LITMIR.BIZ

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am, and I’m glad to see you. Do you have help coming?”

      “I’m your help. Name’s Lauren.” He didn’t look too impressed. “I also have Rick with me. He’s a police officer,” she added.

      “We’ve got to get this boy and the other man—” he nodded toward the truck “—taken care of. Where’s the ambulance? This fellow needs to be gotten out of here and on his way to the hospital.”

      This wasn’t the type of doctor she’d been expecting. Someone older, less attractive. With graying hair and narrower shoulders. There wasn’t enough light to tell if his eyes were light blue or green.

      Last Stop’s longtime physician, Dr. Barden, had retired after forty-five years of service. He’d given up on finding a permanent replacement and had settled for coaxing doctors to at least fill in for a few months at a time, yet often there were no volunteers. The town and neighboring area needed a full-time doctor in residence. Lauren was the only nurse and medical professional for sixty miles. She helped where she could during emergencies until assistance arrived, but the town deserved more. Emergency medical aid was too far away in the absence of EMTs or a resident physician.

      Lauren looked over the top of Dr. Samuels as his attention returned to the patient. She had no doubt he was just one younger doctor meeting his medical school loan requirements. He would soon be gone. But for now she was glad to have him and tonight in particular.

      Lewis Williams, the teen who was folded against the cab windshield, she’d known all her life. From the looks of him Dr. Samuels was right. They needed to get him to the hospital right away. “Rick,” she called down, “it’s Lewis Williams. We need to get him out of here. We’re going to need lights, blankets, possibly a rope and your help up here. Throw me my bag.” She grabbed it as it sailed through the air. Lauren looked down at Dr. Samuels, who was wearing an expensive-looking coat and no head covering. “We need to get his neck stabilized before we move him.”

      “I realize that, but I don’t have a neck brace with me.”

      “I have one.” She pulled her bag closer. Unzipping it, she reached for the neck ring and handed it to him. He was already working his way around the steering wheel and farther into the cab when she said, “Hold on a minute. I’ll climb in and help you.”

      The confining space would be difficult for two to maneuver in but it would take both of them to get the neck brace into place. Fear clutched at her chest as she eased her way inside.

      Young Lewis had just earned a university scholarship. His future was bright. Now this. He reminded her too much of her husband. Young, smart and willing to work hard for what he wanted. Then to have it all destroyed by an explosion. She was brought out of her morbid thoughts by the doctor.

      “I want you to support him while I check his head wound. We don’t need to make any sudden movements that could make matters worse.”

      He seemed to be talking to himself as well as her.

      “The light is going. And this weather...” He glanced up.

      She watched snowflakes settle on his cheeks and forehead. Even in the dimming light, she registered he wasn’t the average man in looks or attitude. The few single young women in the area would be fighting over him. He was still speaking and she forced her wandering attention back to the crisis at hand.

      “If we don’t get him out of here we’re gonna have to worry about hypothermia on top of all his other injuries. What’s the ETA on the ambulance?”

      “Under an hour from the time it was called.”

      He muttered an expletive as his head jerked around. “That long!”

      “The closest hospital is over sixty miles away. In this weather...” She hadn’t meant it to sound so harsh, yet it was the truth.

      His mouth dropped in disbelief, although whether it was because of the distance or her snapping, she wasn’t sure. It might have been comical in any other situation.

      His expression went from resigned to determined as he turned back to their patient. “We’ve got to try and shorten that time or this boy may not make it.”

      Terror shot through her. Not another wasted life. She couldn’t stand another one of those.

      He commanded, “Hand me that brace.”

      She did so then placed a foot on the side of the seat to support herself as she climbed down farther into the cab. By the time she’d gotten situated, he was working the brace around Lewis’s neck with one hand while supporting himself with the other against the cab roof. Using her free hand, she helped him get it into place then secured it.

      “Good. Now I want to have a look at his head. At least get a four-by-four over the wound. Can you get your arm around his shoulders and pull him toward you while I lift his head?”

      The action would put her in an awkward position, but she would try. Lauren nodded. “Hold on a sec.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a square paper package, put it between her teeth and tore it open then handed the gauze to him.

      Moving her foot on the seat to the floor, which put her in contact with the doctor from hip to foot with the steering wheel column between them, she was stable enough to reach both arms around Lewis and pull him against her chest.

      At the same time the doctor used his hands to support Lewis’s head. “Good.” A second later he said, “It looks like he’s taken a good shot to the temple. I’m concerned about his brain swelling. He’s still not regained consciousness. You got a blanket in your bag of tricks?”

      Just as he said that Rick called, “Lauren, catch.” A blanket fell into the cab. She passed it to the doctor as another hit her on the head.

      “Rick, we’re going to need the rope and you up here,” she called.

      “What’re you thinking?” Dr. Samuels asked as he tucked the blankets around Lewis.

      “Tie the rope under his arms and have Rick pull him out as we push and steady him.”

      “Sounds like a plan. He needs to be in a warmer place than this. I need to check for any broken bones.”

      “Lauren, here you go,” Rick yelled from above them as he lowered an end of rope to them. “Just got a message the ambulance is still twenty minutes out.”

      Dr. Samuels uttered another word under his breath that she wouldn’t want her two-year-old to hear, or repeat.

      She announced, “Rick, it’s going to take us a few minutes to get Lewis secured, then on my word I want you to pull. We’ll help from down here.”

      Seconds later Rick was holding his flashlight over them.

      “As I lift can you get the rope in position?” Lauren asked Dr. Samuels as she wrapped her arms around Lewis once more.

      “Yeah.” The doctor wound the rope around Lewis and tied it off.

      “I’m going up to the door to make sure he doesn’t topple over the side as we pull him out.” She started her climb, but her foot slipped. She fell against Dr. Samuels. His body was hard and his strong hands grabbed her at the waist. “Sorry,” she muttered.

      “You get a handhold and I’ll help you out,” he ground out.

      Once she was on the engine hood, Lauren remained on her stomach, twisted around and grabbed the rope. Rick laid the flashlight down and stationed himself behind her. “Okay, on three. One, two, three.”

      Lauren wrapped her hands around the rope. She pulled with all her might until her muscles burned with the effort. Between her and Rick pulling and Dr. Samuels pushing, Lewis’s head came over the door edge then his shoulders.

      “Wait. Hold him steady. Let me get hold of him.” Using her legs, she dragged Lewis while Rick pulled and the doctor lifted. Lauren kept working until Lewis almost lay across her, his back to her front.

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