young man standing close enough to hear Chloe’s words jerked his head around to look up at the kite. “I thought I recognized that sound. Awesome!”
The words spread through the group and phones came out to take pictures and videos of the kite. More people gathered.
“Two minutes.”
Time was dragging. But that was okay. Chloe was staring up in rapt silence, probably unable to believe that their creation was in the air. And purring. She probably wasn’t even aware of the reaction of the people around them. Kaleb didn’t much care either. What he did care about were the mother and daughter gazing toward the heavens. He’d made this happen. And suddenly, Kaleb was damned glad he’d put the time and effort into that kite. Those endless hours of calculations and planning now seemed worth it.
Grace would have loved this.
“Four minutes.”
Only one minute left. And Jetta the cat was still holding his own, his tail swishing back and forth in the sky. Who said black cats brought bad luck? This looked like one lucky feline.
“Five minutes.” The judge reached out and shook Kaleb’s hand and then held it out to Chloe. “Did you help decorate that cat, young lady?”
The little girl nodded.
“Well, you’ve done an excellent job. Congratulations.”
“Thank you, sir.” You would have thought the judge had already awarded her the prize from Chloe’s expression. She was in awe of the official and just as in awe of the kite they’d put in the air.
“Would you like to hold it now, Chloe?” Kaleb offered her the spindle of string. She took it in both hands, holding it just as he showed her.
Roxy came over. “That was a really nice thing you did. It means a lot to Chloe. To both of them.”
“It was nothing.”
The woman smiled. “It most definitely was not nothing. And I won’t forget it.”
He had no idea what she meant by that, but he’d evidently won her approval. For some reason, he got the impression that if Roxy didn’t like someone, it would be all over for that person as far as getting close to Maddy went. Roxy was protective. Because of what had happened to her? Or because of Maddy’s late husband?
Either way, he was glad of it. Glad that Roxy was taking it upon herself to make sure that Maddy didn’t get involved with any more men like her ex.
Just then he heard a scream in the distance. At first he thought it was someone laughing at one of the kites. There were about fifteen of them in the air at this point, spaced far enough apart that they couldn’t get tangled up with each other. The hospital had figured they would get about fifty to a hundred kite entries and, from what Kaleb could see, they were probably going to get close to the top figure. There were five judges working to get the kites launched and, so far, they’d had about an equal number go up as they had ones that crashed and burned, like Roxy’s.
The scream rang out again. This time sounding a little more urgent. He glanced at Chloe to see that she was still holding the string like a pro. At this point, unless something happened to the steady breeze, she wouldn’t have to work to keep it up there. It would continue flying until they brought it down. He’d pounded a holder into the grass so they could drop the string caddy into it and be able to watch the kite without having to manage it the entire time.
He caught Maddy’s eye. She’d heard the sound as well. “Is somebody hurt?”
“I don’t know.” Using his hand to shade his eyes, he tried to look through the crowd, but couldn’t see anything.
Another shout went up. This one a man’s voice. Kaleb didn’t like it. “I’m going to check it out.”
“I’m going with you.” Maddy turned to her sister. “Can you watch her? If someone’s having a medical emergency, I might be able to help.”
Though a lot of the hospital staff were at Fountain Park enjoying their day, he wasn’t taking any chances.
“Of course.” Roxy laid her hand on her niece’s shoulder. “Let’s sit down on the blanket so we can watch Jetta in action. Do you want me to hold the string?”
“No. I want to.”
With one last glance at the pair, he and Maddy headed in the direction of the distressed calls.
* * *
Maddy didn’t like the look of that crowd. In fact, she knew she didn’t. Breaking into a sprint, she noted that Kaleb had had the same reaction and had outpaced her by a good ten yards. Damn, she knew she should have taken up running.
He pushed through the crowd a few seconds later and was lost to her sight. Just a couple more yards and she would be able to...
That was when she saw it. One of the golf carts that had been cruising around the park had overturned. How that had happened, she didn’t have a clue. But sticking out from beneath the undercarriage of the vehicle was a pair of feet. Oh, God, the cart was lying right on top of someone!
Kaleb must already be on the other side of it, because she couldn’t see him anywhere. She hurried around it, clearing the way by yelling that she was a doctor. When she reached her destination, she was stunned to see that the victim was an elderly man, his head and torso visible. He was also still conscious, but obviously in agony, moaning, his eyes blankly searching the faces of those gathered around him.
There!
She spied Kaleb kneeling beside the man, along with several other people she recognized from the hospital. His hands were busy feeling beneath the cart. For what? The spot where it was resting on the victim’s legs?
How were they going to get it off him? They couldn’t just push it back upright. Not without risking crushing the man’s legs as the vehicle slid over them a second time.
How, then?
Kaleb conferred with several other people, then stood. “I need about ten men. Four for the front of the vehicle and four for the back. And I need two men to find me some concrete blocks or some heavy timbers.”
Volunteers came forward immediately. A police officer arrived as well. Kaleb told him what he needed and the officer got on his radio. Within five minutes there was a pile of concrete blocks.
“We need to lift the golf cart straight up, or we’ll risk injuring him more than he already is. Can I get one person on each end to slide blocks under the cart as we lift it? We’ll do it by twos. Push two blocks beneath it, then two more on top of those and so forth, until we can get his legs clear.” He glanced around at the assembled group. “Questions?”
Several heads shook.
“Let’s get this done, then.”
Without a lot of discussion, each man found his spot and waited for the signal. Kaleb had ahold of part of the undercarriage, while Jamie Brooke, the hospital’s cardiothoracic surgeon, remained next to the patient’s head. “On three. As soon as we lift, you other men shove the first of the blocks beneath the cart.”
