Page 6 of Shimmering Emeralds
I heard another siren wailing its arrival at the scene. My hope was that enough help had arrived to take care of everyone who needed medical assistance up on the road level. Right now, I had to put all of my focus on finding the likely-terrified, lost little girl.
“Hannah? Hannah!” I shouted, hoping that she wasn’t unconscious and that the sound of my voice might lead her back in our direction. I could hear her father calling her name, too, from the side where he was searching. Surely, she was close enough to hear us yelling for her.
My mind was devising plausible scenarios for where she might be. The best one I could come up with was that she had fallen down the hill. Perhaps she was injured and unable to climb back up to join the group. If that was the case, she would call out to us anytime now so we could carry her to safety.
“Please, Hannah. Please be okay,” I whispered to myself while my eyes scanned back and forth as I carefully made my way down the brush-covered hill.
I wasn’t sure if it was a slight sound or bit of movement that caught my eye, but something made me turn to look behind me. Hannah was crouching and shivering under a pine tree.
Not wanting to further scare the obviously frightened little girl, I approached slowly before stooping down to speak to her. “Hi, Hannah. I’m Levi. Your dad is here, and he’d really like to see you.”
Enormous blue eyes stared up at me. The child seemed uncertain if I was to be trusted. Considering I’d been driving the bus she’d been on that had just crashed, I really couldn’t blame her for that.
I glanced up to gauge how far we were from the road. It was a good distance away, but I was sure I could yell loud enough for Alex to hear me. I was uncertain, though, if shouting might frighten the fragile child even more than she already was. Deciding not to risk that I said, “Will you come with me up to find your dad?”
The child’s chin wobbled as if she was uncertain what to do. I was sure she’d heard many ‘stranger-danger’ talks, and they had evidently sunk in. Just as I was becoming convinced that she was going to ignore me or possibly scream for help, she said in a tiny voice, “I saw the man with the burns on his face. He’s the one that took my Mommy, so I hid because I didn’t want him to steal me.”
Understanding dawned on me then. I tried to give the traumatized child a reassuring smile, but it probably emerged looking more like a grimace. It wasn’t fair that such a fragile, young girl had been forced to face so much tragedy in her short life. Children her age were supposed to be worrying about getting the hot new toy for Christmas and scoring an extra piece of candy, not about being kidnapped by their mother’s captor.
“I won’t let him near you,” I promised her, holding out my hand in her direction.
She stared at it for a long time, obviously weighing her options. Eventually, she must have decided that taking her chances with me was safer than waiting for Kevin Durley to find her because she tentatively accepted my offered hand.
It was then that I heard Meg’s terrified cry for help.
5
Meg
The cavalry came running to help Harper. My entire body shook as I struggled to breathe, watching the paramedics work on my tiny child. She looked so helpless and lifeless. Losing her wasn’t an option. Shehadto be okay.
Once she was secured on a stretcher, the EMTs jogged her to a waiting ambulance. I ran right by her side, holding her limp, fragile hand within mine.
Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed Alex clutching Hannah to his chest. Although I was glad to see that they had found my niece, I didn’t have any energy to spare to acknowledge it. My entire focus was where it needed to be––on my little girl.
The ambulance already had a couple of children with minor injuries and worried-looking parents sitting along the edges of the back of the vehicle. I scrambled to climb in as they loaded Harper’s stretcher.
I sensed Levi’s presence behind me, even before I saw or heard him. Even after all of these years apart and under all of this stress, my body was still hypersensitive with awareness where this blasted man was concerned.
One of the paramedics said to him, “Sir, we’re already overloaded, and they can probably use your help here.”
Levi gave a quick glance out the open back door before saying, “Things are under control here. I need to be with Meg.”
His tone was firm and left no room for negotiating. The EMT gave a slight nod before moving to close the door behind us. We were crammed in like a can of sardines, but the nature of the tragedy and the multiple injuries all at once called for a bending of the usual rules.
The medic worked swiftly and efficiently on Harper as he asked me numerous questions about her medical history. I managed to answer them in a flat voice, even though I felt like I was floating high above the vehicle, watching the horrific scene unfold from above.
When he gingerly placed an oxygen mask over her tiny nose and mouth, I sobbed into my hand. The medical device looked so frightening and ominous covering my little girl’s face.
Levi’s quiet, steady presence was soothing, despite my frazzled nerves. He didn’t speak or push. He merely remained at my side with a warm arm wrapped around my shoulders silently infusing me with his strength.
I didn’t want to need him––or anyone. I’d always prided myself on being a strong, independent single mother. But there was no denying that having him by my side was comforting.
The high-pitched wail of the siren announced our approach as we raced down the curvy, hilly road.
When the medic turned his attention to the injuries of the other kids on the rig, I felt like shouting at him that he needed to focus on Harper. She hadn’t yet woken up, so she was in dire need of his attention. The bumps and bruises he was attending to now could wait until Harper regained consciousness.
Instead of screeching, I asked in a monotone voice, “Shouldn’t my daughter have woken up?”
