on his belly, Paxton leaned in from his waist until he could touch the closest part of the boy’s body, which was his thigh. There was still heat there. He was alive. Carefully Paxton pulled himself back. He didn’t need to fall in and cause more damage to the boy or to himself. Sitting on his butt so he could go in feet first, he braced one foot on the side of the seat’s backrest and the other on the dash. Leaning as far forward as possible, Paxton just managed to put two fingers on the teen’s pulse point just below his jaw. It was faint. If the boy was going to live he needed help soon.
The siren stopped. The strobe of the lights reflected off the cab. Help was finally here.
Pulling his bag strap up over his head, he placed his medical duffel on top of the backrest and against the cab window behind his patient so it wouldn’t slide out of his reach. He opened it and one-handedly found his stethoscope. Getting it into his ears, he placed the bell on the teen’s chest. A thrill went through him. A heartbeat was there.
As Paxton was reaching for the boy’s head a voice snapped, “Don’t touch him!”
Looking back over his shoulder, all he could see was a face surrounded by a white cap trimmed in white fur. Echoing that command were rosy lips pulled tight, a small flared nose and wide glaring dark eyes.
* * *
“Don’t move him!” Lauren Wilson hung over the edge of the cab, using the tone of voice she’d perfected to stop her two-year-old son from doing something that could harm him.
She couldn’t have some good Samaritan making matters worse. The situation was bad enough as it was. Her attention zeroed in on the stethoscope the man held. Amazement rocked her. It couldn’t be. Luck was with her.
“You wouldn’t happen to be Dr. Samuels, would you?”
“I 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.
