CHAPTER 18
918 Words
CHAPTER 18
Two men rushed to Kennedy’s window and started shouting questions at her.
“Can you breathe?”
“Are you able to move your fingers?”
“Do you hurt anywhere near your neck or back?”
She wished they’d just get her cleaned up and let her get some rest, but they kept up the barrage for five minutes or longer.
“All right,” one of them said. “We’ll get you on the stretcher and take you to the hospital. Won’t take long. We’re just a few miles away.”
“I can walk without a stretcher.”
He looked at her dubiously.
“Really,” she insisted. “I’m fine.” She unbuckled her seatbelt to prove her point.
“No, don’t do that, miss.” He held out his hand.
She ignored the gesture. “I’m all right. I don’t need a stretcher.”
He gave a little shrug. “Ok.” He turned and called to the other EMT, “Leave it there. She’s gonna walk.”
“You sure?” he called back.
Why did everyone treat her like a fragile china doll about to shatter?
She swept some glass chunks off her lap and held onto the car door to raise herself to her feet. The world spun for a second or two and then settled down again. She smiled at the EMT. “See?”
He shrugged. “All right. This way.” He gestured toward the ambulance.
“Doesn’t that seem a little overkill?” she asked. “Carl could drive me in his car.”
He turned and eyed the maroon mess. “That thing? Does it still run?”
“It got us this far.”
“Well, we really need you in the ambulance. We have some paperwork to go over on the ride.”
Kennedy didn’t argue anymore. The sooner she complied, the sooner this whole ordeal would be over. She walked herself to the back of the ambulance and eyed the gurney, thankful she wasn’t so injured she needed something like that.
Her shoulder smarted a little as she hoisted herself into the back and sat in one of the seats along the side.
The paramedic cleared his throat. “Actually, we’re gonna need you on the stretcher.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
He shook his head. “Standard policy. It’s got the best straps. Safer than the seats.” He walked over and propped up the back. “If it makes you feel better, you don’t have to lie down.”
He was just doing his job, Kennedy had to keep reminding herself. She felt about as useless as a discarded Petri dish as he strapped her down. It was all right. Before long she’d be asleep in a nice bed.
“How you doing, sweetheart?” Carl stepped onto the ambulance platform and gave her a paternal smile.
“I’ll be fine.”
“You need anything?” he asked. “Want to call your mom? What time is it over there, anyway? Think she’d be awake?”
The last thing Kennedy needed was for Carl to call her parents back in Yanji and freak them out. She’d fill them in once things quieted down. “No thanks.” She tried to smile, remembering she was the one guilty of ruining Carl’s whole evening.
The paramedic took a step toward Carl. “You’re welcome to follow us to the hospital, but we’re ready to roll out, so I’ll need you to hop down.”
Carl folded his arms across his chest and stared at the man. “She is not going out of my sight.”
He frowned. “I’m sorry. We only transport immediate family. And I, uh ... well, you, um ... You’re not actually related, are you?” He glanced nervously from Kennedy with her pale-white skin to Carl’s dark complexion. If she hadn’t just been shot in the arm, Kennedy might have enjoyed watching his discomfort.
Carl took a step forward, puffing out his chest to hint at the kind of beast he must have been in his football days. “You don’t think I could be her father?”
The paramedic eyed Kennedy once more. “He’s your dad?”
Kennedy just wanted to get to the hospital. She didn’t care if Carl came with her or followed in his car. None of that mattered. She just wanted to get her injury taken care of, and then she wanted to sleep for a very long time.
“Sir?” The policewoman came up and addressed Carl. “We still have a few more questions, and then you’ll be on your way.”
“She’s not going out of my sight,” Carl repeated.
The officer took a breath, glanced at Carl’s hard-set face, and sighed. “We’ll caravan, then. You follow the ambulance. We’ll be right behind you.”
Carl nodded. “Good. Because there are men out there who are ready to break every law in the book to keep her from testifying against them. She’s not going into that hospital without an armed escort. Whoever wanted her dead might guess she was shot. Hospital would be the first place they’d look for her.”
“Wait a minute,” Kennedy inserted. Had she heard them right? Was the exhaustion making her brain fuzzy? Or perhaps it was the blood loss. She hadn’t thought she had been wounded that seriously. “You said you had Gino in custody.”
The policewoman frowned at Carl and then turned to Kennedy with a sigh. “We caught the driver. Unfortunately, he didn’t fit the description of the suspect we’re looking for.”
Carl put his hand on Kennedy’s stretcher. “They’ve got patrols out looking for Gino right now. He’s probably on foot. Trust me. He’s not gonna get far.”
Blood drained from Kennedy’s face and mingled with the bile in her gut. She wasn’t going to dwell on Gino right now. What was it about positive thinking having healing powers? Hadn’t she read an article like that in her psychology class? Or was it something her roommate had said? It sounded like something Willow would dream up.
Carl held Kennedy’s gaze. “I’ll be right behind you guys. You all right with that?” he asked.
Kennedy nodded even though she was too tired to try to smile. “That sounds fine.”
After he hopped down, the paramedic swung the two doors shut. He glanced at Kennedy once and then back at his own hands after he buckled himself in. “So, wait, he’s not really your dad, then, is he?”
Kennedy shook her head. “No. He’s my pastor.”
The young man’s cheeks flushed red, and the ambulance sped off to the whining of its own sirens.
- Writer
