Her hands shook as she pressed the three numbers she’d never had to dial on her phone before.
“911, what’s your emergency?” the operator answered.
“I found a woman unconscious. She’s breathing but she needs medical attention.”
“What is your location?”
“3902 Crescent Drive.”
“And your name?”
“My name is Krista Sloan, and Abby Malone is the woman who is unconscious.”
“Okay, I’ve dispatched emergency vehicles. Stay on the phone with me until they arrive,” the operator instructed.
Yeah, like she was going to just hang up.
“Do you have any knowledge of the patient’s medical history?”
Krista tried to remember if Abby had mentioned any issues. She couldn’t think of anything other than her headaches and depression. “She suffers from depression and migraines.”
“Do you know if the patient is currently taking any medication?”
“Yes.” Krista did know that. In fact, more often than not, she was the one who picked up Abby’s prescriptions from the pharmacy. “She’s on Cymbalta and Migranal.”
“Okay, ma’am. The paramedics are just around the corner.”
Adrenaline raced through Krista’s system as she waited for the EMTs to get there. Abby had to be okay.
“They’re almost here,” Krista said to Abby. “Just hold on. Help is coming.” Again, she wasn’t sure if she was saying that to reassure herself, Abby, or Bear, who had begun barking again.
The shrill sound of the siren rang out over the dog’s loud barks.
“Thank God,” Krista said. This time she knew it was to herself. She heard the front door open and yelled out, “Back here!”
“Are they on scene, ma’am?” the operator asked.
“Oh sorry.” She hadn’t meant to scream in the poor woman’s ear. “Yes,” Krista confirmed as the EMTs, both of whom she knew from school, stepped through the doorway. “They’re here.”
Krista scrambled off the bed so the paramedics, Lionel and Chad, could have unobstructed access to Abby. She remembered her cousin Alex, who was a Firefighter and EMT telling stories about how bystanders usually just got in the way of their treating patients, no matter how good their intentions were.
Both men asked Krista questions and she did her best to answer them. She tried to calm poor Bear down. He was not happy about having strangers, especially men, in his home and even less happy about them touching his Abby.
“It’s okay.” Krista tried to put out a calming energy even though she felt about as far from calm as you could get. But if she’d learned anything at all from the Dog Whisperer, it was that dogs responded to energy not words. She tried her best to be calm and assertive as she held on to Bear’s collar and dragged him out of the bedroom.
He obviously hadn’t been out in quite a while, and she didn’t want to take the risk of him interpreting any of the guys’ actions as something Bear would need to step in and protect Abby from. Luckily, Bear walked alongside Krista without putting up a fight. He was a Rottweiler/Golden Retriever mix that was over a hundred pounds, and she didn’t want to wrestle with him.
He happily went outside in the back as soon as she opened the door. Torn between wanting to go back into the bedroom or clean up the front room, she decided that she wouldn’t be any help back there and the smell was definitely something she needed to address.
Grabbing some white cleaning rags, plastic grocery bags—no one was gonna use those rags again—and carpet cleaner, she went to work on cleaning up Bear’s messes. As she scrubbed the carpets, so many thoughts were running through her mind. The main one being that she needed to call Chase.
She hadn’t answered any of his calls, emails, or letters over the last ten years, but he had to know this. When his dad had passed, Abby had been the one who had called to let him know. Unlike her large family, the Malones consisted of Roger, Abby, and Chase. If memory served, Roger had a brother but he hadn’t been in contact with him since Chase was a little boy. And Abby had grown up as a foster child. She had zero family to speak of. No brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, or parents.
Which meant that Krista would need to be the one to contact Chase.
After disposing of the waste, Krista headed back to the bedroom to get a status update on Abby’s condition before she made the call. She was met by Lionel and Chad wheeling Abby out on a gurney. Her eyes were still closed and an oxygen mask was covering her face.
Chad was speaking into the radio, clipped on his shoulder, that they were transporting her to Harper’s Crossing Memorial.