asked as Joseph reached the helipad. The medic chopper was lowering to the ground.
“She will be fine, “Joseph said. He refused to think any other way.
“Yes, she’ll be fine,” the guard finally said after a few seconds, his expression saying something else entirely. Joseph couldn’t even look at him.
“Yes, she’s going to be just fine,” Joseph said, panic and sorrow coming through loud and clear in his voice. He stood back as the medic chopper landed. The rotors shut off as people merged onto the helipad.
“They’re bringing out a stretcher for Katherine,” Brooke said. Joseph nodded his appreciation as two paramedics rushed forward.
“I can get her on the stretcher,” a paramedic said, offering his arms.
“No! I have this,” Joseph said, unwilling to let go of Katherine.
The paramedics stood before Joseph with patience. They’d obviously dealt with many traumatized spouses and knew there was a chance Joseph might snap. They were treating him with kid gloves.
“I understand you’re afraid right now, sir, but we want nothing more than to help your wife. Let’s get her on this stretcher, so we can examine her and get her to the hospital. All we want to do is help her,” the paramedic assured Joseph, his hand held out.
Joseph shook off his stupor as he stepped up to the stretcher and gently laid his wife down. “Brooke, I want you here with her as well,” Joseph commanded, not trusting strangers with the full care of his wife.
“Sir, we can’t have unauthorized personnel inside the chopper,” the paramedic said.
“Brooke and I come with my wife,” Joseph said, steel in his voice.
The paramedics looked at each other, then shrugged. They knew it would do no good to argue with Joseph Anderson. And they didn’t want to delay this process any longer. They nodded.
“Let’s go,” one of the paramedics said as they began rolling the stretcher to the chopper. Katherine was loaded in seconds with Brooke and Joseph climbing in after. The blades began spinning again as the paramedics hooked her up to IVs and monitors, speaking in a language Joseph didn’t understand. Brooke sat beside him, holding his hand as she monitored the progress.
“Why won’t she wake up, Brooke? What is happening to her?” Joseph asked. “She was speaking to me just fine a few minutes ago on the phone. Why did she pass out? Why won’t she wake?”
“She’s alive, Joseph. Focus on that. I’ve seen a lot of miracles in my time. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I don’t like her stats right now. Her breathing is shallow, and her blood pressure is down. We needed to get her into the hospital ten minutes ago,” Brooke said as her eyes remained glued to the monitor that beeped beside his wife.
Joseph appreciated that Brooke wasn’t lying to him, but her words scared him more than ever. He reached over and took Katherine’s hand, her fingers far too cold. Another tear slipped from his eyes. Joseph Anderson didn’t cry, not ever. But he felt so powerless, so utterly helpless in this moment. It was too much for him to bear.
And that was saying a lot for a man who’d conquered the world and didn’t know the meaning of the word failure. But right now, he felt completely helpless. If they made it through this, he vowed nothing would ever happen again to put him in this place.
Suddenly he felt the world start to grow fuzzy as his head began spinning, and he couldn’t catch his own breath. He swayed backward, and fought panic as he lost control of his emotions, his body, his mind.
Before he could figure out what was happening, there was a stinging sensation against his cheek. The shock of it made his eyes flash open as he found himself focusing on Brooke’s worried gaze.
“Sorry, Joseph. I think you were having a panic attack. I had to slap you back into reality,” Brooke said as she lifted her hand and gently rubbed his cheek.
“Thank you,” he said.
She gave him a watery smile. “I never thought I’d get a thank you from a man I just slapped, but I’ll take it,” she said. She then gave him a quick hug before sitting back and holding his arm while she looked at the monitor. “She will be okay, Joseph. I know she will.”
“Don, I need assistance,” the medic, Max, who was closest to Katherine, called in an urgent voice.
“Hook this line to the monitor and take a new set of vitals,” Max told Don. He did