Page 98 of Hidden Fears
“Ken, come here. I need your help,”his loud, scared voice breaks through the space.
“What happened?” I ask as I quickly start dressing, noticing Josie doing the same.
“It’s Freya. Something is wrong, Ken. Something is wrong with the baby!”The obvious fear in Alex’s voice makes my blood turn cold.
“Where are you?”
“We’re at our cabin.”Freya’s cry loudly crashes into the thick air inside the truck, and Alex’s voice turns desperate.
“Did you call nine-one-one?”
“Yes,”he growls.“But there is a fucking fire somewhere, and all units are there.”
“All of them?” I pause.
“Yes! Not one fucking unit is available to save my wife!”he yells.
Josie is already moving to the front between the two seats while I have to jump outside and get back inside because there is no way I can fit through there.
“We will be there soon. Hang tight. Call me if something changes. I need to call someone.” I hang up and tell Josie, “Pull the radio from the glove compartment.”
She quickly pulls it out and switches it to ‘on’ without me telling her how, while I’m making a U-turn and heading toward Little Hope.
“Channel 4.”
She switches the radio to the right channel and passes it to me.
“It’s Sheriff Benson. Anyone copy?”
“You’re on, Sheriff,”comes through static.
“I need an ambulance to Alex Crowley’s cabin. Now.”
A two-second silence tells me more than they could.“We don’t have an available unit right now. Everything has been thrown to Springfield for the fire.”
“How the fuck did we throw all our forces into helping another city and left ours without anything?” The anger is so obvious in my voice that Josie gently places her hand on my thigh.
Silence.“The closest available unit ETA is about an hour.”
“Fuck!” I yell and hit the wheel in aggravation, then click the radio again. “Make one available faster.”
“Will try,”comes a quick response this time, and I throw the radio between the seats in aggravation. Then I dial Alex.
“Ken?”comes his even more scared voice.
“The ambulance is about an hour away. Can you take her to the hospital?”
“I tried, but she started yelling and crying when I touched her. She doesn’t let me lift her up, and she can’t walk herself. What do I do, Kenneth?”he whispers into the phone.“Tell me what to do.”
I’ve never heard Alex sound so lost and scared, and to be honest, I’m lost too.
“We’ll be there soon.” I hang up and tell Josie without turning to her. “Put the shirt on.”
She lets go of my thighs, quickly reaches behind us, and pulls the shirt she wore before from the floor. She’s coming inside with me no matter what, and I don’t want to be distracted with stupid possessive and, quite frankly, embarrassing thoughts when my brother needs my help.
When she’s fully covered and adjusts the seatbelt on herself, I press the gas pedal to the floor. “Hang tight, Josie. And send Archie a message to head to Alex’s cabin. It might be time.”
She quickly picks up the phone and taps the buttons. Once she’s done, she places it on her lap and stares ahead. I glance at her from time to time to make sure she’s not scared, but her face is full of determination without an ounce of fear. She trusts me so much, and it makes me feel like I can conquer the whole damn world if needed.
