Within a moment, they had her comfortably settled on the gurney with her baby wrapped tightly in her arms. The husband was in no condition to drive so one of the policewomen drove his car behind the ambulance to ensure he arrived safely.
Receiving heartfelt thanks from the new parents, he, Bob, and Mary headed out. Once more, Bob handled the ambulance like a pro as they headed to lunch. They had no sooner eaten than another call came in.
“Siren on and proceed with caution,” he said, sure that his words were unnecessary, but feeling the need to say them anyway. He spoke to Mary, who assured him that she was ready, which was also unnecessary considering she was always prepared.
Morgan sat in the parking lot of the sports arena, her mind in turmoil. The elation from her recent win and guaranteed placement in the next Olympic trials had dwindled as the loneliness of her life weighed heavily on her. She had friends, just not close ones. She was friendly with other swimmers, but there was always underlying competitiveness that kept them from becoming close. She thought back to the bar, where she had met Jaxon and had spent time with his friends. She envied the camaraderie, the ease with which they talked and joked, the obvious affection among them.
And, if the picture in his apartment was any indication, there were others in his group—his band of brothers, as he called them, that she wished she could meet.
Pulling out into traffic, she shook those thoughts from her mind. Maybe someday. But now, as Dad constantly says, I gotta keep my eyes on the prize. She just wished she could convince her heart of that.
Hearing a siren, she slowed down, seeing the flashing lights coming in the opposite direction. Her light was green, but she hesitated at the intersection, watching carefully to see if the ambulance needed to turn in front of her. Moving to the side, she pulled forward a bit and then stopped, waiting for it to pass.
Bob accelerated gently, switching lanes as he anticipated the traffic patterns ahead, mumbling thanks as several cars moved out of their way. An intersection was at the end of the block and he slowed, honking the horn in addition to the siren. The light was green as he approached, but he decelerated even more, entering at a crawl.
“Jaxon?” Mary called from the back.
“Yeah?” he turned to look behind him.
“Fuck!” Bob yelled, hitting the brakes, bringing Jaxon’s head swinging back around just as a fast-moving pickup truck slammed into the side of a car on the opposite side of the street that had stopped to allow the ambulance to pass. The horrific sound of crunching metal, squealing tires, and shattering glass filled the air, cutting through the sound of the siren. The truck was traveling at such speed that its impact pushed the car directly in front of the ambulance before coming to a halt.
“Goddammit,” he yelled, his foot hitting the imaginary brake on the passenger side as Bob stopped the ambulance quickly. He called in the accident on the radio. “Category Two, multiple vehicles. The intersection of West Main and Petersburg. We’re on scene. Transfer other call. Need police, fire assistance.” Throwing his arm out, he pointed to the side, directing Bob to park close to the wreckage.
Flinging himself from the ambulance, he ran toward the closest vehicle and peered inside at the driver of the pickup truck. His airbag had deployed, but he was immediately responsive and mobile. Ignoring the cursing driver, he shouted for Bob to take care of the man as he and Mary ran to the car.
The small, older model, silver Toyota was completely crushed on the driver’s side. With the truck still buried into the car’s metal, he hurried to the passenger door, peering inside. The only occupant was the female driver, whose face was turned away, head hanging down, but he could see her left arm appeared trapped in the crushed door. He was unable to see her left foot, but prayed it was not trapped as well.
Shouting instructions to Mary, he waved away a few Good Samaritans, begging them to not stand in the road and to move along unless they had witnessed the accident. Sirens filled the air and he threw up a word of thanks that the police would soon have the traffic under control.
Mark and Ben, two firemen he recognized, ran over, and he immediately stepped back to give them a chance to assess the vehicles, while saying, “We’ve got to get her out through her door if possible.” The front of the pickup truck was severely dented but not crushed, even though it was still embedded into the car’s door.
With the driver of the truck now sitting on the side of the road and being seen to by Bob, the firemen managed to roll the truck back to give them room to inspect the driver’s door of the car.
Mark shouted, “We’re gonna have to cut it off. Stabilize her and we’ll get ready.”
He threw open the passenger door and crawled onto the seat, leaning over the console. The lack of movement from the female victim had him swallowing hard but as he placed his hand on her right wrist, the pulse underneath his fingertips brought a sense of relief.
She groaned and he shifted closer to get his head in front of hers. Ignoring the firemen, now at the driver’s door, he supported her chin as her eyes blinked open. Unfocused. Unseeing. And absolutely sky blue. Morgan!
“Shit, Morgan. Morgan. Can you hear me?”
Another groan of pain was the only sound she managed to make, and he twisted his head to shout at Mary. Attempting to keep his shaky voice calm, he called out what he needed. Mary then turned to call out to the other rescue squads now appearing. Bob, handing off the care of the truck driver to the others, moved in behind him, leaning over his shoulder, passing him the neck brace.
He wrapped it around her neck, fastening it as gently as he could. Speaking softly, he kept up a continuous dialog. “Morgan, it’s Jaxon. Hey, girl. We’re gonna get you out of here as fast as we can. Got men working on the door right now. Can you tell me your name, sweetheart?”
“Mo..ga,” she cried, as tears streamed down her face.
“Good job. I’ve got your neck stabilized and I’m gonna crawl over to see what we’ve got on the other side, okay?”
She made no motion, so he shoved his body further over the steering wheel, observing multiple cuts on her face and neck, due to the shattered glass. They all looked superficial and he reported back to Bob. Her left arm was not as trapped as he first assumed, but it hung against the crushed door, broken and bleeding with a piece of embedded metal above her elbow.
Looking through the broken window at Ben, he reported, “Need to get the door off to get her out, if possible, but her arm is not trapped in the door. If you can’t get her out safely, I think we can extricate her from here.”
“We can get it loose with the Halligan bar and bolt cutters,” Ben replied. “Shouldn’t take too long.”
With a curt nod, he felt Bob hand him the IV equipment. His hands shook, but he efficiently inserted the IV into a vein in her right hand.
Mary climbed into the back seat and leaned forward to assist. Her eyes searched his and from her cocked eyebrow, he knew she was questioning his ravaged face. Mouthing, I know her, well, he continued to speak softly.
“Hey Morgan, the noise you hear is the firemen getting your door open. It’ll take just another minute or two and we’ll be able to get you out and into the ambulance. You’re doing well. Can you tell me what day it is?”
Her pain filled eyes, with tears spilling down her pale cheeks, held his, breaking his heart. The sounds of traffic being directed all around them hummed in the background, but he only had ears for her.
“Okay, sweetheart. Hang on.”
Looking out the window, he wondered what was taking so long, but just as he was about to bark out the question, Ben leaned in and said, “Got it loose.” He pulled off his fire hat and stuck his head through the window, his movements careful of broken glass. Looking down, Ben then lifted his gaze to Morgan and offered a smile. “All right, Miss, we’ll have you out soon.” Looking back up to him, he said, “Assessment? Can we take the door away?”
“Yes, I’ve got her arm tucked against her body, but am reticent to move it too
much.” The unspoken words of the extent of her injuries swirled between them.
Mary stayed in the back seat, holding the IV line, and he slid out of the car. His boots pounded the pavement as he raced around the hood to the other side, while Bob took his place. Ben gave a curt nod, and with the creak and groan of metal scraping metal, the firemen shifted the door away and stepped back.
As soon as the door was off the car and out of the way, he bent over, immediately bracing her mangled arm while Bob supported her body from behind. Now that he had an unobstructed view of the injured appendage, he shuddered. Securing her left arm to avoid more movement, he nodded to the other paramedic. With assistance, he shifted her body out of the open doorway and onto the gurney placed at his side. Another EMT appeared, taking the IV from Mary and she hustled to them as well.
One of the policemen leaned in and picked up her purse that had landed on the floorboard. “I’ll look for ID—”
“Morgan McAlister,” he barked, his heart pounding as he worked on stabilizing her arm. “Richmond’s Olympic swimming hopeful.”
The “shits” and “fucks” abounded from the various rescue, fire, and police personnel around. Ignoring them, he looked up at Mary and gave the command. They rolled her into the back of the ambulance, Mary going into action while he put his foot on the back step to climb in. A hand at his arm stopped him.
Twisting, he bit out, “What?” causing Bob to wince.
“Jax…I’d be driving in the front…alone. I mean, this…I was driving when this happened—”
“Don’t go there. This wasn’t on you. But you gotta do this. You gotta man the fuck up and do this.”
With a resolute nod, Bob hastened to the front as the doors closed. Turning to Mary, his voice broke, as he pleaded, “Please…”
“I’ll take care of my end. You do what you can.” He looked down at Morgan, his heart constricting, but Mary interrupted his thoughts. “Jax, Richmond General has the best orthopedic surgeons. We’ll get her there.”
He nodded, but his stomach churned. He had seen her arm. Saving it would be a priority, but his gut told him that her Olympic dreams had just been as crushed as her arm.
Her eyes were closed and as he settled at her head, he brushed the strands of her hair away from her face, noting the numerous cuts, some with small shards of glass still embedded. With shaky hands he took her blood pressure, barely listening as Mary called in the vitals to the hospital’s ER. Knowing she was alerting them to the necessity of an orthopedic team, he also heard her give the patient’s identity.
“Hey, Morgan,” he said, softly, his hand automatically doing what was necessary for his job, but his heart firmly latched onto the woman and not just the patient. “Hey beautiful,” he continued, as her eyes blinked open. “Can you tell me what happened?”
Tears continued to fall as she moaned, grimacing in pain.
“Okay, Morgan. We’re almost to the hospital and you’re going to be fine. You have some minor cuts from the glass and the other injuries will be looked at as well.”
“Arm…”
Swallowing deeply, he said, “Yes, you have some injuries to your arm. The doctors will take a look and decide the best way to fix things.” He forced his eyes to look at the piece of metal embedded deeply into her upper arm and knew that there was the possibility that it would need to be amputated. His entire body shuddered as though ice water ran through his veins.
Her eyes blinked closed again and he did not have the heart to try to get her to speak. Leaning down, he put his mouth close to her ear and whispered, “Morgan, babe, I’m here. Jaxon’s here. I’m gonna see this through with you, I promise.”
Her breathing relaxed as the pain medicine eased through her system and he shot a grateful glance up to Mary.
It was a rare treat for Morgan to float on a pool lounger in her parents’ outdoor pool. She loved to float on her back, face up toward the sun with the buoyancy of the water supporting the float as she drifted over the pool. She spent so much time at the sports arena that when she had the opportunity to swim in her parents’ outdoor pool, she often just floated her cares away, not spending the time practicing. She felt her body rocking slightly as the water moved her from side to side. Peaceful…so blissfully peaceful. No cares, no worries. The sun drifted behind the clouds as the sky grew darker. She tried to open her eyes when the sun was no longer on her, but her eyelids were too heavy. Hoping she had used sunscreen, she settled into the rhythmic rocking of the water, letting sleep take over. Her watery world was peaceful and she breathed deeply.
Jaxon looked out the back window, seeing they had arrived at the ER. The back doors were thrown open wide and he and Mary jumped down, pulling the stretcher along, racing inside with Morgan as they moved into an open ER bay. Mary reported to the nurse in charge as he listened to the doctor bark out orders.
Hands on his hips, he watched as Morgan’s left arm was unwrapped and the orthopedic surgeon stalked into the room with a confident swagger. The doctor immediately began shouting orders to his team and within a few minutes, she was rolled out of the ER, heading to surgery.
All he could do was stand there and watch her pass by, his heart being rolled away at the same time. He stared at her blood covered arm, her russet hair surrounding her pale and cut face, and her closed eyes, hiding the blue from his gaze.
He felt, rather than saw, Mary standing by his side, guiding him out of the area. Keeping her voice low, she said, “I’ve talked to the Captain. He understands she’s a personal friend of yours. He’s clocked you off and says you can stay here. The hospital will call the family. Bob and I’ll head back to the station.”
Bob walked up to them, his face pale as he shook his head. “I had the siren on. I was entering the intersection slowly—”
“This is not your fault,” he said, turning his attention to his partner.
“I keep thinking that if I had stopped, the truck might have stopped as well—”
“The police will want a report and the traffic cam will show what happened. Her accident was on the truck driver, not you.”
Bob nodded and clapped him on the shoulder before walking back down the hall. Mary held his gaze and finally said, “I’m sorry, Jax. Real sorry.”
He watched the two of them exit the ER and looked down at his shirt, smeared with Morgan’s blood. Racing to catch up to them before they left, he reached into the back of the ambulance, grabbing a small bag where he kept a second shirt. With a final pat on the doors, signaling they could pull out of the lane, he watched them drive away. Hustling back in, he headed to a staff shower, quickly washing off. He stood in the changing room for a moment, his bloody shirt in his hand. Covered in blood. Her blood. Wadding it up, he placed it in a bag before pulling on a clean RES shirt.
With his phone in his hand, he took the elevator to the surgical waiting room, texting Jayden as he went. Reaching the room, staring at the chairs filling the area, he gave his information to the waiting room receptionist. Then, sitting down, he sucked in a huge breath. Swiping his hand over his face, he leaned back, settling in for the long wait, no longer wondering why his heart was pounding and his stomach was twisting in knots. The pull to Morgan was strong, something he had never felt toward another woman. Right or wrong, good timing or bad, it was there.
13
The elevator doors opened and Jaxon heard footsteps enter the room, but did not look up until a hand landed on his shoulders. Jerking his head upward, he heaved a sigh as Jayden sat next to him.
“What happened?”
Swallowing hard, he said, “Routine call out. Bob was driving, and I was coaching him through the intersection. Pickup truck speeded by, not heeding the siren or stopped cars and slammed into Morgan’s car.”
“Fuck, man. I’m sorry.”
Nodding slowly, he said, “It’s bad.” Hearing Jayden’s swift intake of breath, he shook his head. “Her arm, I mean. Her left arm was broken in several places and a piece of metal was embedded just a
bove the elbow.”
“But, she’ll live?”
He lifted his gaze to his twin and said, “Yeah, but—”
“That’s what you’ve gotta focus on, Jax,” Jayden reminded, his gaze penetrating.
“I know that, but her career? Her life? Her whole world is tied up in the pool and she’s so close to the Olympics.”
Nodding, Jayden held his gaze. “I get that, man, but right now, that’s secondary to her being able to live a life, even if it’s out of the water arena.”
He swallowed deeply, hearing his twin’s words and believing them, but wondering how Morgan would react when she realized what had happened. “I was right there. It happened right in front of me and there was nothing I could do about it. God, Jay, if I’d lost her?”
“Oh, Jesus, Jax. I’m sorry. When did you know it was her?”
“Not until I got into her car. But thinking about it now? Fuck, if I had known it was her car when she was struck, I don’t know that I could have moved. As it was, once I saw her, I had to go into autopilot or my brain would have shut down.”
“Naw, man. You’ve always pulled through when any of us needed you.”
He tossed a grateful nod toward his brother but looked up as the elevator doors opened again.
“Where the hell is my daughter?”
The booming shout came from the man he recognized from the swimming arena. Morgan’s father. Tall, barrel-chested, reddish hair, now with a little white mixed in. Dressed in a navy polo and khaki shorts, his cheeks were ruddy on a square head. A tall woman rushed in next to him, and with one look, he was sure she was Morgan’s mother. Her hair, cut at chin level, was still mostly blonde. Athletic and slender body. Her face, with high cheekbones, blue eyes, and a delicate nose gave evidence that Morgan’s beauty came from her.
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