like her kept their cool and did what was necessary. Even as a child she’d been that way. Now that she possessed the right training she felt totally confident and whispered, “Thank You, Jesus.”
The hand she was holding tightened on hers. Once again the patient’s lips moved. She leaned closer to listen. He wasn’t whispering an amen to her prayer. He was saying, “Danger!”
A trauma team was waiting when they arrived in Paradise and immediately whisked the patient away.
“I’ll help you guys finish restocking supplies before I clock out,” Kaitlin told her partners. “Dee should be here soon to take over for me.”
Vince made a sour face and Josh chuckled at him. “You look like you’d rather have the rookie stick around.”
Vince huffed. “Makes no difference to me.”
Kaitlin joined in the friendly taunting. “Yeah, right. Sheriff Caruthers’s daughter is your favorite teammate.”
“I never said that, either.”
Josh and Kaitlin both laughed. “No kidding.” Her attention was drawn to an arrival in the adjacent parking lot. “Well, well, look who’s here.” Not only was Dee Caruthers arriving, she was being officially escorted by the sheriff himself.
Kaitlin stripped off her gloves and waved at her longtime friend. “Hi, Dee. You missed all the excitement.”
The brunette twentysomething shot a wary glance at her father. “No problem. A peaceful shift is fine with me.”
Kaitlin could hardly hold back her excitement. “Not me. You won’t believe the call we just worked.”
Rolling her eyes, Dee approached. “Gunshot wound. Dad told me. That’s why he came along.” When she got closer she lowered her voice and leaned in. “He’s been giving me fits again about being in a dangerous job. I keep reminding him I’m not law enforcement the way he is.”
Kaitlin grinned. “Does that help?”
“Nope.” She peered into the ambulance. “I guess I waited long enough. You got it cleaned up already.”
“We did,” Kaitlin said, still smiling. She checked the time. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to grab my purse and run in to see how our patient is doing.” To her chagrin, she felt herself blushing.
Dee picked up on the telltale sign immediately. “Oooh. Is he good-looking?”
“I’m worried about him, that’s all. Don’t you care when you transport a critical case?”
“Sure. And then I set that aside and move on. You’ll have to learn to compartmentalize if you expect to last at this job. You can’t get personally involved. It’ll drive you crazy.”
“I suppose you’re right. But he’s the first really critical patient I’ve worked on since I started here. Besides, there’s something about him that’s a puzzle. I must have seen him before. I just don’t know where or when.”
“Right.” Dee waved Kaitlin off. “Go on. Check on his condition if it will make you feel better. Then go home and get some rest.”
“I know I won’t be able to sleep until the adrenaline wears off. I can’t believe the rush I got. No wonder first responders love their jobs.”
“Most of them do,” Dee replied with a sigh. “I’m beginning to wonder if it’s time for me to get a different one, maybe teaching at a preschool or something safe like that.”
Kaitlin shuddered and shook her head. “Not me, thank you. Kids are scary, sticky, ornery and loud.”
“What are you going to do when you have your own?”
“I’m not. Ever,” Kaitlin vowed. “I know I’d make a lousy parent. I’d probably expect my kids to be doctors or lawyers and stars in their fields, to boot.”
“Yeah, sorry.” Her friend patted her on the arm. “I forgot what you went through.” She brightened. “But look where you ended up. At the top of your EMT class and already halfway to becoming a paramedic. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I know. Thanks.” With a sigh Kaitlin started to turn away. “Take it easy tonight.”
“Will do.” Dee cast a surreptitious glance at the waiting ambulance. “You never told me who your mystery man is. Anybody we know?”
“I don’t know him. I suppose we may have passed on the street, although I think I’d have remembered.” She blushed. “It should be against the law to look that good when you’re bleeding to death.”
Dee smothered a chuckle. “Hah! Well, let me know if he turns out to be interesting. You may not be in the market for a husband, but I am.”
Amusement at her friend’s candid remark stayed with Kaitlin. She located the injured man as they were wheeling him to a room. His leg was bandaged and his pupils were mildly dilated when she checked, meaning he had pain meds on board.
She made small talk with two nurses maneuvering the gurney. “How’s he doing?”
“Better than expected,” one of them said. “It was a through-and-through. Missed the femur. Came close, though.”
“What about a name? Did you get one?”
The other nurse giggled. “Depends on which one you pick. His wallet had two different IDs.”
“Really?” Now Kaitlin was really curious. She eyed the quiescent man. “When I first saw him I thought he looked familiar. What did he actually say?”
“Not much. He sure wasn’t happy when I found a police identification card with his picture on it tucked behind his fake driver’s license.”
“He’s a cop?”
“Apparently. Either that or he stole the wallet.”
Kaitlin stood back until the other two finished with the patient and left, then reached for his chart and began to read. Dave Roark? That didn’t ring any bells. Daniel Ryan? Kaitlin racked her brain. For some reason Daniel sounded right. She stared at his scruffy but appealing face, trying to picture him without the dark stubble. Something was bothering her. She just couldn’t put her finger on it.
“What happened to you?” she asked softly.
The patient looked asleep. It not for a flutter of his eyelids she might have thought he was comatose. Hearing was the last sense to go and she knew there was a chance he was picking up her questions even though he didn’t or couldn’t reply.
Replacing the chart, Kaitlin leaned over him and whispered, “Listen. You’re going to make it. We got to you in time but the next time you call an ambulance, we’d appreciate it if you didn’t take potshots at us. Understand?”
Did
