Page 3 of Relentless
“Dr. Sakara Kenyon. Goes by Kara,” Ethan interjected, his words running together. Kara flashed him an indulgent smile then nodded to the EMT. She spotted two bandages on his left leg but didn’t see any other injuries.
“I’m Jarrod,” the EMT replied. “Nice to meet you, Dr. Kenyon. He’s the last of the injured. Insisted we take care of everyone else before treating him.”
“Call me Kara. And what can I do to help?” she asked, her heart hammering uncomfortably against her ribs. She willed it to slow down. Ethan’s injuries, though serious, weren’t life-threatening. Even so, shereallydidn’t like the sight of so much blood on his body.
“I’m adjusting his fluids. He has two lacerations on his left leg. I did a quick bind, enough to get him to the hospital. But since you’re here, want to have a look?” Jarrod nodded to the two bandages she’d noted.
“No other injuries?” she asked, pulling on a pair of gloves from the stash in her bag. Ethan was dressed in a pair of khaki shorts, making the wounds easy to reach.
“Am I finally gonna get your hands on me, Doc? Please tell me you’re going to kiss it and make it better,” Ethan slurred.
Jarrod chuckled, and Kara slid Ethan a repressive look, although she couldn’t help but smile. Chad had fallen fast asleep for six hours when she’d given him painkillers. Apparently, Ethan reacted like a drunk.
“No other injuries,” Jarrod confirmed. “He wasn’t in the accident but insisted on helping the fire department extract some of the others. A couple of pieces of metal came free and caught him in the leg.”
Of course he insisted on helping. Because that’s the kind of person Ethan was. Most of the time, she loved that about him. Right now, as she unwound the bandage on his thigh, not so much.
“BP and heart rate?” she asked. Jarrod returned his attention to the fluids. Once he was satisfied with the drip, he let go of the line and pulled his stethoscope and arm cuff out.
“It’s nice to see you, Kara,” Ethan drawled drunkenly. “She’s Sabina’s sister,” he said, rotating his head toward Jarrod, though his eyes had drifted closed. When Jarrod didn’t respond, he rolled his head back to center. “She’s so beautiful,” he continued mumbling. “I mean it’s weird how beautiful she is. She and Sabina are twins. Shouldn’t Sabina be just as beautiful? But somehow…” He paused, frowning. “Somehow, she’s not. I don’t understand. Do you?” he asked. She didn’t know if he was expecting an answer, but either way, he didn’t wait for one before continuing. “I guess that’s a good thing that I don’t find Sabina beautiful, though. I mean she is, but not like you are. Chad would kick my ass if I thought about Sabina the way I think about you. Not that I would, because a man has to have some loyalty and, fuck, Sabina makes Chad happy. I’d never get in the way of that. Even if I thought Sabina was beautiful. Which she is. But not like you.”
Kara was used to patients mumbling and rambling. Although admittedly, she’d never had one ramble quite like Ethan. Her eyes darted to Jarrod before returning to the laceration on Ethan’s thigh. It was four inches above his knee and deep enough that it might have caught a tendon. She wouldn’t know until he had it imaged at the hospital. In the meantime, she packed it with special military-grade gauze that would slow the bleeding.
Jarrod rattled off his BP and heart rate. Both of which were within range for the situation. She didn’t miss the smile he was trying to hide at Ethan’s rambles.
“He’s lost a bit of blood, but not sure about a transfusion?” Jarrod half asked.
Kara assessed the wounds. “How long to the hospital?”
“We can take him forty minutes south. Or, if you want him to go to Mystery Lake General, we have an ambulance on the other side of the semi that can take him. It would be forty-five minutes.”
She hadn’t looked at the laceration on his calf yet, but the one on his thigh wasn’t life-threatening. Nor had he lost that much blood…at least not enough that she thought he’d need a transfusion.
“Let’s get him to Mystery Lake. His family will want him there. Monitor him on the ride, but I don’t think a transfusion is necessary. Not with his vitals the way they are,” she answered.
“So beautiful,” Ethan said on an exhale. Jarrod chuckled again. “Don’t you think she’s beautiful?” Ethan asked, opening his eyes and looking at the EMT. But before Jarrod could answer, his gaze slid back to her. “I asked her out once. She said no.”
“So she’s smart, too,” Jarrod said, drawing a soft laugh from her. Ethanhadasked her out once. Right after they’d caught her mother’s murderer. Right after she’d realized that she didn’t have to keep running. Right after she’d realized that her life was going to change, and she had no idea what the future held for her.
She’d seen the seriousness in his expression when he invited her to dinner. He hadn’t been looking for a fling or a one-night stand. He was a man who wanted more. He wanted it all. He wanted love, family, friendship, and everything that went with that. And he wanted to explore that possibility with her. In general, she didn’t disagree with him. In her heart of hearts, she wanted that, too. But her life had been in too much disarray to even contemplate those things or that possibility.
And so she’d said no.
He’d taken it with good grace and hadn’t broached the subject again. They’d remained friends and, over the past ten months, had become good friends. Aside from her sister, he was the only person stateside that she communicated with while on assignment. That was, of course, whenhecould communicate. As an operative for HICC, his schedule didn’t always allow him to stay in touch with people.
“So smart,” Ethan slurred, in response to Jarrod’s comment. The EMT’s teasing slight having gone right over his impaired head. “A different smart than Sabina. Did you know she travels all over the world saving people?”
Jarrod waved someone over even as his eyes landed on her. “That true?” he asked.
She glanced at him then refocused her attention on Ethan’s calf. This cut was longer and deeper than the one on his thigh. But it ran with the muscle rather than across it. Again, she started packing it with gauze.
“I like to think we saved more than we lost, but yes, I traveled all over with an aid agency,” she replied, rattling off the name of the well-known organization.
“You still with them?” Jarrod asked as two men came toward them with a stretcher.
She shook her head as she wrapped a bandage around the gauze to hold it in place. “Just quit. I’ll be staying in Mystery Lake for a couple of months figuring out what I want to do when I grow up.”
She bound the bandage, then she and Jarrod rose and moved out of the way. The two paramedics took their place at Ethan’s side and began loading him onto the stretcher. Again, her heart lurched at seeing him incapacitated and injured. She wanted to reach out and take his hand but was afraid she wouldn’t be able to bring herself to let go.
