The Billionaire's Secretive Enchantress Page 0,3
she managed to get the numbers pressed. As soon as the operator came online she said, “Please, I need an ambulance here as soon as possible.”
She squinted into the hot, summer sunshine, trying to read the street signs halfway down the block. It was one of those horrible, hazy days that Chicago was famous for so the street signs were a bit blurry.
Squinting through the smog, sun and haze, she finally read the words and almost yelled them through the phone. She told the operator her location, then kept answering the questions about this stranger’s condition. She couldn’t believe all the bruises that were quickly forming on the man’s face and body. His previously pristine, white shirt was now torn and bloodied and she didn’t realize that tears were streaming down her cheeks, inadvertently landing on the man’s face.
When she heard the ambulance in the distance, she felt a small amount of relief. It felt like it had taken them hours to reach her location but it was probably only minutes. Finally, the paramedics were jumping out of the vehicle with their stretchers and equipment, urging her to step away from the man so they could help him. She didn’t want to let go of his head, afraid of letting it rest on the gravel for even a moment. She’d been cradling the man’s head in her lap, praying to God that he would save this man from an undeserved death. She had no idea what had gone on in her father’s office, but she was sure, with an instinct born of desperation and experience, that this man was innocent. From looking at the condition of the man, he’d probably insulted her father in some way and this was his punishment.
It wasn’t fair. No matter what the insult, no one should have to deal with this kind of torture.
The paramedics were loading the man into the ambulance, telling her to drive to the hospital so she could help her “brother”. She didn’t understand that part of their comments, but she jumped back into her car and raced behind the ambulance. It took precious moments to find a parking space, but she was racing through the doors of the emergency room entrance just as the stranger was being pushed behind a pair of swinging doors.
“You’ll have to wait out here for your brother, ma’am,” one of the nurses was telling her, grabbing her arms gently and leading her towards a plastic chair. “He’s going to be fine,” the woman was assuring her.
“Promise?” Sierra whispered, unaware and uncaring that the tears were falling once again, unconcerned that she had mascara streaks on her cheeks and her brown, curly hair was sticking out in different directions. She even had some of the man’s blood on her own shirt which would ruin the blouse, but that was inconsequential compared to the man’s pain and anguish. She just wanted that man to live.
“The doctors at this facility are excellent,” the woman assured Sierra, resting a firm hand on her shoulder. “They will do everything to help him. You can be sure of that.”
Sierra didn’t like that statement. It wasn’t the absolute reassurance that she was looking for, but more of an anemic comment that nurses all around the world made to people who were panicking about their loved one.
She had no idea how long she sat in the painful, plastic chair, staring at the double doors, watching people rush in and out, doctors going in but not coming out. She lost count of how many doctors were trying to heal the man. On one level, she should be reassured that so much expertise was being expended. On the other hand, she didn’t like the possibility that he was so hurt that he needed that much care.
It might have been an hour or ten, she wasn’t really sure. There weren’t any windows where she was sitting so she wouldn’t have been able to gauge the time even if her mind were functioning enough to make the connection between the daylight and nighttime. In fact, she must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew, a gentle hand was touching her shoulder and Sierra jerked awake with a start. It took her only seconds to realize where she was and she jumped up, ignoring the shooting pain in her legs that had been curled up in the tiny, uncomfortable, plastic chair for what might have been several hours.
“Yes?” Sierra felt the shivering start even before the