When Hearts Collide - By James, Kendra Page 0,7
get you to the hospital. Do you understand?”
Pearce tried to nod, but the makeshift collar restricted him.
Mark turned to Molly. “Can you stabilize his head while we change the collar?”
Molly placed her hands on either side of his head and assisted Mark in replacing her makeshift one with the molded plastic. As a well-oiled team, the three log-rolled Pearce onto the backboard, then lifted him onto the waiting gurney.
Pearce imprisoned her gaze. “Look after Gracie.”
“Your wife will follow us, sir.” Gary turned to Molly. “Right?”
Molly nodded. “Gracie! His daughter. She was in the back seat. I checked her. I think she’s fine. But she needs to be seen.”
“Where is she?” Mark asked.
“In my car. I kept her in her car seat. She’s alert and orientated. No apparent injuries, and no blood anywhere. Can you check her?”
Mark followed her to her car and did a quick assessment of the child. “She looks okay. Follow us and have her seen at the hospital.”
Then the paramedics were running, sliding the stretcher into the back of the ambulance. Mark jumped in with Pearce, then the vehicle tore off down the highway. Molly watched as red strobe circles cut through the night sky.
What have I gotten myself into?
Chapter 2
Molly dashed to her car. The engine roared to life and gravel flew as she maneuvered the vehicle onto the highway. Having no idea where the hospital was, she had to keep up with the ambulance.
Gracie woke as the car lurched forward. “Daddy,” she sobbed. “I want my Daddy.”
“Your daddy got hurt in the accident. We’re going to the hospital to see him. Okay, Gracie?” Molly kept her attention on the receding strobe lights.
The child sniffed noisily. “Okay, Mommy.”
Was the child confused? Did it run in the family? Did she have a head injury, too? “I’m not your mother, Gracie. I’m Molly.”
“Molly, Molly.” The child giggled. “Molly Mommy, Molly Mommy.”
“Gracie, where is your mother?”
“Gone.”
“Gone where?”
“Away.”
Molly shook her head. What am I going to do? The child seemed alert. What if there was no one to look after her? She glanced in the rearview mirror. Gracie seemed well taken care of, clean, dressed nicely, and she didn’t appear to have missed any meals. Surely there was no possibility of her having to go into foster care?
Even the thought of foster care made Molly’s chest feel like it was being squeezed in a vice. She had to protect this child. Maybe she should let the child call her mommy, at least until she found her real mother. Repressed maternal forces flooded through her, and she realized how badly she wanted a child of her own, a child just like this one.
A knot tightened between her shoulder blades, and she leaned forward. She needed to get the girl to the hospital as quickly as possible. She also needed to concentrate on her driving if she was to have any hope of safely keeping up with the speeding ambulance.
Shortly, the tree line thinned and houses appeared on either side of the road, the spaces between them decreasing in relation to the town’s proximity. Molly’s shoulders relaxed at the sight of the roadside hospital sign. She’d lost sight of the beacon of strobe lights miles before. Signaling, she took the specified cutoff, hoping if the sign didn’t lead her to the hospital, she could stop and ask for directions.
Fortunately the town was small and the hospital sat on the main road. The three-story yellow brick building had a still-new glow, the landscaping not yet in full promise. It was ten-forty, and the parking lot only partially filled. She found a spot close to the emergency room doors.
“We see Daddy now, Molly Mommy?”
Molly took a deep breath and hoped she wasn’t lying. “Yes, we’ll see him in a bit, but I want the doctors to check you over first.” How many doctors would a hospital this size have available to see patients, especially this time of night? Would they all be busy looking after the child’s father?
She carried the car seat into the triage area of the emergency department. A nurse, just finishing up with a patient, took Molly next.
“I’m Sarah. How can I help you?”
“The ambulance just brought Pearce Taylor in. Gracie was in the accident with him. She needs to be seen, too. How’s he doing?”
“They’re working on him. I don’t know his condition.” She turned to Gracie. “Let’s get this little one seen.”
Molly followed the nurse to an open area with several parallel stretchers lining one long wall. She set