Edge of Disaster

by A. M. Hargrove

  I couldn’t stop screaming, “Terri, Justin!”

  Pearce slammed on his brakes and had to swerve out of the way to miss getting hit himself. We finally spun out, but were unharmed.

  “Alexia! Are you okay? Lexi, answer me now!”

  “Yes I’m okay,” I cried. “Are you?”

  “Yeah, honey I’m fine. I have to go to them. Call 911 stat. Tell them exactly what happened. Use my phone and tell them to track us by GPS. Tell them who I am. Follow me now because I’m going to need your help.”

  We got out of the car and he grabbed that proverbial medical bag that all doctors must have secreted away somewhere, out of his trunk. I called 911 as we ran to the Land Rover.

  “Fuck! It’s so dark I can’t see anything. Lex, I have a flashlight app on my phone. I need you to turn it on.”

  I did as he asked and in the meantime I had the 911 operator on the line.

  “I need your location,” the operator said.

  “I don’t know it. We’re somewhere between McClellanville and Mount Pleasant. Use my GPS tracking on my iPhone.”

  “Lex, shine that light over here.”

  I did as he asked and Pearce was able to get to the door handle but it was locked.

  “Fuck, it’s locked from the inside. Lex, go back to my trunk and get the jack or tire iron and bring the beach towels.”

  I ran back and brought as many things as my arms could carry. When I returned, he wrapped the jack in the towel, broke through the window and reached through and unlocked the door. He called to both Justin and Terri but got no response. When the door opened, the light came on and there was blood everywhere. It was bad and I almost went down.

  “Lex, hand me that kit.”

  I passed him everything and watched him go to work. He did a quick assessment of Justin and moved to Terri. He called out to me that Terri wasn’t breathing and I needed to assist him in performing some kind of something. He put a small slit in her throat and inserted a tube and air started moving in. Then he checked both of them for bleeding. Justin had blood pumping out of his abdomen and Pearce stuck his hand straight into his belly and tried to get it to stop.

  “Lexi, I need you to get close to me honey. I can’t see a fucking thing and I need that light on Justin or he’s gonna bleed out.”

  He looked up at me and the look in his eyes made me want to crumble.

  Dear God, please help this man save his brother.

  I moved right next to him, and even though I thought I was going to pass out, and I still wonder how I didn’t, I held that light exactly where he needed it.

  “I’m right here with you Pearce. You just tell me what to do honey and I’ll fucking do it.”

  I shined that light on Justin and Pearce slid his fingers inside of him and seconds later the blood stopped pumping out. “I got it,” he called. “Now babe, I can’t move. I’m locked here until the medics arrive. You gotta check Terri’s breathing. I’ll help you with whatever needs to be done, okay.”

  “On it, Doc.”

  I moved to the other side of the Land Rover on auto pilot and looked at the tube and reported back to Pearce that the air was still flowing.

  “Lex, lift up her eyelids and shine the light into them. Tell me what happens to her pupils.”

  “They got smaller.”

  “Both of them?”

  “Yep.”

  “Good.”

  “Now what?”

  “I want you to see if she’s bleeding anywhere like Justin was. If it’s blood that’s just coming from a wound it’s okay. If it’s pumping or spurting out, that’s not good. That’s what you need to look for.”

  “On it.”

  “Lex? Don’t move her. Protect her head, neck and spine, okay?”

  “Yep.”

  I ran my hands along her body as best I could without moving her, but I didn’t see any major blood gushing from anywhere.

  “Pearce, I think she’s okay. Her leg doesn’t look good though. It looks sort of twisted or something.”

  It was lying at an awkward angle that wasn’t normal.

  “I agree and I saw that. Lex, you’re doing great honey.”

  “When is that fucking ambulance gonna be here?” I asked, frustrated.

  “Soon honey.”

  I held Terri’s hand and squeezed it. I felt my tears dripping down my face but I wasn’t going to stop for anything.

  “Pearce, do you think they’re gonna make it?”

  “Babe, this is the golden hour. When critical injuries occur, the first sixty minutes are the most important. You assess and treat the most life threatening and go from there. That’s what we’re doing.”

  “What if we’re missing something?”

  “I don’t think we are Lexi.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yep. Come over here.”

  I ran back around to him and he told me to go back to the car and make sure the emergency flashers were on. I did and they were. When I was up there, I thought I heard sirens in the distance. I ran back down to him and he was still sitting there with his fingers in Justin.

  “I think I hear them.”

  We just stared at each other in the dim lighting of the wrecked Land Rover. I wanted to wake up from this horrible dream and run my hands through Pearce’s hair and for once be the one to tell him it was going to be fine and this was all just a nightmare. I found I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his and I knew in that instant that I couldn’t live without him...ever...for a minute.

  “I’ll marry you Pearce. You name the day and time and I’ll be there waiting for you. I’ll be there till the end.”

  The ambulances were finally there and the area was swarming with medics. They shoved me out of the way and I walked back up to the highway and leaned on Pearce’s car as I waited to hear the news. I knew I’d have to drive because he’d be riding in the ambulance with Justin. I didn’t think he’d move his hands until they got Justin in the trauma center and then of course Pearce wouldn’t be able to operate because he was a family member and all.

  It all hit me then and I got sick, violently sick. I started shaking from my fingertips to the ends of my toes. The tears poured down my face and I couldn’t seem to get a grip on my emotions. I was breaking down. I was shivering with cold so I wrapped a beach towel around me, not even noticing it was covered in blood.

  It took me a few minutes before I felt the arm around me. I was still shivering so badly I didn’t know what to do with myself.

  “Alexia, it’s me, Henry. We got a call from the hospital. Alexia, I think you’re in shock honey.”

  I put my arms around him and just cried. I tried to tell him what happened but it all came out sounding like Greek or something.

  He tried to calm me down but I was so upset by the enormity of what had taken place, that I was inconsolable.

  Susan was there too and she was doing her best to help.

  Then I heard his voice, Pearce’s voice in my mind, and I remembered how calm he was as he instructed me on how to do everything. I started taking deep calming breaths and in a little while, I felt my wits returning to me. It took a few more minutes, but I finally got over the hump.

  “God, I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I got all crazy on you.” I rubbed my hands together, trying to bring some warmth into them.

  “Your adrenaline surge had you going and when it stopped you’re now experiencing the back side of it. I think you’re in shock over all of this. Let’s head to the trauma center now.”

  “Pearce’s car?”

  “I’ll drive it and you ride with Susan and Ava.”

  I just nodded numbly and followed them. I rode in the back of their Mercedes sedan and pieced together what had happened. I could hear Ava’s cries from the front of the car.

  Susan said in a firm voice, “Ava! Stop it now. Justin is with Pearce. He’s with the most capable trauma surgeon anywhere on the East coast of the United States. If anyone can save him, Pearce can. Now you need
to be strong.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Ava cried. “I’m just so worried.

  “I know, but Alexia said he got the bleeding stopped and everything else will be fine.”

  “What if he has a head injury?” Ava asked.

  Susan didn’t say anything for a minute but I jumped in and said, “Pearce shined the light on their pupils and he said they were normal. Does that mean anything?”

  “Yes, it does honey,” Susan replied. “That’s a really good sign.

  We talked like that the whole way to the trauma center at the Medical University and finally found ourselves pacing in the trauma surgery waiting room. I called Terri’s parents to tell them what happened and they were there pacing right along with us.

  About three hours later, when our nerves were all but shattered, those automatic doors swung open and Pearce walked through. He didn’t say a word but his eyes darted around the room like pinballs until they landed on me and then he was in front of me in four long strides.

  His voice was husky as he wrapped his arms around me and said, “Alexia.”

  My heart stopped because I knew with a certainty that it was bad. I tightened my arms around him and asked, “Oh God no. Justin?”

  “No, you saved him sweetheart.” Then he did the craziest thing ever. He swung me around and shouted to everyone in the room, “This woman saved my brother’s life!” Next came the kiss. I wanted to kiss him but I needed to hear about Terri first.

  I pulled away from him and asked, “Terri?”

  “Good too.”

  Then he tried for another kiss but I stopped him and leaned my head over to the side so I could yell to Terri’s parent’s, “Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, Terri is good.” Then I let him kiss me.

  When we finally broke apart, I whispered to Pearce, “You know, you’re the one that saved Justin.”

  In a very loud voice, so everyone could hear, Pearce disagreed. “Alexia, if you hadn’t held that light for me to see in there, I could never have found that bleeder. It was so dark I couldn’t see what the fuck I was doing. You’re the one who really saved him when it all comes down to it. I know how hard it was for you to stand there and see all that blood and you did it without having the ground come up and slam you in the face. Honey, I’m so proud of you.” By this time I was laughing and crying and I running my hands though his hair. Then he shouted out, “This woman saved my brother’s life!”

  Okay, so now I was getting embarrassed. I just laughed it off though because I was so relieved; it was like I was slap happy.

  His expression turned dark when he glanced down and noticed I was still wearing the same clothes and I was covered with blood that was now dried.

  “For Christ’s sake, why didn’t anyone get you something else to put on? Look at you!” He looked at his parents pointedly and shook his head. Then he grabbed my hand and said, “Come with me.”

  He towed me behind him into the surgeon’s lounge and found some scrubs for me to put on. Then we went into another room and a nurse walked in and started giving him a hard time about me being in there and he lit into her and raked her over the coals. I’d never heard him speak to anyone like that and it totally shocked me.

  He looked at me sheepishly and said, “Sorry about that. I don’t always act the asshat in here but she pissed me off. Been a little stressed. Come on babe, I want you to get out of those messy clothes. You look like you’ve been in a scene in a horror movie.”

  “I feel like I have.” Even though things were better, my insides still felt like someone was playing ride the roller coaster with my stomach.

  I changed and we headed back out into the waiting room.

  Pearce was giving everyone the rundown on both Justin and Terri when both of their respective surgeons came in and spoke to each family separately.

  “Do you want to see Terri?” Pearce asked me.

  “Is she awake?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Then I’ll wait. Her mom and dad need to be with her first anyway. They’ve been freaking out in here.”

  He pulled me next to him and we sat there for a while. Justin had some fractured ribs and some other internal injuries, along with a broken collar bone and a messed up shoulder. Pearce assured me he would be fine. He said if they hadn’t been in the Range Rover and if the front and side air bags hadn’t deployed, they wouldn’t be here right now.

  Terri was a different story. While her injuries were still considered critical and she was in the ICU, Pearce said she would be okay too. She’d ended up with a collapsed lung and an injured trachea. But her pelvis and right leg had been pretty much crushed. They’d patched her up but she would have to have a couple more surgeries to get her back in working order.

  I gave a bit of a snort and Pearce looked at me oddly.

  “Well, I guess it’s a good thing she’s dating an orthopedic surgeon.”

  He just rolled his eyes and said, “Yeah, but he’s gonna be out of commission for a while with that separated shoulder of his.”

  I went into the hand thing again and just got fixated on his. I grabbed them and held them tightly to me. The thought of something happening to him made me cringe.

  “What?” he asked. He felt me shudder.

  “I don’t think I could stand it if something ever happened to you.”

  “Hey, I feel the same way.”

  I loved being in his arms.

  “I need to ask you something,” he said in my ear. His voice was low, throaty and smooth. I felt his breath fan my neck and I wanted to straddle him, kiss him and rip his scrubs off until he was sitting in front of me with nothing on but his beautiful skin.

  “What?” I murmured.

  “Did you really mean it?”

  I was at a loss. “Mean what?”

  “That you’d marry me?”

  “Ask again and maybe you’ll find out.”

  In one point two seconds, I found myself sitting on my ass facing Pearce as he knelt on one knee in front of me. He laced his fingers with mine and looked me boldly in the eyes. My heart started beating so fiercely, I felt it all the way in my throat.

  “Alexia Hammond, would you do me the greatest honor and become my wife, my partner in life and walk side by side with me for the rest of our days here on Earth? I love you more than the air I breathe and without you beside me, I’m only half a man.”

  Doubt filled his eyes, a look I was profoundly shocked to see. This man, who lived and breathed confidence in everything he did, was still unsure of my answer. I jerked our clasped hands toward me and kissed his lips.

  “Yes, yes, yes! I will marry you Pearce Middleton.”

  I was in his embrace and his lips were on mine and I barely noticed the clapping of everyone taking place in the room. All I wanted to do was to be alone with him. I wanted him all to myself so that I could show him with my hands, lips, mouth and the rest of me just how much he meant to me.

  I felt him shift and he abruptly broke our kiss. His eyes smoldered as he looked at me. I was so moved by him my heart pounded and my breath caught in my throat.

  “I’ll always remember how you looked this day, right here, for the rest of my life.” Then he leaned in and whispered in my ear, “I’m getting you out of here and taking you home. I need to be with you...really with you.”

  “Yes! I do too Pearce.”

  He rose to his feet and pulled me to mine and when we turned, everyone was just staring at us smiling. They all congratulated us, and we made a hasty departure. My face heated up because I knew they had a pretty good idea of what we were up to.

  “I don’t give a fuck,” Pearce said when I told him, “I want to make love to my future wife and damn it Alexia, I can’t wait another minute.”

  He hustled me out to the car and thankfully, he only lived about seven minutes away from the hospital. We were tearing our clothes off as soon as we closed the door to his house. By the time we got to the staircase, we were both naked and he was carrying me up the stairs. My legs were around
his waist and he was kissing me.

  “I’m sorry Alexia, but I need you now honey. I can’t wait any longer.”

  “Same here. I didn’t think we’d ever get here.”

  We never made it to the bed. He turned and put my back against the wall and was inside of me in one slick move. I wrapped my hands around his back, beneath his arms, and matched his movements. The way he swiveled his hips into mine as he thrust into me had my body reeling in sensation.

  “Tell me again,” he groaned. The emotions pouring from his eyes touched my heart and I knew exactly what he wanted...what he needed.

  “I want to marry you Pearce Middleton. I love you so much.”

  “Ah Alexia. You’re my world.”

  When the last word left his lips, my orgasm crashed into me and I cried out for him. He followed right behind me.

  We stood together in that odd position for a lot longer than I would’ve thought possible. His arms still held me, but as he said, they cupped my ass so he was happy as hell.

  When he finally moved away from the wall, it was only to walk the few steps that it took to take us to the bed. Pearce just flopped down, with me still wrapped around him and him still inside of me. He rolled on his side and just looked at me. He walked his fingers across my brows, down to my cheeks and across my lips, where he rubbed his thumb back and forth.

  He finally said, “I’m the luckiest man that ever lived. Thank you Alexia.”

  I looked down for a minute because his words had stirred me so, I felt a gargantuan lump forming in my throat and my eyes were quickly filling up with water. I hated that this happened to me. I didn’t want to get this emotional, dammit. I just couldn’t help it though.

  “What is it honey?”

  “I’m so happy and I’m so honored that you fell in love withme.”

  He tilted my chin up and asked, “Why do you always look away when you cry?”

  “Because I feel so foolish.” I put my forehead on his chest.

  “Don’t ever feel foolish over anything around me, okay? I love you no matter what. I told you that from the very beginning and I meant it Alexia. I’m here till the end.”

  “I’m the luckiest girl alive. And I do feel honored. Thank you Pearce for putting up with me and all my issues. I love you.”