Page 30 of Keeping His Brat

Over and over there were comments about the black horse too. She had no idea why he was so fixated on Devil, but it was clear it was worrying him.

She retrieved a damp towel to gently blot his head as she heard the ambulance crunch to a stop outside.

“Ma’am?” a voice called from the open door.

“In here,” she called. She wasn’t sure why they’d bothered; the cabin just wasn’t that big. Maybe they couldn’t enter without permission. She almost laughed as the idea that they might be vampires spilled through her mind.You’re losing it,she thought.

Two people hurried into the room and took over. One of them, the woman, gently moved her out of the way and began to question her, while the guy took Sam’s vital signs. She tried to pay attention to the answers she was giving but her eyes kept being drawn to Sam on the bed.

“Ma’am, listen. We’re going to get him some help. Everything is going to be fine, but we need to know what we’re looking at. Can you focus for me?” The woman’s voice was gentle, and Charlie took a deep shuddering breath and nodded.

“Yes. Sorry, I just—”

“I know. It’s scary, and we’re going to take him in, but I just need to know what happened.”

Charlie was glad that she’d taken the time to e-mail the therapist earlier, because she had the whole story neatly organized in her head like a script. She started with the storm and both of them getting doused, and then went through the symptoms he’d been showing.

“Do you think it was from the storm?” she asked. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.

The woman shook her head. “I doubt it. Getting cold and wet doesn’t usually make you sick. Might cause hypothermia if you’re too cold for too long, but that’s not what we’re looking at here.”

“I thought it was just a cold. He’s been coughing a lot, and the fever has been up and down, but he was fine earlier when he laid down …” She trailed off and shook her head. “Sorry. Anyway, he was fine when he laid down, but then I couldn’t get him to wake up, and he was so hot.”

“It’s 103 right now,” the other paramedic chimed in. “BP is much lower than it should be. Severely dehydrated too. Once we get him into the ambulance, we’ll start pumping some fluids into him. That will help. And he has a wound on his hand.” He turned Sam’s hand palm up to show them the gash across the middle. It was puffy and red.

She’d forgotten he’d cut himself. He’d cleaned it out when they got back though, hadn’t he? “It was from barbed wire. He had his tetanus shot though,” she hurried to assure them.

“That’s good, but it’s definitely infected.”

Charlie was pushed out of the way, and they went to work. A rolling bed was wheeled in and lowered so that Sam could be shifted onto it easily. The next thing she knew he was being loaded into the back of the ambulance, while she stood there watching.

“Do you want to ride with him?” the woman asked, gesturing to the space in back. There was room for one additional person and Charlie wanted to get in so badly.

“I—I think I better follow so I have the vehicle.” She couldn’t just leave the door open, and the gate like that. If they were still gone in the morning Ben would probably panic.

“You sure you’re okay to drive?” The woman’s voice had taken on a tone of motherly concern and Charlie realized she was still shaking.

Charlie took a deep breath and nodded. “I am. I’ll be fine and I’ll be right behind you I just need to close things up in case we don’t get back right away.”

“Hmm, just be careful.” The paramedic climbed into the back to help her partner get Sam situated. They were doing something with a bag of fluids but then the door was swinging shut and she couldn’t see what else was happening.

She wanted to bang on it, demand they open back up and let her in, but she had things to do. The emotional part of her mind shut down so logic could take over. She pushed the accusatory voice farther back and although she could still hear it,Your fault he got hurt. Your fault he’s sick, she could focus on the more pressing matters.

Charlie would need her purse and went searching for that. It had been two weeks since she’d left the ranch to go shopping and she wasn’t sure exactly where she’d left it. Then when she finally tracked it down, she realized they’d need his ID and medical card.

His wallet was easier to find than her purse had been, and she scooped it off the dresser. She grabbed her laptop and a book too, because she knew if she didn’t have something to keep her mind occupied at the hospital, she’d go insane.

Whatever they’d been doing with Sam must have taken awhile because they were just leaving when she came outside. She hurried to follow.

She took the ranch truck instead of her own car, because then she wouldn’t need to hunt down her keys and it was already warmed up from the race to the gate anyway. Normally she would have regretted it, the shocks were worn out. But she was too worried about Sam to notice the bumpy ride.

Once she got the gate locked, she picked up speed, tearing down the road. It didn’t take her long to catch up to the ambulance. It wasn’t going slow, but she was tempted to pass them and get to the hospital first just so she could be there waiting when they wheeled him in.

She didn’t give into that desire. Mostly because she didn’t want to get pulled over by the cops for speeding. She was already over the speed limit as it was.

Most of the ride was a blank later when she thought back. It was probably lucky she hadn’t gotten into an accident. She had been so focused on the ambulance in front of her that nothing else really registered until they pulled into the hospital parking lot.

Charlie found the closet spot, parked the truck and ran to catch them as they were unloading Sam and wheeling him in. She wanted to be by his side so they wouldn’t end up separated. It worked … to a certain extent but it became clear that his vitals had them concerned.

---