One Summer in Santa Fe - By Molly Evans Page 0,48
her cellphone?”
“Go ahead. Maybe she ran into traffic or something. There’s always construction in the summer.”
As Alex called his mother, Taylor’s cellphone rang. “Maybe that’s her now.”
“Hello?”
“Taylor? It’s Piper.”
His heart paused a beat as her voice filled his mind. “Hi. How are you?” Maybe she’d changed her mind, and he gripped the phone tighter, anticipation thrumming through him. Maybe she’d decided to stay on. Wasn’t this going to be her last night on assignment? Maybe she was calling to say goodbye or even say she’d extended her stay a while. What he wouldn’t give to spend another night with her. Another day. Another—
“I’m in the ER, and we just had a bad trauma come in.”
Immediately, his anticipatory mood deflated. Business. Nothing personal. “Isn’t there enough staff on?” He only got called when they were swamped, but right now he just didn’t want to go in. He wanted to have a nice evening with Alex and Caroline. The “Welcome Home” banner they had made hung precariously from the archway, and he reached up to secure it better.
“There is, but…God, Taylor. It’s Caroline!”
“What?” The happiness that had been inside him turned to a rock of dread.
“It’s her. She’s suffering multiple trauma and a possible head injury. We’re on the way to Radiology. You need to come now.”
Without another word, he snapped the phone shut and grabbed his keys from the counter, then stopped in mid-stride. Damn. What the hell was he going to tell Alex?
“She didn’t answer, so I left her a message.” Alex returned to the room and looked up at Taylor, stopping at the look on Taylor’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s your mother.”
“She called? Is she almost here?”
“No, Piper called.”
“Can she come to the party, too?”
Choked by emotions, he took Alex by the shoulder and led him to a chair. Taylor needed to sit down, as well. God, how was he going to say this with his throat closing off? “She’s been in a car accident, and she’s at the hospital now.”
“Wh-what happened?” Alex began to tremble, and his wide eyes filled with tears. “Is she okay?”
“I don’t know. Piper’s taking care of her, and we need to go see her now.” Thank God Piper was taking care of her. At least that was one small consolation. He trusted Piper as no other.
“Okay.” Alex nodded, in obvious shock, his breathing quick. “Okay.”
“Let’s go.” Taylor kept his hand on Alex’s shoulder and led him to the car. Ten minutes later they raced through the ER doors and found Piper waiting for them.
“Come on, she’s over here,” Piper said, leading them to the first trauma room. Before she opened the curtain, she needed to prepare them. Somehow. She looked at Taylor, but couldn’t speak for a moment. How was she going to tell him? Tight-lipped, he gave a curt nod and stepped behind the curtain. In that brief visual exchange between them, he knew it was bad.
Piper knelt and hugged Alex, trying to offer some comfort to his trembling little body. “Your mom’s been in a bad car accident, and she’s not awake yet. She has some tubes and things hooked up to her to help her breathe and give her medicine, so it’s going to be a little scary when you first see her. I’ve checked everything myself and it’s all okay.” Nothing had been as difficult as telling this little boy his mom was near death. “I’ll go in with you so you won’t be scared.”
He sniffed and pulled back from her, obviously trying to be brave. “Okay. I’m ready.”
From experience, Piper knew that no child was ready to see their parent laid out on an ER stretcher hooked up to life support. She’d been twenty when it had happened to her, and sometimes she felt she still hadn’t recovered from the shock of seeing both her parents that way. “I’ll be with you, and Taylor’s here, too.”
Pale and silent, he only nodded, and Piper led him into the room.
Grim faced, Taylor stood on the opposite side of the room in deep conference with his coworker, Dr. Tony Santiago, who had stabilized Caroline. Piper spared them a glance, then concentrated on leading Alex forward.
Caroline was still unconscious, both eyes swollen shut, her nose broken and multiple lacerations on her face, neck, arms and hands. “She’s not awake right now and will have to go to surgery to fix her broken leg.”
“Why won’t she wake up?” he asked, and hung back, staying close to Piper, his voice thin with fright. “Tell her