Vince was holding her, his hand on the back of her head. He was stroking her hair, his lips at her temple.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I’m so sorry.”
Her breath hitched, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d let herself cry like this.
One hand still on the back of her hair, Vince leaned away slightly and raised her chin with his thumb. A car door slammed.
The chatter of the party was just around the corner. The music smoothed into something bluesy and Vince’s mouth came down on hers. She was seventeen again, and he was everything she’d always wanted. The sweep of his tongue was possessive, and she kissed him back as if time and fate and distance hadn’t kept them apart.
Then as suddenly as she was overcome by his kiss, she rejected it. She rejected him and tore away.
“No! No, this isn’t happening. This can’t happen. I won’t let it. You’re here now, but you’re going to be leaving again. I have a life here, a life I want. I’m going to—”
She’d almost told him she was going to adopt a child, a child who needed her and a home just like Sean needed him. But she couldn’t confide her most important dream to him, not when she’d just confided her deepest hurt. She did not want this closeness or need it. She’d only be hurt by it. She knew that because she’d been hurt by him once before.
She tried to turn and run, but he held her by her shoulders.
“Stay still, Tessa. Stay still. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not going to do anything. I never should have started this here, but I knew you didn’t want to be alone anywhere with me. I knew you’d never let me start this conversation if I didn’t spring it on you now.”
“And what good did it do, Vince? So now you know I hurt every time I see you with Sean. What good is that?”
“It’s honest.”
She inhaled slowly and then let her breath fade out of her mouth. “I’m going to go home. I can get a ride with someone.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll drive you. I’ve had enough party to last me a while.”
They both had. Maybe tomorrow she could put this in perspective, but right now she couldn’t.
Sitting with Vince in his SUV, Tessa was grateful when his cell phone rang. The silence between them practically rippled in its intensity, but she knew nothing either of them could say would break it.
“Rossi,” he barked into his phone after he put it to his ear.
Tessa listened as he asked tersely, “When did it happen?” A pause. “Where?” Another pause. “I’m on my way, ETA ten minutes.” He glanced at Tessa as he put his flashers on and sped up. “There’s been an accident over on Route 82. Teenagers. I’ve got to get there. I can have an officer take you home.”
“Don’t worry about that. I might be able to do something to help.”
“Emergency services was called. The paramedics were dispatched. They’ll probably be there when we get there. But if you can help, too, I’m sure everyone will be grateful.”
“How many kids?”
“Six, from the eyewitness account. Let’s hope it’s not more.”
She knew better than to ask any questions about the accident. Until they were on the scene, nothing was for sure. Her stint in emergency medicine had not been one of her favorite rotations. She’d treated sullen gang members from drive-by shootings, knife wounds, heart attacks, strokes, and a multitude of other injuries and ailments. What she’d disliked most about the E.R. service was that there never had been any follow-up, not by her. If possible, patients were dispatched to their family doctor’s care. Many didn’t return to the E.R. The ones who did saw whichever doctor was scheduled for that day. Now Tessa looked forward to follow-ups, to the resolution of patient care.
“Are you often called out?” She knew Vince had a lot of administrative work to handle.
“If something major happens. If other jurisdictions are involved. I have to make sure protocol is observed and everything’s done by the book.”
“Mrs. Zappa will watch Sean for you without any notice?”
“Without any notice.”
Five minutes later they drove up to the scene. Red, blue and white flashing lights practically illuminated the sky. Both cars from the accident were smoking, twisted pieces of metal. They looked older, possibly with no air bags, probably fixup cars like Vince’s truck had been.
She and Vince both jumped out of his SUV. He headed toward one of his officers. Tessa aimed straight for the paramedic in charge. She usually carried her medical bag wherever she went but tonight she didn’t have it. Tonight she’d wanted to forget she was a doctor and just be a woman.
But she should have known that wasn’t possible.
While she spoke to the medical responders, one ambulance pulled away, sirens blaring.
“We’re waiting for two more ambulances,” the EMT told her. “Two kids in the back of one car and one in the other weren’t wearing seat belts. We’re transporting them first.”
“Where do you need me?” she asked.
He motioned to two teenagers stretched out on the ground, blankets covering them, and IV lines already running. “Check on them and make sure vitals are stable. The girl has a broken leg. The guy’s shoulder is dislocated. Then you might want to check on the three kids talking to the police. They said they were okay but after an accident like this, we’ll want to examine them anyway.”
After inspecting the injured teenagers where an EMT monitored them, Tessa made her way toward the berm away from where the firemen were dealing with the crash vehicles. Three more teenagers were huddled there, blankets around them, while Vince and one of his officers spoke with them.
She asked Vince, “Are you finished with any of them?”
“Start with Linda,” he suggested gently, gesturing to the blond teenager to the right of the other two.
She crouched down beside Linda and asked quietly, “Are you dizzy? Short of breath? Anything like that?”
Linda shook her head.
Tessa asked her to scoot down a few feet from the others so she could take her pulse and her blood pressure with the cuff she’d lifted from the paramedic’s van.
“I’m worried about Amy,” Linda said, her voice catching. “Is she going to be all right? They took her away in an ambulance. After the crash, she wouldn’t answer me when I called to her.”
“Once we transport your friends to the hospital, we’ll know better how they’re doing. Now I just want to make sure you don’t have to go there, too.”
The wail of sirens was almost earsplitting. Two more ambulances pulled into the crash site and screeched to a halt. Tessa knew scenes like this were parents’ worst nightmares. She
