Part 1: No Regrets(Divine Creek Ranch 2)(91)

Another cold chill skittered across every inch of his skin. Adrenaline dumped into his bloodstream, and his skin prickled and felt hot and frozen at the same time. Rachel? No! Not his angel. An accident? Not again.

“What happened?” he asked, trying to stay focused and calm. He sat on the end of his bed, pulling his boots on quickly. He grabbed his truck keys and ran out the door.

“The other person involved in the accident says they hit some deer. He recognized her and asked for you to be called. I’m pulling up to the scene right now.”

Eli could hear the muffled sounds of a seatbelt being released and a vehicle door slamming and the sound of Hank running down the asphalt.

There was also the sound of a siren in the background and distant yelling.

His heart hammered as he yanked the door open on his truck. He was torn between wanting to know where she was so he could go straight to her and knowing he needed to get to the hospital where they would take her.

“Where is she?”

“South side of the river bridge on FM 709. Get to the hospital, Eli.

They’ll have her there in a few minutes. Damn. Yeah, looks like they hit a big buck and a doe. I’ll see you up at the hospital, Eli. Gotta go.”

“Thanks, Hank,” he replied and ended the call backing out of the driveway. The thought of her little car and a white tail buck mixing it up on the bridge with another vehicle caused chills to race up his spine. He tried to take deep breaths to calm himself and floored the accelerator.

A familiar old pain made its ugly presence known in his chest along with a feeling of powerlessness and fear. He recalled another car accident and another woman he loved beyond belief being injured. Just like this time, he’d been unable to help her. He put aside that powerless feeling and



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focused on what he could do. He prayed the whole way to the hospital.

Beating the ambulance to the emergency room, he ran to the information desk and checked with the receptionist. The door opened behind him, and Grace and Adam ran in, making a beeline for him as soon as they saw him.





* * * *



Ace heard Rachel moan weakly. She moved in the seat and attempted to lift a hand to her seatbelt. He caught her hand and delicately put it back in her lap.

“No, Rachel. Don’t move, sweetheart. You’ve been in an accident.”

She whimpered in response. She tried to speak and cried out, reaching for her throat. A long, nasty looking shard of glass protruded there. She reached up and cried out again as she touched it. He gently immobilized her fingers and held them in her lap.

“Rachel, you’ve been hurt in an accident. Don’t try to talk or move.

EMTs will be here in a minute to help you. The 911 dispatcher has called Eli for you. I’m sure he’ll be waiting for you at the hospital. Try to be still for right now. Careful, you’ll cut yourself if you keep feeling around.

There’s glass everywhere.” He heard the technicians removing gear from the ambulance. He stood and hollered up the incline, “Down here!” They came hurrying down the incline with a stretcher, emergency medical kit, and a backboard.

He squatted down to her to reassure her again, but she was unconscious.

Freeing her from the seatbelt, the EMTs carefully removed her from the vehicle, stabilizing her back and neck on a backboard. When they moved her, the bleeding started again. They discovered several other splinters lodged in her torso and under one arm as they checked for the worst sources of bleeding. Another ambulance showed up, and the EMTs rushed down to help. One of them checked Ace out, cleaned and bandaged the cut on his forehead, and recommended that he get checked out in the ER as well. They quickly loaded Rachel on the stretcher. Ace found her purse in the back seat and gave it to the EMTs. He climbed up the steep incline to find that a sheriff’s deputy was also there, examining the scene on the bridge. He’d met Hank Stinson a few months before, working on a private investigation case



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for Jack Warner. Ace and Hank stood there looking disgustedly at the deer on the roadway.

“There is a metaphor for life here somewhere,” Ace muttered, eyeing the buck and the doe, “but I’m not going to go there now. Should I call Grace? She’ll want to know.”

“I already did when I heard it was Rachel. Grace sounded pretty upset.

Adam was bringing her in. She’ll probably beat them there, same for Eli.”

He walked over to the damaged guardrail and looked down the steep incline.

“Fuck! I hate when stuff like this happens, and it’s worse when it’s someone you know well. She didn’t look good,” Hank muttered, scrubbing his callused hand over his face before putting his cowboy hat back on.