The pager repeated its message as Adam threw the truck into gear and sped out of the parking lot.
"Is Laurel Road nearby?"
"It's a couple miles into the woods north of here. Wendy lives on that road."
Oh, my god, two victims. Please, God, not Vince and Wendy. Brenna realized ironically she had started praying for her friends' safety lately. Did she really believe she would be answered? Adam was still here after the trailer fire last week.
The truck raced north for another mile or so before Adam took a right on a two-lane road with a small signpost. Brenna held onto the door as Adam spun around corners with calculated speed.
About a mile into the woods, a ravine began to fall away from the road on Brenna's side of the truck. Her stomach knotted as the ravine deepened.
"How deep does this ravine get?"
Adam glanced over. "That's about the deepest. They could have gone off this side though and just be in the dirt."
The road turned into gravel and a little farther on they saw flashers from a car in the middle of the road. Brenna had been hoping maybe it had been Vince who called in the accident, but she had seen him in his pickup before and this was a small car.
As Adam pulled over to the left side of the road, flashers on, a man ran toward him from the right.
"There's two people trapped down there; they can't get out!"
"Are they conscious?" Adam reached into his toolbox and pulled out his jump kit.
"The guy is out cold, but the girl's mumbling."
Brenna got out and put her arms into the sleeves of the suit jacket as Adam reached under her seat and pulled out two large flashlights. He handed one to the man and they set off down the embankment together. Brenna stood on the side of the road, tears filling her eyes as the lights picked out a familiar green truck bed. The truck had left the road and collided with a tree about ten feet down, the right front corner smashed into the large spruce. All was quiet, too quiet, as Adam assessed the situation. He keyed his radio, giving an update to Medical Control, and then called up to Brenna.
"Honey, I have some boots in the tool box. Do you think you could see if they fit you well enough so you can come help?"
She returned to the truck, his use of the endearment 'honey' filed away for now. Pulling out a pair of work boots, she threw her heels in the cab and laced the boots up as tightly as she could. A momentary thought flashed through her mind; so this too was emergency medicine, out in the middle of the night in an evening dress, man's suit jacket, and workboots. She hurried back across the road.
"Adam, could I have some light?"
The other man lit her way down the embankment while Adam reached through Vince's broken window and examined him.
"Okay, unconscious and getting a bit shocky, but his pupils are okay and I don't see any other major injuries. Judging from the star in the windshield, he didn't have his seatbelt on, the idiot."
"What about Wendy?" Brenna asked anxiously.
"I can't get to her side of the truck because of the tree and bushes, and I'm too big to get behind the truck seat. Do you think..."
She interrupted him. "Just tell me what to do." Fresh tears came to her eyes as she heard Wendy moan, but she brushed them away; she had to pull herself together so she could help them.
Adam handed her a pair of blue vinyl gloves and then helped her up into the cab. She squeezed behind the seatback, grateful that Vince didn't carry a bunch of junk behind his seat. As Adam shone the flashlight on Wendy, Brenna bit her lip. Wendy still had her seatbelt on, but it hadn't protected her completely. The right side of her face was covered in blood from hitting the side window, now shattered. The engine compartment had been shoved into the passenger compartment on her side and it looked as though her legs were pinned.
"Tell me what you see," Adam requested.
Brenna told him Wendy's obvious injuries and he had her reach over the seatback to feel her chest and stomach. Her ribs and collarbones felt intact and Brenna breathed a sigh of relief.
"Okay, give me her pulse and respirations, then I'll tell you what to do."
Brenna reached over and picked up Wendy's left wrist as she mumbled and turned her head.
"Don't let her move her head! What do you have?"
"Pulse 110, respirations 24. Pulse is a little thready."
"You got a radial pulse so her BP's okay for now. Okay, position yourself behind her head. I want you to hold her head straight so she can't move it in case she injured her neck. Get comfortable, you'll be there until we get her out."
Brenna positioned herself behind Wendy and put her hands on the sides of her head as Adam instructed. By this time, she could see flashing red and blue lights reflecting off the fragmented windshield in front of her.
"Adam, she's still bleeding pretty good. Should I put something on her head?"
He had just finished showing the bystander, a neighbor of Wendy's, how to hold Vince's head from the front and now he knelt down and rummaged through his kit. Pulling out a large dressing, he unwrapped it and passed it over to Brenna. She took her left hand off Wendy long enough to grab it and then pressed it against the right side of her head.
Wendy began to mumble some more and started trying to move.
"No, honey, sit still. It's me, Brenna. You'll be fine, just sit here with me." She continued to talk to the confused girl who was becoming more agitated.
Only a short time had passed, but it seemed like forever when she heard more sirens coming up the road. Thank God.
While the crew worked their way down the embankment, Adam rechecked Vince's pupils. "Oh, shit. The right one looks sluggish. Guys, let's scoop and run with Vince. We're going to have to cut Wendy out."
The EMTs were shocked into silence as they realized they'd come to rescue their own people and then redoubled their efforts, shouting commands and passing equipment back and forth. A backboard was sent down for Vince along with several men and Adam carefully put a C-collar around his neck. The men worked as a team and turned Vince, strapped him onto the board and taped his head down.
As they carried him up the embankment, Adam returned to the truck and climbed up in Vince's seat to examine Wendy. Brenna shifted her weight, being careful not to move Wendy's head, but trying to change the pressure on her knees. Oh, well. Though the night air was chilly, her hands were wet inside her gloves and a trickle of sweat ran down her back.
Adam quickly examined Wendy from head to toe. Head to knees, that is, as he couldn't reach past the dash wrapped around her lower legs. He agreed with the injuries Brenna had found and noted that her pupils, at least, were remaining normal. Her pulse was going up though and was definitely thready, a sign of shock. Reaching over the back of the seat, he wiped the tears from Brenna's face and she tried to smile.
The roar of a chainsaw rent the night as a fireman worked his way through the brush to the front of the truck. The door was too crushed to open, but they brought down the Jaws of Life and very quickly popped it free. Wendy had jerked at the noise of the machinery, but was now quiet. With the door gone, they worked on pulling the dash away from her knees as the second ambulance came racing up. Jim brought down another backboard and had tears in his eyes as he put a C-collar around her neck, instructing Brenna to hold her head until someone told her to let go. She nodded, new tears running down her cheeks as she smelled the fresh scent of shampoo in Wendy's carefully styled curls and saw Jim working to keep himself under control.
The firemen brought down another backboard and slid it a little way under Wendy's right hip. The scene was more brightly lit with the spotlights from the ambulance and Wendy's face was pale.
Adam looked at Brenna. "Okay, honey, after we turn her body sideways, I want you to let me take over her head. Guys, I'm going to count; on three, we swing her legs around to the door."
Someone held her hips while another EMT bent down and took her lower legs, slippery with blood soaking her torn nylons.
"One, two, three." Wendy's body turned in one motion
, legs now on the backboard, Brenna's hands following to keep her neck in line.
"Okay, take your hands away as I take over." Brenna moved her hands in time with Adam's and when he had Wendy's head securely between his hands, she leaned back in the cab and, looking at the blood on her right glove, black in the darkness, let herself cry.
Looking up, she realized the EMT who moved Wendy's legs was Tony, his long arms and hands sure and steady as Adam counted again and they slid Wendy down onto the board. The rescue crew worked swiftly, securing her to the board and carefully carrying her up the muddy embankment. Adam helped Brenna out of the truck and they scrambled up behind the crew, Brenna occasionally slipping and Adam reaching over to help her up. She looked around for Molly when she finally reached the road and Molly came running up to hug her.
"You're a mess! Are you okay?"
Brenna looked down at her ripped nylons and muddy boots. She stripped the gloves from her hands inside out; a maneuver so familiar, she did it without thinking. "I'm fine." Tears welled yet again. "Molly, it's Wendy."
"I know, honey." Molly hugged her.
Adam climbed in the back of the ambulance and called, "Brenna, do you want to come?"
"Go ahead. Tony and I will meet you at the hospital later," Molly assured her.
Adam motioned to Brenna to climb in the side door and sit at Wendy's head. As she sat down, Adam handed her new gloves and encouraged her to talk to Wendy as he put a plastic airway in her mouth and Cece put on an oxygen mask. Her breathing was shallow but even as she lay, unconscious again, on the gurney.
"Wendy, it's Brenna. You're going to be fine. Adam and I are here and Vince is already at the hospital." She stroked the pale forehead, dried blood overlying the carefully applied makeup on Wendy's pretty face. She checked the dressing; it was still tightly held by the C-collar and tape and there was no fresh blood. Adam handed her a tiny flashlight.
"Here, check her pupils."
"Equal and reactive," Brenna told him.
"Good." He rechecked her vital signs while Cece repeated the assessment. Adam quickly started the IV and the fluid was running full-bore.
"Adam, I think she's got some fractures here," Cece said, motioning to Wendy's lower legs and ankles.
He grimaced and got up carefully to get cardboard splints as the ambulance turned onto the main highway and was able to pick up speed, sirens wailing.
Wendy's shoes had been left behind in the truck and now Cece taped her legs into the splints. Adam was satisfied with the job and turned to recheck her vital signs again.
Brenna looked up at him. "Adam, she seems more pale to me and is completely out."
"Check her pupils again."
Brenna tried to keep the tension out of her voice as she said, "I think they're changing."
Adam took the flashlight and checked. "The right seems sluggish, a little dilated."
Brenna winced as he rubbed Wendy's sternum briskly. Wendy barely moved her arms in response.
The heart monitor tracing slowed slightly as they raced north. Brenna was stifling in the warm ambulance and removed the jacket.
Adam repeated her blood pressure. "Oh, shit," he said under his breath. Brenna looked up. "Her systolic's going up," he said in a low voice. She couldn't remember offhand what that meant and looked askance at him. He pointed to Wendy’s head and Brenna’s eyes widened. Not a bleed, she already had so much to deal with; leg fractures, facial lacerations...remembering Vince's condition, Brenna realized he was might be hemorrhaging too. She realized she should've known they had severe head injuries when their pupils changed and knew she herself was being handed more than she could deal with. But she couldn't think of that now. Wendy needed her as well as Adam and Cece, she had to keep it together. Deep breath.
The ambulance swung into the bay at the hospital in Port Evan and the waiting staff pulled the doors open as Cece and Adam hopped out and released the gurney from its lock.
"This is another one of ours," Adam told the nurse. The tension was obvious in his voice as he reported Wendy's injuries and worsening condition. Brenna climbed out and followed them into the emergency room and stood alone at the desk while Adam, Jim and Cece disappeared behind a curtain with Wendy and the staff. She looked down, realizing by the extra weight on her feet that she still had Adam's work boots on. What a sight she must be. Who cared? The only thing that mattered was to hear good news come from behind two curtains.
She turned to the secretary at the desk. "Do you know how Vince is doing?"
"Is that the young man from the same accident? I don't know; he's gone off to have a CT-scan." Brenna nodded. Wendy would probably be right behind him.
Molly came up to her. "Hey, girl, are you alright?" Brenna turned around and hugged her.
"Here, I noticed your change in footwear and got your shoes out of the truck. How's Wendy?"
Brenna gestured at the closed curtain. "She seems to have a pretty serious head injury and broken legs. Oh God, Molly, it was awful seeing her like that."
"Come on, let's get you cleaned up." Molly checked with the receptionist and led Brenna to the restroom on the far side of the department.
Brenna locked the door and leaned on the sink for a minute. Then she ran her fingers through her tangled hair and washed her face. She looked far older than she had just hours ago. A faint pink whiskerburn showed above her lips, and tears welled in her eyes again as she realized while she was kissing Adam in his truck, Vince and Wendy were lying unconscious in theirs, waiting for someone to help them. She dried her face and wiped away the running mascara. After thankfully removing the heavy boots, she stripped off her torn nylons and washed her legs, then slipped her bare feet into her cold shoes. The tears began to fall again as she remembered waiting on her knees for more help to come. Taking a deep breath, she regained her composure and went back out to wait with Molly and Tony. Molly had gotten her some pop from a machine and she drank it gratefully, thankful for the sugar. She was exhausted and she really hadn't done much at all. They went to sit in the waiting room and watched for Adam.
A little while later, he came out, looking tired and haggard.
Brenna stood up. "How is she?"
"She's gone down for a CT-scan and then they'll x-ray her legs. She's about the same. Her vital signs are more stable at least. Vince is on his way to ICU. He's waking up a little more and the doctor's really hopeful. They said we might as well go home; they won't know more for awhile though they might fly Wendy to Portland."
Tony cleared his throat, his voice hoarse with emotion. "Did someone call their parents?"
"The nurse said the captain did. They'll be here any minute."
"Why don't you guys ride back with us?" Molly asked.
Adam checked in with Jim and Cece who were waiting for the parents to arrive and retrieved his jacket from the ambulance, putting it once more around Brenna's shoulders and swallowing hard as he remembered doing so when they left 'Ivan's'.
At the accident scene, Adam had tossed his keys to Barry who had then driven Adam's truck to the fire department for him. Molly dropped the men off there.
Adam kissed Brenna goodby. "I'm sorry..." He trailed off, not knowing how to salvage the evening.
"It's okay. All we want is for them to be alright."
"I'll call you if I hear anything."
Molly drove to Brenna's house in silence. Unlocking the door, Brenna felt such relief to be home. Zoe came bounding for the door, greeting Brenna enthusiastically and running outside.
Molly smiled. "I know I'm at your house when I trip over animals just trying to go through the door."
Brenna smiled wearily, too tired to reply. After letting Zoe back in, they dragged themselves upstairs. Brenna dropped her clothes where she stood. It wasn't worth the effort to put on pajamas. Sleep came quickly.
She bent over the double bed in their back bedroom. They had chosen to sleep in this room when they moved in because Martin liked to be awakened by the morning sun. As she smoothed
the wrinkles from the bedspread, she caught movement from the backyard out of the corner of her eye. Straightening, she leaned back and stretched, then looked out the window. Martin had been mowing the lawn, but now he stood inside the little white fence in front of his daughter's grave. She watched him for a few minutes as he stood there and then walked back to his lawnmower. Smiling sadly, she turned back to finish her bedmaking. After fluffing the pillows and tucking the bedspread under them, she looked around the room. Were they going to sleep in this room forever, the cradle and rocking chair the first things she saw every morning when she opened her eyes? She could never give them away, but it was time for a change. Crossing the hall, she opened the door to her sewing room. A bed was shoved into the corner to make room for her sewing table, and material and quilt pieces were draped everywhere. Walking across the room, she looked out the front window, over the evergreens across the road, all the way out to the sea. Yes, this room would do just fine.
Chapter 43