Branded(58)

Parking my truck as close to the scene of the accident as I can off to the side of the road, I quickly jump out with my ALS trauma bag in my hand and weave in between the line of cars that are stopped until the accident can be cleared so they can get around it and head to wherever it was they were going.

I pick up the pace, jogging until I reach the first vehicle, where a few of my men are pulling the driver out of the mangled car.

“What do we got, boys?” I ask as I pull a pair of latex gloves out of my back pocket and quickly slide them on.

“Male, mid-fifties, responsive and steady pulse,” Brad replies as he helps move the man to the gurney they’ve set up on the road next to the car. “We stabilized him inside the vehicle with a neck and back brace. Contusions to the head, most likely from the airbag, and superficial cuts and scrapes to the face and arms from glass.”

I lean over the man, checking his eyes for dilation and signs of a concussion. “What’s your name, sir?”

His eyes are darting around nervously, but they latch onto mine quickly. “Martin Roberts. The car ran right through the red light. I didn’t even have time to slam on my breaks. Is she okay? Is the other driver okay?”

“Don’t you worry about that right now, Mr. Roberts. My men are going to get you to the hospital and take good care of you.”

He nods his head as best he can while Brad finishes strapping him to the head brace and securing the rest of his body to the gurney.

I pat Brad on the back for a job well done and hear the unmistakable motorized sound of the Jaws of Life firing up.

“Are there more ambulances on the way?” I ask, scanning the area and not seeing any more in sight aside from the one right in front of us. I help everyone push the gurney to the back of the ambulance and lift it up inside.

“There were two more in route, but we just cancelled one. We already secured the third driver and determined she didn’t need to be transported because of the extent of her injuries,” Brad explains. “She already signed a refusal to be transported, so now we’re just waiting on the one for the woman in that red car. ETA three minutes.”

“Good. Let these guys head off to transport, you can stay here with me and work on the last driver,” I inform him.

I close the ambulance doors, pounding twice to let the driver know he’s good to go. Brad and I turn and rush over to the car with the worst damage. Whoever was driving what used to be a red SUV obviously took the brunt of the accident. The driver’s side door was t-boned so badly it’s no wonder the fire department needed to use the Jaws of Life.

“How’s it going?” I ask the fireman holding the hydraulic rescue tool as he cuts away at the metal and steel of the roof.

“Driver has been unresponsive since we got here, so it’s going to be quicker and safer to take off the roof and get her out this way,” he shouts over the sound of the motor. “One of my men crawled through the passenger side window that shattered and is keeping an eye on her vitals. When she was t-boned, it pushed the other side of her car into a light post, so we couldn’t even open the passenger door to get to her.”

I nod at him and gesture for Brad to follow as I make my way around the back of the car, tapping the fireman who has his ass end sticking out of the passenger window. He quickly slides out and gives me a rundown on the injured woman’s stats.

“Female, late twenties, early thirties, thready pulse, no visible eye movement or response to stimuli. Trauma to the head most likely caused by it smashing into her side window upon impact.”

I thank him as he moves out of the way for me and I lean inside the window to get my first look at the woman. My stomach drops and my heart almost stops when I see her. Still in her seatbelt with blood coating her face and neck from the wounds on her head and her chest, arms and hands covered in blood from a combination of the laceration on her head and cuts from the glass, is Finnley. Even under all the blood, I can see how pale her skin is. Before I can lean in closer and fully assess the damage, I hear shouting in the distance. I take a deep breath and quickly pull myself back out of the car, rattling off a list of instructions for Brad.

“She’s Trauma Alert with that head injury, so start two IV’s in case there’s internal bleeding and we need to pump her full of fluids. Get a neck brace on her and keep an eye on her pulse and breathing. If it starts to plummet, get a bag valve mask on her immediately.”

Without waiting for his response, I take off running away from the vehicle and trust that Brad can keep Finnley stable while I take care of this other problem.

A few cars back, Collin is being held by a cop and two of the men from the fire department as he screams and curses at them, kicking and fighting to get out of their hold and get to his woman.