.”

  Anabelle could barely hear her over the din. Her silver hair was matted with blood from a gash on her forehead. A damp washcloth lay beside her head as if someone had attempted to cover the wound.

  She had been triaged as yellow, but her pallor suggested otherwise. “Can you tell me your name?” Anabelle checked her pulse. Barely palpable.

  “Louise.” Her eyes closed and her head lolled to one side.

  “Okay, Louise. I’m going to take care of you.” She took the woman’s blood pressure, using the cuff already on her arm. Sixty over forty. Louise was going into shock. “We need to get to this lady right away.”

  Anabelle increased the volume on the IV, noting the nearly empty bag. Anabelle switched Louise out to a red tag and took her back to the ER, where she grabbed another bag of normal saline and replaced the nearly empty one.

  Someone came up behind her. She turned and almost fell over them. “Dr. Hamilton, what on earth are you doing here?” He was wearing scrubs.

  “Helping. What’s her status?” He pulled on a pair of latex gloves.

  “She’s in shock and dehydrated. Looks like she’s lost a lot of blood. I opened the IV, but she might need a unit….”

  “Are you triaging?” he asked.

  “I was.”

  “From the looks of things, you’d better get back out there. I’ll handle this one. See if you can get me a nurse.”

  “Dr. Hamilton, are you sure?” Anabelle looked straight into his determined gray eyes.

  He frowned. “We need every able doctor.”

  This was neither the time nor place to argue.

  “Can I help, Mrs. Scott?” Seri stepped up beside them wearing jeans and a wild rose-and-skeleton T-shirt and diamond stud in her nose.

  Anabelle wanted to hug her. “Yes. Thanks so much for coming.”

  “I was across the street studying at the Cuppa Coffee when the storm hit. Bet it broke out every window in the place. I helped as much as I could. Brought a couple of guys over that looked like they needed stitching up.”

  Dr. Hamilton opened one of the cupboards and pulled out a suture set. “Well, Seri, looks like you’re going to get some of that experience you wanted.”

  “Good thing I read up on that disaster stuff, huh?”

  “Good thing.” Anabelle grabbed a scrub top from the linen cart in the hallway. “Put this on over your shirt and do everything Dr. Hamilton tells you to.”

  “Okay.” Seri shrugged into the green top and grabbed some gloves.

  “Seri, get her vitals again,” Dr. Hamilton ordered. “Make sure she’s stable. Then you can assist while we clean her wound and stitch her up.”

  He began opening the suture set. “Anabelle, on your way out, tell one of the ER nurses I’m going to need a type and crossmatch. We need to hook her up to the monitors.”

  Anabelle left the two of them and gave the supervising ER nurse a quick report. “I know he shouldn’t be here, but like he said, we need every available doctor. And Seri is new, but I think she’ll be okay.”

  “I’ll keep an eye on them. Looks like we’re in for a long night.”

  “You think?” Anabelle couldn’t believe the chaos. A couple more doctors had come in, one she recognized from family practice and another from internal medicine.

  Ambulances and rescue units and police were dropping people off at the ER faster than she and the other nurses could process them. Some of the patients came in from neighboring towns saying the hospitals there were overrun as well. Ordinarily, some of the victims would have been transported by helicopter to Peoria, but the hospital was too far away and the weather had grounded all air traffic.

  Dr. Weller approached the nurses’ station. “Varner is trying to find a place to direct the less seriously injured. He’s looking at the high school.”

  “I hope it works out,” Anabelle said. “It’ll take a lot of pressure off us.”

  “We just have to find people to go out there and staff the place.” Dr. Weller looked around. “I’ll talk to some of the staff who just came in.”

  Anabelle went back to triaging. She had never worked through so many victims at once. Some of the patients required little care and were moved into the lobby area or sent home. Others were taken into the ER, and many had to wait in the lobby areas and waiting rooms until someone could see them.

  Though Hope Haven doctors and nurses arrived as they were able, it became clear to Anabelle that they would need another facility and more staff as soon as possible. She prayed Varner would come through.

  Elena spotted Anabelle beside a stretcher and hurried to her friend’s side. If anyone knew the score, Anabelle would.

  “I got here a little bit ago. With both Cesar and Rafael gone, I had to find a sitter for Isabel.”

  Anabelle nodded as she snapped on a fresh pair of latex gloves. “I could use you here for the moment.”

  Elena glanced down at the man on the stretcher. His shirt had been ripped open to reveal an abdominal wound. Anabelle had covered it and was now applying pressure.

  “Grab some gloves and hold this,” Anabelle ordered. “We need to get him into surgery. I’ll see if any of the doctors can take him.”

  Elena reached into the box on the wall. Empty. “No gloves here. I’ll go check with the doctors and be right back.”

  “All right, hurry.”

  On the way into the ER, Elena stepped into a medical supply room and grabbed a box each of small, medium and large gloves. When she slipped back into the corridor, she nearly collided with a medic.

  “Coming through!”

  Elena stepped out of the way as medics pushed in another gurney. This one held a young man with a beard who had large welts and bruises on his face and chest.

  “W
e found him out in the park, shirtless,” one of the medics told her. “His buddy said he’d been drinking and thought it would be fun to dance in the hail. His vitals are stable. Looks like he might have a concussion.”

  “He’ll need an MRI.” Dr. Clark came up beside them.

  One of the medics handed Elena a clipboard. “I…” She turned to Dr. Clark. “Anabelle needs a doctor. She has a guy with an abdominal wound.”

  She glanced around. “If this guy is stable, maybe one of you can take him to X-ray.”

  “No can do. We’re piled up from here to Sunday out on the streets.”

  Dr. Clark sighed. “All right.” She gave Elena an almost frantic look. “We need more help.”

  “I can take him to X-ray,” Elena volunteered.

  She nodded. “Show me where the guy with the abdominal wound is. Sounds like a priority.”

  Spotting Anabelle, Candace hurried to her friend’s side.

  “You made it.” Anabelle glanced over at her, taking in her sopped hair and clothes. “We need someone in the waiting room. We have a lot of distraught people who need calming down.”

  “I’m on it.”

  “There’s a guy from some television program called Storm Trackers who’s been giving us a bad time. Keeps trying to get footage of the chaos in here. I’m about to have security take his camera away from him.”

  “Oh, joy.” Candace eased out of her soaked jacket, debating whether or not she should change out of her damp scrubs.

  Before she had a chance to do either, a young man carrying a small child stopped her. “I need help. We were in the car when the storm hit. The window next to my little girl shattered. She’s cut up pretty bad and took some hits to the head. I stopped the car and climbed in back with her as soon as I could, to protect her, but I might have been too late.”

  Candace looked at the cuts, all of which seemed superficial. “Has anyone seen her yet?”

  “Not exactly. I was told to wait here, but I’m worried. She keeps going in and out of consciousness.”

  Candace led him out of the traffic pattern. “Show me.”

  He took the blanket from around her. Her dark curls fell free. Candace examined the child while she lay in the young man’s arms. “Her vitals are strong, but her eyes aren’t as reactive as they should be. We need to get her into the back right away.”