by M T Stone
After driving in silence for several miles, Dylan noticed a crackling sound coming from her after the road changed to pavement. The sound had probably been there all along, but it had been masked by the sound of gravel hitting the bottom of the vehicle. He turned on the interior light to take a good look at her. He immediately noticed that her lips were turning blue and her breathing seemed to be labored.
He pulled his arm out from behind her and shook her a bit. “You need to wake up, Summer. I think you should stay awake until we get there.”
“I can’t,” she replied in a hushed whisper. “I’m just so tired. I’ve never been so tired.”
“You need to wake up,” Dylan repeated, a feeling of panic welling up within him. “I’m going to call 911 and let them know that you’re having trouble breathing.” He pulled the phone from his pocket and dialed while pulling back onto the highway.
“911 emergency,” a voice greeted him on the other end of the line. “Is this an emergency?”
“Yes, this is Dylan Chase and I have Summer Bennett with me,” he began explaining to the operator. “I’m bringing her to the hospital, but I’m not so sure we’re going to make it there in time. We’re probably thirty-five miles out, and she’s having a hard time breathing. Her lips are turning blue.”
“Okay, I’m familiar with the case,” the operator replied. “Where are you exactly?”
“We just got to the intersection about five miles east of Trucker’s Junction. After we got off the gravel, I could hear her lungs gurgling, so I turned on the light and saw that her lips were turning blue. She wants to go to sleep, but I’m trying to keep her awake,” he explained with his speed climbing to over one hundred miles per hour.
“Okay, is there a reason she would be having lung issues?” the operator asked.
“The guy held her underwater,” he explained, still shaking her leg in an attempt to keep her awake. “She was coughing quite a bit at first, but that stopped. Now, she’s just struggling to breathe.”
“Okay, you just stay on track to the hospital. Don’t speed, because we don’t need two fatalities,” she warned. People tend to drive recklessly in these types of situations. “I just dispatched an ambulance with advanced life support that will be headed in your direction. As soon as you see the flashing lights, I want you to pull over to the side of the road, turn on your hazard lights, and flash your headlights several times as they approach. They will come across to you and park behind you.”
“Okay, please hurry,” Dylan replied, feeling another surge of adrenaline. “She’s getting worse.”
“Okay, I want you to stay calm and put me on speaker phone. I’m going to stay with you until the ambulance arrives,” the woman told him. “Now slow down and focus on your driving. Summer, can you hear me?”
Dylan looked over at Summer, who was nodding her head, but her eyes remained closed and she wasn’t responding verbally. “She’s nodding her head,” he informed the operator, but now there was nothing but silence at the other end of the line. “Shit, the coverage sucks out here.” He tossed the phone onto the dash and pressed the pedal to the metal. The speedometer read 127, but it still didn’t seem fast enough.
“Dylan . . .” Summer gasped, leaning hard into him. “Help . . .” She struggled, trying to tell him something, but he couldn’t make it out.
“You just need to hang on. We should be meeting an ambulance within the next fifteen minutes or so,” Dylan assured her, wrapping his arm around her once again and trying to keep her alert. “Summer?”
Chapter 14
Olivia’s phone rang just as they pulled up to Mercy General. She felt an instant sense of relief seeing that it was Carson since they had been flying blind due to a lack of information. Even though it had only been about twenty minutes since she had talked to him, a million thoughts and fears had already run through her mind.
“Hey, I tried to call you back, but you didn’t answer,” she told him after picking up the call.
“I saw that.” He sighed. “It’s been a little crazy around here. We’re trying to process the crime scene, but it’s a little difficult since it’s getting dark. The nearest street light is probably about fifteen miles from here.” He chuckled.
“I can imagine. Did the kids get going okay?” She knew Summer had been injured and couldn’t help worrying about her. Every minute seemed like an eternity while waiting to be reunited with her.
“Yeah, Dylan had her bundled up in one of my jackets, so she should be fine.” He paused, obviously not knowing any further details. “I haven’t heard anything since they left, so I’m assuming everything is okay.”
“I hope so. I just feel so helpless, sitting here waiting. Thanks for calling me back.” She glanced over at Ryan, noticing that he looked as uncertain as she felt.
“I told you that I would find her and bring her back to you, Olivia,” he reminded her in a calm, soothing tone that seemed a bit unusual for him. “In spite of all that’s gone on between us, you’re still the only woman I’ve ever truly loved. I want you to know that I’ll always be here for you.”
Caught completely off-guard, she moved her phone to her other ear, hoping that Ryan hadn’t heard him. “Thank you, Carson,” she replied, not knowing exactly what to say. “Ryan and I are both very grateful for all you’ve done.” She smiled at her husband, garnering a nod of approval from him. “We’ll catch up with you once everything settles down. Thanks again for everything.”
Ending the call, she slipped her phone back into her purse and opened the car door. “Let’s go in and see if anyone knows anything,” she said, not wanting to get into another discussion about Carson. They went in through the Emergency Room entrance and headed directly to the admissions desk to check on the whereabouts of their daughter. The waiting room was packed, and everyone working behind the desk seemed preoccupied with other tasks.
“Can you help us?” Ryan asked one of the nurses impatiently. “Our daughter was rescued from a kidnapping earlier tonight, and we’re wondering if you’ve heard anything?”
“Yes, sir.” A nurse spun around in her chair and punched a code into the computer. “What’s your name?”
“Ryan Bennett. This is Olivia. We’re Summer’s parents. Dylan Chase is supposed to be giving her a ride here,” he explained.
“Yes, I believe he’s the one who made the 911 call about seven minutes ago because she was having trouble breathing,” she informed him, reading notes from the computer screen. “An ambulance was dispatched and it should be meeting them shortly.”
“Trouble breathing?” Olivia gasped, tears immediately welling up in her eyes. “What kind of trouble?”
“She was apparently held underwater, and now it’s causing issues. The ambulance is equipped to deal with any type of aspiration issue,” the nurse added, turning from her screen. “Please take a seat in the waiting room, and I’ll notify you the moment they arrive,” she added.
Ryan shook his head and wrapped his arms around his wife. “Shit, I thought we were out of the woods.”
“I don’t know how much more I can take,” Olivia replied, retrieving her phone from her purse. “I’m going to give Dylan a call and see how she’s doing.”
Dylan’s phone continued to light up the dash, and he assumed it was the 911 operator calling him back. He debated answering for a second or two, but his hands were full and he had no intention of slowing down. There wasn’t anything that anyone could do for either of them anyway, so he kept the pedal to the floor, searching the horizon for flashing lights.
“Hang in there, baby.” He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. All he got in return was a slight moan. Her breathing was choppy and raspy, but he knew help was just a little way up the road. “Come on, Summer, please be okay. I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you.” She nuzzled her face into his chest, so he knew she could still hear him and understood what he was saying. Tears began to blur his vision. He hadn’t slept for two nights and he was emotionall
y drained. “Help is on its way. You’re going to be okay. I know you’re going to be okay.”
He flew past an eighteen-wheeler as they approached a hill. He was driving like a crazy man, but the adrenaline kept his foot to the floor. Much to his relief, he saw flashing lights as soon as they reached the crest of the hill. “There’s the ambulance!” he exclaimed, feeling an even greater sense of relief than the moment they rescued her. He quickly slowed down, pulled off on the shoulder, and turned on his flashers. He began flashing the headlights as they drew closer. His greatest fear was that they wouldn’t stop for him. The ambulance driver flashed his lights to confirm that he saw them. It was at that exact moment that Summer let out a gurgle and her breathing seemed to cease.
“Summer!” he yelled, turning and shaking her in search of a response. There was nothing but a dazed look in her eyes. He immediately knew that he had to administer CPR, even though the ambulance was almost to them. He pulled her from the vehicle as two cars passed by and the ambulance slowed, looking for a place to turn around on the narrow highway. He carried her body in front of the vehicle, put her on her back, and immediately placed his mouth over hers, pinched her nostrils, and blew into her lungs. “Please breathe . . . please breathe . . .” He stopped to check her pulse before blowing into her lungs two more times. He continued the rhythmic routine that he had learned years earlier in a health class until a hand landed on his shoulder.
“We’ve got this.” A paramedic guided him aside and quickly felt for her carotid artery. “She has a pulse, but it’s weak,” he shouted to the other members of the crew. “She’ll need oxygen and a nebulizer!” He immediately forced several more breaths of air into her lungs. “How long has she been blue like this?”
“I noticed it in her lips about fifteen minutes ago,” Dylan stammered. “That’s when I called 911.”
“Her lungs are seriously compromised,” he stated before giving her three more big breaths. “Okay, let’s try the nebulizer.” An EMT slipped a mask over her nose and mouth while watching for further feedback from the paramedic. “She’s taking it in,” he confirmed after several seconds of monitoring her. “But it’s still too shallow. We’re going to have to use the transport ventilator . . . that will keep her stable until we get her to a trauma room.”
The paramedic and two EMTs quickly lifted her onto a stretcher and rolled her to the rear doors of the ambulance. The driver turned on additional auxiliary lights, allowing Dylan to see just how blue her hands and feet had become. “She’s going to be okay, right?” he nervously asked the paramedic as he watched him switch out the nebulizer mask for the larger ventilator mask.
“It’s hard to say since I don’t know how long she has been oxygen deprived. Her body is trying to redirect more blood to her brain for self-preservation. That’s why her extremities are turning blue. That will pass shortly,” he explained as he gave the nod to the others to lift her into the back of the vehicle. “We need to get going. Please don’t try to keep up with us.” He gave Dylan a stern glare.
“That’s fine,” he reluctantly agreed. “Can I just ride along?”
“There will be three of us back here with her, so it’s already going to be a little tight.” He placed his hand on Dylan’s shoulder. “Besides, it would be best if you didn’t leave your truck out here.”
Dylan nodded, knowing the man was right. He turned back toward the SUV and within seconds, the ambulance doors slammed shut, the siren joined the flashers, and they accelerated down the highway toward the hospital. Dylan climbed into the SUV and sat there for a moment, trying to come to terms with everything that had just happened. The forty-eight-hour rollercoaster he had been riding was once again screaming toward the bottom. Just a half-hour earlier, he had felt like he was on top of the world after rescuing Summer. He reached across the dash and grabbed his phone to glance at the time. He saw that he had missed several calls from EMS, as well as Olivia.
She’s going to be okay, he thought, trying to reassure himself. He slipped the vehicle into gear and pulled out onto the highway. The flashing lights off in the distance were still visible. Summer was in capable hands, but he couldn’t get the images of her bluish limbs and dazed look out of his mind. He started second-guessing himself. Maybe he should’ve pulled her from the vehicle right when they reached the highway and had her lie down to ease her breathing problems. He had wanted to reach the ambulance as quickly as possible, but he may have endangered her in the process. He clicked to call Olivia back.
“Dylan, where are you?” she asked, sounding out of breath.
“I just pulled back onto the highway,” he replied, trying to keep his voice from revealing his emotional state. “Summer is in the ambulance. They should be there in five or ten minutes.”
“What happened?” Olivia sounded like she was barely keeping things together.
“They think she’s having complications from being held underwater,” Dylan replied, not knowing many details himself.
“Oh, God . . .” Olivia’s voice trailed off, and Dylan could tell that she was having trouble speaking.
“I just wanted you to know that she’s on her way and they’ve given her something to help her breathe,” he relayed, trying to make her feel better. “They have her on oxygen too, so they thought she would be fine until they got her into a trauma room.”
“Thanks, Dylan,” Olivia managed to squeak out. “I have to go.”
“You bet. I’ll see you when I get there.” The silence on the other end of the line revealed that she had already hung up. He understood why she was having a hard time handling her emotions because he was feeling it too. Anxiety once again flooded into his chest as he barreled down the highway toward town. There was no longer any sign of the ambulance in the distance, making him wonder just how fast they were driving. His speedometer showed eighty-seven and they had blown him away. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or an indicator of urgency. His stomach growled. It had been a long, stress-filled day, and he was going to need something to eat. Unfortunately, nothing seemed appealing.
Summer slowly became conscious of yet another change in her environment. She was breathing easier, but at the same time, there was something covering her face. Flashbacks of having her mouth taped shut and being hogtied in the back of a van swirled through her head. She had always struggled with claustrophobia, so she grasped the mask and tried to pull it from her face.
“Whoa, just relax. You’re having trouble breathing, so this machine is helping you,” a soothing voice tried to comfort her from above. She cracked her eyelids open in an effort to figure out what was going on, but her vision was blurred by tears. “It’s okay. You’re in the back of an ambulance. We’ll be arriving at the hospital in a few minutes. Your parents are waiting there for you.”
She tried to ask about Dylan, but her voice was weak and the mask didn’t help matters. She tried to speak a second time. “Shh,” the man told her. “You need to focus on your breathing and everything will be all right.”
She took his word for it and relaxed for a moment, simply breathing in the clean oxygen that was flowing into the mask. She wondered how she had gotten into the ambulance. The last thing she remembered was being so tired that she couldn’t keep her eyes open. That hadn’t changed. She was still too tired to hold her eyes open. Her body had been through a major ordeal and it was going to take some time to recover. She held her eyes closed and simply listened to all that was going on around her.
“They will need to put her on a regimen for aspiration pneumonia as soon as she reaches a trauma room, won’t they?” a voice asked from her other side.
“Right. They’ll most likely run a course of Clindamycin along with some corticosteroids to reduce the inflammation in her lungs,” the man replied. “You’re doing well, Summer,” he added while stroking her forehead. She wanted to say something or at least ask a few questions, but she knew it wasn’t possible as long as the mask was in place. The man had made it clear that the mask had t
o stay on for the remainder of the ride. Where’s Dylan? was the question that kept repeating over and over in her mind. The man had told her that everything was going to be fine. Hopefully, that included Dylan. He had rescued her, after all.
The ambulance slowed and she felt it make a sharp turn. “We’re almost there,” the man told her. He had a nice voice. He sounded smart. If anything went wrong, it seemed like he would know exactly what to do. She let her body relax. She was still so tired.
Chapter 15
Dylan pulled into the hospital parking lot, anxious to get an update on Summer. The waiting room was busy for a Sunday evening, full of sick kids and adults with weary expressions. After the most volatile weekend of his life, this was the last place he wanted to spend any time, but he needed to make sure she was okay. As he glanced around the room, a nurse behind the admissions desk caught his eye. It was Julie, one of his mother’s best friends, so he made a bee-line over to her.
“Dylan, your mom has been worried sick all weekend,” she said, coming out from behind the counter to meet him. “She was hysterical when she called me yesterday morning.”
“I’ve been with my uncle, Carson. She could’ve called me any time.” He held up his phone, not understanding why there was an issue.
“Well, you know your mother . . . she’d rather fuss than get a straight answer from you and clear things up,” she replied, placing her hand on Dylan’s shoulder. “I think she was a little freaked out by the fact that you were with Carson.”
“Carson did an amazing job of tracking Summer down,” he countered. “I don’t think we would’ve found her without him. That place was definitely well hidden. I need to see Summer. Is she doing better?”
Julie nodded her head but didn’t reply verbally. “With all the HIPAA regulations, I really can’t tell you anything since you’re not immediate family. I’ll talk to Olivia the next time I see her and see if it’s okay to give you updates.”
