Part 1: No Regrets(Divine Creek Ranch 2)(90)
As she approached the river bridge, Rachel noticed movement to her right. One second, she was thinking that it was a little early in the year for the deer to be chasing as a young doe raced out in front of her car, followed closely by a large buck, evidently intent on mating. The next instant, she heard screeching brakes as an oncoming SUV attempted to avoid colliding with both deer as well as her vehicle. Slamming on her brakes, Rachel sent a prayer heavenward.
206
Heather Rainier
Chapter Twenty-three
Ace Webster held tight to his steering wheel as the doe ricocheted off his front grill then into the guardrail. His SUV slammed into the red sedan as it lost control upon impact with the big buck. His vehicle came to rest against the guardrail. Ace shook his head, gathered his wits, and peered out his side window, searching the road for the little red car. He realized it was no longer on the road at all and slung his door open in time to hear the horrible crunching sound as the little car finally stopped rolling down the steep incline. Both deer lay in the roadway, dead. He turned on his flashers and descended at a dead run down the incline to the river bottom, thankful the car hadn’t been in danger of rolling into the water. Praying hard, he threw open the driver side door.
The sight before him took his breath away, but he kept his wits about him. He ripped out his phone and prayed he had a signal down there. He hit the speaker button and went to work as fast as he could. He tore off his dress shirt and undershirt and started ripping them into pieces. As the 911 operator picked up the call and inquired the nature of his emergency, he found his voice. He mopped with the shredded cloth trying to find the worst sources of bleeding.
“My name is Ace Webster. I’m out on FM 709, south of the river
bridge. There has been an accident. A vehicle has rolled down into the river bottom. I’m with the injured driver. It is a young woman, and she appears to have severe lacerations. Without moving her, I’m trying to determine where the worst bleeding is. The vehicle rolled numerous times. Judging by the debris in the car, it looks like she was cut by objects loose in the passenger compartment.”
“Is the driver conscious, sir?”
“No. She’s unconscious. There is a large sliver of wood piercing her side. A lot of glass shards embedded as well. Lots of blood.” The coppery
Her Gentle Giant, Part 1: No Regrets
207
scent of blood permeated the humid air around him as he palpated her torso, trying to determine the worst bleeds and doing his best to staunch the flow with the makeshift bandages.
“Please do not remove the piece of wood or the glass, sir. Is she buckled into the seat?”
“Yes.”
“Leave her that way.”
“Yes, ma’am. Oh, God!” Ace moaned as he wiped at her face with a fresh rag. “Oh, no. Rachel!” He gasped, horrified that he had been squatting here for several minutes with someone he should have recognized. There was so much blood. He redoubled his efforts.
“Sir, I have emergency services on their way. They’re about five minutes away from you right now. Do you know the driver, Mr. Webster?”
“Yes. It’s Rachel Lopez. Can you call her boyfriend for me?”
“Yes, sir, I’ll take care of it. His name?”
“Wolf, Eli Wolf.”
“Yes, please don’t hang up, sir. I’ll see that he is called. Is the driver still unconscious?”
“Yes.”
“Will you check her pulse without shifting her at all?”
“Pulse feels weak, but regular.”
He found several wounds beside the one at her ribs that were bleeding heavily and gently pressed the cloths to them. He didn’t want to push the glass in farther, but knew the bleeding needed to be stopped. He looked around at the destruction of the interior of her little car. Shattered plate glass was everywhere as well as little pieces of wood, ceramic, and metal. His eyes came to rest on a small wooden frame in the floorboard. He realized what must have happened. He saw a heavy glass lampshade on the front passenger floorboard. It looked heavy, and he prayed she didn’t have a head injury from it. He could hear sirens in the distance and checked her pulse again.
Still there, but weak.
He held her hand and said, “Hang on, Rachel. Help is coming.”
* * * *
208
Heather Rainier
Eli’s phone started ringing and vibrating as it sat on the bathroom counter. Caller ID read unknown, and he answered it on the second ring.
“Eli?”
“Yeah.”
“Hank Stinson here.”
Eli’s heart jumped a little in his chest, and a cold chill went up his spine.
This was not Hank’s usual friendly part-time co-worker chit-chat voice. This was his sheriff’s department business voice. “You need to run on up to the hospital. Rachel’s been involved in an accident.”