by Radclyffe
Stomach churning, she found the section of guardrail that had been breached and shone her light down the steep embankment. A trail of crushed reeds, pond grass, and scrub brush outlined the errant car’s path. The vehicle itself lay upside down in the salt pond that ran alongside the highway. The front end was under water up to the windshield and steam billowed from the cracked engine. Emergency lights had been erected, and a clot of people milled around, maneuvering stretchers and assorted emergency equipment. One of the firefighters appeared to be attaching a towline to the back of the vehicle. No sign of Tory. Maybe the EMT was wrong, and she wasn’t down there, after all.
Sliding, nearly falling, Reese made her way down the damp, muddy bank. How in the hell could Tory get down here? I can’t even stand up.
“Smith!” Reese finally saw someone she recognized. She approached her officer as quickly as the treacherous footing would allow. “Where’s Tory?”
“Reese, what are you doing here?” The young man gave her a heartfelt smile. Ever since she had been instrumental in saving his life during a shootout, he had been her staunchest supporter. “You don’t need to be here, boss. We’ve got it pretty much under control. There’s just one more victim to extricate. The rest have been transported already.”
Reese clamped down on her anger, because she knew he had no idea the terror she was feeling. Very succinctly, she repeated, “Where is Dr. King?”
“Oh, she’s in the car.”
“How long?” The words snapped like live wires.
“Huh? Oh…I dunno. Twenty minutes maybe?”
“Son of a bitch,” she shot out to no one in particular. She pushed her way past him and through the firefighters and EMTs crowding around the capsized vehicle.
That water has got to be freezing. Jesus, God, she needs to get out of there.
Ignoring the biting cold as she slogged through icy water up to her mid-calves, Reese bent down to peer through the shattered driver’s side window. Tory was crouched over in the front seat compartment of the Cadillac, her emergency medical kit open beside her and a battery-powered hazard light hanging from a loose piece of metal on what was once the vehicle’s floor. She appeared to be working on someone who was obscured from Reese’s vision by a tangle of electrical wires and engine parts. “Dr. King? Problem?”
“Reese?” Tory could barely move in the compressed space of what had once been the big luxury car’s passenger area. She didn’t know how long she’d been there, but it felt like forever. Turning her head as much as possible, she spared her lover a quick glance before turning back to her task. “The driver has a crushed larynx. The EMTs couldn’t ventilate him so I had to trach him in here. Just got an airway.”
“What’s his condition?”
“Unconscious and critical. I’m bagging him by hand, but there’s a lot of resistance. He must have at least one lung down.” Her teeth were chattering, and it was difficult to talk. “I can’t tell what his oxygenation status is. Too damn dark in here to read a pulse oximeter, even if I had one.”
“Can one of the EMTs take your place?” Reese couldn’t see Tory’s face clearly, but she could hear the strain in her voice. Just seeing her in there made Reese’s guts churn. “Tor?”
“He’s too unstable. I can’t trust this tube not to come out, either,” Tory replied distractedly. “Tell the fire captain he can winch whenever he’s ready.”
“No way. Not with you in there,” Reese said adamantly. “That’s a twenty percent incline up to the road. This car’s going to twist all over the place when they start pulling it up.”
“No choice. This guy doesn’t have much time.”
Reese turned and shouted, “Get the fire captain down here!”
A minute later, a fifty-year-old man—average height, solid and sturdy—tramped through the marsh toward Reese. “Sheriff Conlon. I didn’t see you before.”
“Peterson. Just got here.” Reese was brusque. “What’s the status on this vehicle extrication?”
“We’re just about ready. We’ve been waiting for the doctor to give us the go-ahead.”
“What about the structural integrity of the car? Dr. King says she needs to stay inside with the victim while you haul this thing out of here.”
“Well, it’ll be one helluva bumpy ride, but they made those old Caddies to stand up to almost anything.” He shrugged. “She’ll get knocked around some. Probably get a few bruises, but the frame will hold.”
“Give me a minute. Do not move this vehicle until I give the word.”
He hesitated, but there must have been something in the tone of her voice that convinced him. “Okay, but make it fast. We need to get this scene cleared up.”
Reese bent over to look inside again. “Tory,” she said in a voice too low for anyone else to hear. “You can’t stay in there during the extrication. It’s going to be rough. Too rough…especially for you now.”
“I’ll brace myself. I’ll be okay.” Tory took a long shuddering breath, and then admitted what she hadn’t wanted Reese to know. “There’s a lot of water in here, and I’m getting really cold. So is my patient. Get us out of here, Sheriff.”
Rapidly, Reese assessed what she knew of the situation. More importantly, she considered what she knew of her lover. There was no way she was going to get Tory to climb out of that car if her patient was in danger. Which left only one solution.
“Two minutes!” Reese yelled back over her shoulder as she grabbed the top edge of the vehicle, which was in actuality part of the undercarriage in its now upside-down position, and levered her legs through the open window.
“Reese, what in God’s name are you doing?”
“I’m going to give you a cushion, Doctor.” Reese twisted her larger frame back and forth until she had one leg on either side of Tory’s body.
Now that she was inside, Reese could make out the driver’s legs underneath the steering column and his head jammed under the dashboard on the passenger side. Tory was holding the tracheostomy tube in place with one hand and squeezing a portable oxygen bag with the other.
“There isn’t enough room,” Tory protested.
“That’s the point.” Reese grunted as she wedged herself into the corner formed by the floor of the car above them and the side wall. Tory was now effectively insulated from the frame by Reese’s body.
“Be careful, Sheriff, there are metal shards sticking out everywhere.”
A powerful engine roared somewhere above them, and the car shuddered.
“Brace your legs on something and push back into me,” Reese instructed as she wrapped her arms tightly around Tory’s waist from behind.
Precipitously, the car tilted, and they were thrown forward. Reese shot her right arm out straight to stop their fall, ignoring a sharp stab of pain as something jagged tore through her jacket just below her elbow. As the car rocked violently from side to side, she cradled her lover to her chest.
“Hold on to me!”
“I can’t,” Tory shouted. “I have to secure this trach tube.”
The car continued to bounce up and down as it was winched up the side of the embankment. Reese absorbed most of the shock on her shoulders and back as she curled protectively around Tory’s body. What seemed an interminable time later, but which was in reality only a minute or two, the car leveled out and the earsplitting rattles and bone-jolting vibrations stopped.
“Are you all right?” Reese asked anxiously.
“Yes.” Tory’s voice was muffled due to their awkward jackknifed position.
Reese rested her cheek against the back of Tory’s head and closed her eyes for a second. “Are you sure?”
“I’m all right, honey. Just help me move him.”
By that time, firefighters and EMTs were working to separate enough of the frame to ease out the victim. Reese shifted again until she could reach down as far as the driver’s body.
“I can hold that, Tor. You need to get out of here and get warm. You’re shaking all over and practicall
y freezing. I can feel it.”
“I’ll be oka—”
“God damn it, Tory. Get out of this fucking car.” Reese’s voice was flat as she got the fingers of one hand around the trach tube and took the compression bag with the other. “Do it now, or I’ll have someone remove you. You’re done here.”
Tory stared at Reese’s face in the flickering glow of the emergency lights, and she saw the expression she’d only seen a few times before. Once had been just before Reese had gone alone into the field of fire to rescue a fallen fellow officer, and the other had been the night someone had assaulted Brianna Parker. There was cold fury in the set of her starkly handsome features and an absolute determination as unyielding as stone.
“Be sure and advise me if there’s any change in his condition, Sheriff.” Tory quietly eased her cramped, stiff body toward the broken-out window.
“Understood, Doctor,” Reese said without looking at her. “Smith!”
“Right here, Reese.” He stood just outside the vehicle.
“Take Dr. King to the EMS truck and have someone look at her. Get her warmed up. Now.”
“Roger that, boss.”
Ten minutes later, Reese found Tory in the back of an EMS van, sitting on the edge of the open rear compartment. She was wrapped in a thermal heating unit and held a steaming cup of tea in her hands.
“How are you doing?” Reese asked softly, stopping a foot in front of her. She wanted to take Tory into her arms. Not only was it not the place for it, but also she wasn’t certain that Tory would want it. There was no welcome in those green eyes.
“You pulled rank on me back there, Sheriff,” Tory said, ignoring the question. Her expression was carefully neutral.
“Yes.” It was a statement, and although the word was delivered quietly, there was no apology in her tone.
“Did they get him out?”
“Yes, about three minutes ago.” Reese blew out a breath. At least she’s speaking to me. “The EMTs are preparing him for transport now. Someone will be back to give you a report soon, I imagine.”
“You know that when there’s an injured party in the field, my authority is paramount.” Tory ran a hand through her hair, struggling with her temper because she wasn’t entirely certain what she was angry about. “I can’t have our relationship interfering with my ability to do my work.”
“It wasn’t about us, Tory.”
“Wasn’t it?” She didn’t like the fact that Reese had ordered her out of the vehicle, even though she knew she would have been in serious trouble had she stayed much longer. She was still cold, but her blood pressure had been within normal limits when the EMT checked her out. Other than some temporary physical discomfort, there hadn’t been any risk to her or the baby. But Reese couldn’t know that.
“No, it wasn’t. You’re right that you’re in charge of emergency medical decisions—up to a point,” Reese said wearily, fighting a wave of sudden dizziness. She blinked her vision clear. “But when both the victim and the emergency personnel are in danger, then the authority passes to me. There can only be one commander in the field.”
“And that’s you, I take it?”
“In a situation like this, yes.”
It was an argument they would probably have again, Tory reflected. Reese was used to command, and she was good at it. Nevertheless, Tory wasn’t accustomed to having her own authority questioned. But it was too late at night, she was too tired to argue, and she hated to be at odds with Reese. The patient was stabilized, which was all that really mattered, so she relented.
“I appreciate your position.”
“I’m sorry I lost my temper, love.” Reese brushed the backs of her fingers over Tory’s cheek. “You didn’t deserve that.”
“It’s okay, sweetheart.”
“I’m still sorry.”
“You’re soaking wet, Reese. You should go ho—” Tory’s eyes narrowed as she examined the large wet patches on her lover’s clothes. The ones on her right arm and leg actually seemed to be getting larger as they talked. Her heart gave a sudden painful thud. “My God, you’re bleeding!”
“Yeah, I guess.” In the last several minutes, Reese had become aware of a variety of aches and pains. Her right forearm throbbed and burned, and she was having a little trouble putting her full weight on her right leg. It felt like it was about to give out. “I think I might have gotten snagged here and there on pieces of the car when they were pulling us out.”
“Why didn’t you say something sooner?” Alarmed, Tory set the cup aside, threw off the blanket, and got hastily to her feet. She was a little unsteady, but fortunately, her braced leg held. She’d left her cane in the Jeep. “I need to look at you. Climb up into the van where there’s some light.”
“Look, can we do this later? I have to check—”
“Now, Reese.” Tory’s voice was now one of absolute command, but her fingers were still gentle as she brushed them briefly along Reese’s jaw. “Honey, you’re hurt. Don’t fight me on this.”
Reese blew out a breath and nodded. “Sorry, you’re right. I’ll just tell Smith I’m leaving the scene to him. He can secure my vehicle later.”
Turning, Reese stumbled slightly and Tory was instantly at her side, threading an arm around her waist. “Sweetheart, you’re not going to make it. You need to be off that leg right now. Don’t argue.”
“Okay,” Reese muttered, struggling with a fresh wave of dizziness. “But let’s go to the clinic. I don’t want to do this out here, and I can call in from there.”
Tory didn’t question her stoic lover’s motives, because her only concern was assessing the injury and controlling the damage. “My Jeep is right here. Let’s go.”
“Fine.”
Tory found Reese’s easy acquiescence worrisome. The fact that she allowed Tory to open the door and help her inside only made Tory worry more.
Fortunately, at that time of night there was no traffic, and in less than five minutes, Tory pulled into the parking lot in front of the clinic. When Reese pushed open the door to get out, Tory simply said, “Don’t even try it. Wait for me.”
Once again, Reese complied, and together, they made their way carefully up the gravel drive to the small landing in front of the main door. Reese leaned heavily against the wall as Tory sorted through her keys and unlocked the door.
“Still doing okay?” Tory asked quietly as they maneuvered through the deserted clinic toward the examining rooms in the rear.
“Fine.” Reese grunted through gritted teeth. For some reason, her arm and leg seemed to be burning worse now. Her stomach was a little queasy, too.
The pain on Reese’s face made Tory’s insides twist, but she kept her discomfort to herself. When they reached the largest examining room, which also doubled as a procedure room, Tory reached inside and flipped on the wall switch. “Lean against the table until I can help you get your clothes off.”
Hurriedly, Tory washed her hands at the small sink in one corner, then moved to where Reese rested with a hip up on the examining counter. Willing her hands not to shake, she unbuttoned Reese’s shirt. “Where’re you hurt, honey?”
“Mostly my right arm and leg. The rest of the damage is just bumps and bruises, I think.” Reese was having more and more difficulty moving the injured extremities, and it was laborious to get her shirt off. As Tory eased the material down over the injured right arm, Reese drew in her breath sharply at the swift streak of pain that shot up toward her shoulder.
“Sorry,” Tory murmured, finally removing the garment. She tossed it aside, leaving Reese clad in the undershirt she’d worn beneath it. Tory bit back a cry of alarm when she saw the jagged tear in Reese’s forearm that was deep enough to expose the muscle compartment. Blood oozed steadily from the dark ragged tear, but thankfully, there was no indication of bright red arterial bleeding.
“Christ, that’s sensitive,” Reese grunted. As her head spun suddenly, she grabbed the edge of the table with her uninjured hand to steady herself.
“It’s the salt from the marsh water,” Tory said flatly. “That’s what’s stinging. Let’s get these trousers off so I can see your leg.”
Gingerly, Reese unbuckled her belt and lowered her fly. “I think you’re going to have to do it for me, honey. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. Put your hand on my shoulder and lean on me a little.”
Tory bit her lip when she saw the jagged star-shaped puncture wound on the outside of Reese’s right thigh. It looked as if it had been made by the sheared-off top of the gearshift. Further examining it, she realized that it had probably happened when they had pitched forward during the car’s bumpy ascent up the steep bank to the roadbed. It was lucky that neither she nor Reese had been speared in some vital body part during the rocky ride.
“I’ve got to get you up on the table so I can clean out these wounds. The one on your arm is going to need sutures.”
As she spoke, Tory worked at separating herself emotionally from the fact that she was looking at her partner’s torn and bruised body. Thinking about Reese in pain was not going to help her accomplish what needed to be done. For an instant, she flashed on what might have happened if Reese had not gotten into the vehicle to help shelter her from the trauma. Frowning, she shook the nightmare images from her mind.
“What’s wrong, Tor?” Reese asked as she watched Tory examining her.
“I hate to see you hurt,” Tory confessed quietly.
“It’s not too bad. Don’t worry, love.”
“You don’t get it, do you, Sheriff?” Tory smiled up at her with a quick shake of her head. “I worry about you because I love you. It comes with the territory.”
“I know. Try to remember that when I’m being overly protective, okay?” Reese took a deep breath. “Like tonight. I was scared out of my mind when I saw you in that upturned car in the marsh.”
“Okay,” Tory said softly. Then she leaned down and pressed her lips to Reese’s forehead for an instant of much needed contact. When she straightened, her expression was soft with love, but her eyes were firm with purpose. “Now, don’t talk to me anymore. Just do what I tell you to do. Do you think you can handle that for a few minutes?”