by Barb Shuler
“Come on, Kris, come back to me baby, open your eyes.”
“She’s in shock. I know this is hard, but you have to let them do their job when we get her to the ER,” the EMT said and I nodded.
“What’s your name?” I asked, my eyes still on Kristol.
“Riley, Riley Santos. My partner up there is Abe Borders. We sure didn’t expect the first day on the job to be this crazy. Small town life is supposed to be calm,” she said as she checked Kristol’s blood pressure again.
“Yeah, not so much ‘round here….” I said, my heart breaking as I watched Kristol.
She wasn’t moving. No eyes twitching. Nothing. What if I was too late? Or if my moving her had hurt her more? I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat and took in a shuddering breath. Oh God. What if she died because I wasn’t fast enough?
“Hey, Landry, stay with me man,” I heard Riley’s voice as I blinked a few times. That wasn’t such a smart move it seems. My world spun and I was shifted to lay down. Thor was licking my face as I tried to focus on what Riley was saying. I could feel her wedged in between me and Kristol, whose hand I still held.
7
Am I dreaming?
Kristol
There was something missing, but what was it? The warmth. The warmth was missing. My eyes started to blink open. That was when the chaos around me started to bleed in. Talking, beeping and a lot of clanking sounds. I tried to raise my hand and was stopped.
“Kristol, I’m Doctor Kramer. You’re in the emergency room of Lufkin General. Do you remember what happened? Can you tell me if you hurt anywhere?”
I tried to speak but only a rough squeak came out. I tried again before speaking in a low voice. “F-fire… head… arm... leg... hurts.”
“We’ll get you something for that pain. Just need to check a few things first, okay? Can you tell me your last name? Do you know your date of birth?”
“Ja-Jacobs.. No… C-Cannon…,” I stuttered out. A tear rolling down from the corner of my eye. “July fourth... nineteen-nineteen ninety six…” I ground out. “Cold…”
“Doc, her pressure is dropping again,” a voice said around me. I tried to pull at the cover when a nurse pulled it up.
“Kristol, you have to let us look at your leg. We need to stop the bleeding,” a man said, putting his face in mine. A face flashed before me. I saw Willie before me, my heart started to race as I tried to fight against him. I wasn’t letting this happen, not again. I screamed and thrashed around on the bed. The pain rocketed through me more as I was pushed back down on the bed.
I was trying to ignore the chaos around me. I just wanted to escape. I heard another voice before I was able to focus on the face hovering over me. I blinked, swallowing hard as she spoke softly.
“Kristol, hey, sweetie. My name’s Dani Lynn Landry, I work for the Open Hearts, Helping Hands Woman’s Center, is it okay if I talk to you for a minute?”
I nodded softly as I watched her, an uneasy feeling washed over me. Was I really safe here? What if they found out I wasn’t in that building anymore? Would they come back for me?
“Can you calm down for me? Take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. No one here is going to hurt you. I promise, you’re safe,” she said, taking my hand and resting my palm to hers. I closed my eyes as the tears fell more now.
“I know this is hard, babe. I know you’re scared, freaked out, and that you feel like you’re in a tunnel. You have to look past that. The Doc needs to know what happened so they can fix you all up,” she said as she brushed a piece of hair from my face.
It took a few minutes for more of the fog to clear and it hit me. Thor. Oh God, where was Thor? Was he safe? I swallowed and gripped her hand more, ignoring the pull of the IV in my hand. “Thor… my dog. Thor.. where is he?”
“He’s okay, Jackson has him,” she said. “He got you both out of the fire. Thor is waiting patiently to see you,” her smile made me relax. Jackson… Jackson had saved us. I gave her a watery smile.
“Kristol,” I looked over to the right and saw the Doctor looking at me again. “We need to take you to surgery to fix your arm. It’s broken. It needs a few pins put in it to keep it together.
“Thank you…” I gasped out as a pain shot through my abdomen. I jerked at the same time the machines around us started to go crazy.
“We have a bleeder!” a nurse called out.
“Call the OR, we’re moving her now! Let’s go,” someone yelled as we started moving. I squeezed Dani Lynn’s hand, again.
“You’ll be all right. I’ll be here when you get out. Jackson and Thor will be too,” she said as doors opened and we were moving down a new hallway.
A surge of anxiety and pain once again wracked through my body. I was in a new room, one that was much colder than before. A new face came into view telling me she was putting a mask over my face. Oxygen rushed into my nose and I took a deep breath. There was a small amount of noise, but my eyes slowly started to close and that was it. Lights out. Hopefully when I woke up this would have been a very, very bad nightmare.
* * *
Jackson
* * *
It took me a minute to get my bearings. There was a bright light and beeping all around me. A few voices finally worked their way into the fog that surrounded me. I tried to sit up, only to have a hand push back against my shoulder.
“Officer Landry, I’m Doctor Keller, I need you to lay back for me. You’re in the ER at Lufkin General. Do you remember what happened to you?”
“Kristol?”
“She’s being looked at. Officer Landry, I need you to focus for me. Does anything hurt?”
“Head,” I grunted as I tried to take the IV out of my hand. I needed to get up and find Kristol.
“Officer Landry, I need you to cooperate with me. I don’t want to have to restrain you,” she said as an orderly grabbed my arm.
“Get off me!”
“Jacks, enough,” I looked up to see Drew glaring at me as he stalked over to me. The worry was written all over his face. He grabbed my arm from the orderly and pressed it to my chest. “I will knock you out myself if you don’t fucking relax. Now, answer the nice lady’s questions and stop being an asshole,” he said, his hard gaze level with mine.
“Kristol. I need to see Kristol,” I said, the panic I was feeling was creeping up again. I felt my head go woozy. I let Drew push me back and sighed.
“Relax, Bubba, you got a good whack on the head, let them take care of you,” he said squeezing my arm.
“Is she okay?”
“Dani Lynn went in to check on her. Kristol came to and sorta had a melt down. She’s not making much sense. As soon as you are looked at we can go check on her, okay?”
“Okay,” I gave in.
“I need some help in here,” the doctor said before turning to another nurse. “Get radiology on the phone, I need a CT scan, asap. Get me a CBC, CMP and call ortho, I want his shoulder checked once the CT is done.”
“I’m fine, really. I just want to see Kristol. I need to know she’s okay,” I pleaded, my eyes meeting Drew’s. “Bubba, please,” I begged.
“You stay here and be a good boy. I’ll go find her and get you a status update. You gotta take care of yourself man, please. Listen to the Doctor,” he said giving my shoulder a squeeze. I sucked in a sharp breath and he shook his head. “See, your ass is hurt. Now stay here. I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Asshole,” I cursed as he walked out and laid my head back down. I could do this. I could let them poke and prod me, for now. I closed my eyes and when they opened again I was being roused by Drew.
“Hey, Jacks, wake up, man,” he said, softly. I blinked my eyes open and grumbled as I tried to stretch but only half of me moved.
“What the fuck?” I started to freak out again, feeling caged. I tried to sit up only to be pushed down on the side of me that moved. “Why can’t I move? Drew, what’s going on?”
The monitors around me started to beep as a low w
hine came from somewhere in the room. I felt a slight pressure at my side and then there was a small black face in mine, his tongue licking my cheek. I grimaced but started to relax. I took a deep breath and patted the hand on my shoulder.
“I’m okay,” I said.
“Okay, D, take the pup back off. Let’s let the big toddler sit up,” Drew said as he moved the bed to the upright position. I gave him the finger before inspecting myself.
“What’s wrong with my arm?” I didn’t remember it hurting before. My shoulder had. I looked up as the nurse came into the room.
“Hey, you’re awake. Feeling better? Are you in any pain?” she asked as she looked over the monitors and moved to a computer on the wall where she did some quick typing. I guessed she was making a note on my condition.
“What happened? God, I feel like I’ve been run over,” I grunted out each word.
“You have a fractured clavicle, bad bruising of the muscle tissue around the area and a knot on the back of your head. A couple weeks of rest will do you good,” the nurse said with a friendly smile. “You passed out on us so we let you sleep. You don’t seem to have a concussion though, so that is a plus.”
“You’re off duty for a bit,” Drew said. I swung my gaze to him and glared. He held up a hand. “Before you bitch, Gabe’s already put you on desk duty. But, only after you take a couple of days to rest. You’ll be working the radio for us and the firehouse.”
“Great,” I muttered, but in the grand scheme of things it was better than sitting at home on my ass and making myself crazy. I was not one to be bored. I had to stay busy. It’s one of the many reasons I became a cop. I wanted to make a difference, and I knew it would challenge me daily. No chance to be bored then.
“Hey, it beats sitting on your old ass at home with nothing to do all day,” Derek piped in, a cheeky grin on his face and I couldn’t help it, I snorted.
“Watch it, Kid,” Drew said.
“Kid, watch ya mouth,” I said at the same time Drew spoke. I chuckled and shook my head while he stood there. I looked at Drew again then back at Derek who was holding Thor.
Wait, why was Thor here? Where was Kristol?
“I know that look. Calm down, Jacks. Your girl is okay. Well she will be… She’s in the recovery bay, no dogs allowed, no matter what purpose they have,” Drew said. “We’ve kept him in here with you so he is in a safe place. He keeps wanting to look for her. At least in here with you he seems to be less agitated,” he patted my hand and I could see he was judging my reactions to the news.
“Why? Why is she in recovery? What the hell happened?” Hell, I sounded panicked even to my own ears.
“The laceration in her thigh had to be cleaned out. She has a broken arm that had to be set with a pin and a plate… there were a few second and third degree burns across the middle of her back. Dani Lynn assured me they’re not bad, just enough that she will be sore as hell. But there was some complication female wise and she had to be taken under the knife for that too. I stayed with you while Dani Lynn and Stella went to the waiting room to wait on her,” he said. I scrubbed a hand across my jaw and made a face. He told me that way too fast. There had to be more and he just wasn’t saying what.
“Okay, can I go up and wait with them? I need to be there,” I turned to look at the nurse who nodded.
“Sure, but you have to ride in a wheelchair, hospital policy. If you give me any lip I will make you stay in here. Got it?” she said with that overly cheery smile. I couldn’t help but chuckle and nodded my head.
“Yes, ma’am. I got it,” I said and pushed the covers off.
With Drew and the nurse’s help I got into the wheelchair and took Thor from Derek. He laid against me and I rubbed his neck. He laid there, very still and I couldn’t help but smile down at him. He was such a brave little thing. I was glad Kristol had him. He seemed to be the ace in the hole for staying calm in a stressful situation.
8
I Hate Hospitals
Jackson
Waiting was never one of my strong points. Sitting still wasn’t my thing either. I wanted to get up and pace, but I was fucking hurting and wasn’t sure I’d make it more than three steps before I face planted. That would only amp up the ideas they all had about drugging me up. I wasn’t about to take meds that knocked me out. Sleep was the last thing on my mind. No meds for me, not until I knew Kristol was all right.
Okay, so it was a moot point. None of us were okay, but we might be all right soon enough.
When I shifted slightly I was reminded of the bundle of fur on my lap. Poor little - well he wasn’t that little - Thor was passed out on my lap. His warmth was oddly comforting to me. His wound had been looked at by one of the sweet nurses in the ER and he would be fine. It wasn’t bad, thankfully. It would heal in no time. I really hoped she didn’t get into trouble for helping him. One look into those big brown eyes and you couldn’t help but want to help him. I let out an aggravated sigh and closed my eyes as I said another silent prayer. Kristol had to be all right.
I’m not sure how much time passed before I was shifting again, a groan escaping me as I tried to move the arm in the sling - which they made me wear. The sling kept my arm essentially tied to my chest so as to keep it from moving.
It took a minute for the bright flashes in my eyes to subside along with the pain that jetted through me like I was the landing pad for a Boeing 747. When I blinked my eyes open Drew was right there, all up in my personal space. I made a face. “What?”
“You need pain meds, Bubba,” he said, something akin to pain itself danced in his eyes.
“No. I’m fine, Drew,” I simply nodded.
“Stop trying to be Superman, dammit!” his tone was full of so much emotion. I cupped his neck with my good hand and gave it a squeeze.
“You two are both macho asses, this - his reactions to meds shouldn’t surprise you Andrew,” Dani Lynn said with a straight face. I looked between them and then back at Drew.
“I can’t…. not until I see her. I- I need to see her first,” I said. His head nodded about the time the door to the waiting room flew open and we were swarmed by a few familiar faces. I gave Trevor and Anna - who had her son in her arms - a nod as they moved to sit down with a toddling Tyler behind them. She was clutching Lana’s hand. She let out a shriek of happiness when she saw Derek.
“Daaaay Day. Day Day. Day Daaaay!!!” I couldn’t help but laugh when she let go of Lana’s hand and ran over to where Derek was and stood on her tippy toes, her arms flailing. She really did love her brother. He scooped her up and blew a raspberry on her cheek.
“Shouldn’t you be sleeping, Squirt?” he asked, grinning at her.
“Noooooo seeps,” her little head shook, her brownish gold curls bouncing as she did.
“I don’t think she has any idea what the words sleep actually means,” Trevor said chuckling. Anna punched his thigh and he pretended to pout.
“I have to trick her to lay down with us. I’m not as skilled as you guys are with her,” Anna said, smiling.
“No skill needed. If she is still for five minutes, she passes out. We just hold her against our chest and rock her. If she tries to get up, well pull her closer. Seriously, five minutes and she is out,” Dani Lynn said, a small laugh escaping her.
“Or you could always let Derek lay down with her. That works the fastest. She loves nap time with her big brother,” Lana said, her face lighting up as Derek winked at her.
“Noooo seeps. No, no, noooooo,” Tyler sang out, her little face scrunching up as she she prattled on. When she started wiggling around to get a good look at everyone she spotted her daddy. Her face lit up and she started making grabby hands at him. “Daddy! Holds.”
“Hey there, cutie pie,” he kissed her cheeks. “Were ya good tonight?”
“I doods. I holds Elieha. Him… I no brates him daddy,” she said, giggling. I laughed again when she looked for her mama. Dani Lynn stood up and kissed her cheek.
“I’m glad you di
dn’t break your bubba,”Dani Lynn said, again kissing her little cheek.
Watching them, Thor whined and sat up, rubbing his head against my chest. His tail wagged slightly.
“What is it, buddy?” I looked at my arm but my watch was gone. “What time is it?” I asked no one in particular?
“Almost ten,” Lana said. She looked up from looking at her watch and yawned. I blinked. Three hours… three hours had passed since I woke up down stairs?
“Holy shit,” I said running my hand down along Thor’s back.
“Language,” Anna said, and I gave her a look to say, ‘really’ but I just nodded and rubbed my face trying to hide a laugh.
“Untle Jaaatson!” the little happy shriek came but before I could take her with my good arm she saw Thor. Once her eyes landed on him, I was forgotten. Figures. I snorted and shook my head.
“Puuup pup,” I grinned up at her. Drew came closer so she could pet Thor’s furry head, her little fingers brushed across his head. He of course perked up at the petting.
“Pup pup!” she squealed and wiggled and patted his side a little harder.
“Be easy, peanut. Pup Pup has a boo boo, too,” I said, smiling at her gently. Her little fingers stilled only for a minute before she was back to petting his head.
“No mo boo oos,” she crooned and my heart melted at her trying to say boo boos. I couldn’t miss the beaming smile on her face. No one could. She was like a ray of sunshine in this dark room of dread.
I looked over at Lana and Derek when Thor shifted in my lap and whined again. They were both dead on their feet and I hated to ask what was about to come out of my mouth.