Their Divine Doctor(Divine Creek Ranch 9)(40)

Emma dialed nine-one-one. “Stop the truck, Duke.”

Duke pulled into the parking lot a safe distance away and parked. Gage helped Emma out, and they ran to the car. Others had already started to gather.

“Damn it. I wish I had my kit—Dorothy, this is Emma Guthrie,” she said into the phone to the emergency dispatcher. “I’m on Main Street. Single-vehicle accident, in front of Clay Cook’s Jewelers. Send an ambulance. The driver appears unconscious.”

Mindful of the broken glass, Gage opened the door of the vehicle, and Emma crouched down to check the driver’s pulse. The passenger-side door was pulled open by another man who had run out from the jewelry store. “Female driver, mid- to late-thirties…no sign of head injuries, the vehicle wasn’t moving very fast when it struck the building.”

Duke stepped away to keep the crowd back that was gathering while Emma worked, checking the woman over as she filled the emergency department in on the details. Gage shifted the gear lever into park and shut off the ignition.

Emma interrupted her conversation with the dispatcher to admonish a woman who looked vaguely familiar away from the vehicle. “Tabitha, stop taking pictures. There’s glass everywhere and you’re going to get cut. Move over there.” She pointed back to the doorway of the shop where the woman had originally come from, armed with her camera phone. It hit Duke suddenly that this woman had been their downstairs neighbor for a while. She pouted a little but did as Emma asked, while sending a text message.

The hospital was close by, and almost immediately he heard the sound of a siren. A police car pulled up, and Duke greeted the sheriff as Hank Stinson took over the scene.

Duke returned to Emma as the other man assisted her in carefully laying the woman on her side in the vehicle. Emma asked, “Clay, do you know this woman?”

The man, who must be the owner of Clay Cook’s Jewelers, gently swiped the woman’s wavy brown locks from her face and looked closely at her. “No, Emma. I—I don’t think—actually, I’m not sure. Something about her is…familiar. It doesn’t look like she hit her head or anything. She’s awful pale.” Duke noticed the man, who was evidently Clay Cook, stroked the underside of the driver’s chin.

Checking her pulse, Emma said, “Rapid heart rate. She’s in shock.”

EMS arrived, and Emma gave them a rundown of the woman’s condition. After she was finished, Hank took a report from the three of them regarding what they’d seen. The EMTs carefully removed the woman from the vehicle and lifted her onto a stretcher. Clay grabbed her purse and handed it to one of the technicians. He stood there, seeming at a loss, as they loaded her into the ambulance.

Duke started the silver Mazda and parked the vehicle beside the store. It appeared to Duke that the driver of the vehicle might have been in the middle of moving day. Boxes and luggage filled the backseat of the sedan. The damage was mostly to the front bumper and the hood, but Clay’s window was a total loss.

Clay asked, “Did you see it happen?”

Duke explained what they’d seen and that Emma had asked them to stop.

Clay stuck his hands in his pockets, watching the ambulance with a faraway look in his eyes before turning back to them. “Oh, so you’re friends of Emma’s?”

“Yeah. You?”

“She treats me for allergies. She’s a good person. That’s obvious, since she stopped to help someone she didn’t know.”

Duke was relieved the guy was her patient. He’d felt a mild prick of jealousy when they’d spoken to each other like old friends earlier. Duke locked the doors on the car and handed Clay the keys. “Not sure what to do with those. Do you have any plywood for your window?” Clay put the keys in his pocket and watched distractedly as the ambulance pulled away and then realized Duke had asked him a direct question. “Huh? No—I mean yes, I do.”

Duke looked around for Emma and saw her still chatting with Hank. Gage nodded at him, and Duke turned back to Clay and said, “Looks like Emma is still tied up talking to the sheriff. Why don’t we help you with the window?”

When it was all said and done, they were an hour late for their reservation and lost their table at Tessa’s. Sitting in a secluded table in one of the smaller dining rooms at O’Reilley’s, Duke said, “That was a nice thing you did, stopping to help that woman. Do you have any clue what happened?”

Emma shook her head. “Her symptoms indicated she was in shock, but I couldn’t find any outward cause. It could have been from an infection or internal bleeding. The emergency department at the hospital has probably already determined the cause. I’m sorry about our reservations. This is what happens when you’re a doctor.”