Lullaby for Two / Child's Play

“Mrs. Zappa will watch Sean for you without any notice?”

“Without any notice.”

Five minutes later they drove up to the scene. Red, blue and white flashing lights practically illuminated the sky. Both cars from the accident were smoking, twisted pieces of metal. They looked older, possibly with no air bags, probably fixup cars like Vince’s truck had been.

She and Vince both jumped out of his SUV. He headed toward one of his officers. Tessa aimed straight for the paramedic in charge. She usually carried her medical bag wherever she went but tonight she didn’t have it. Tonight she’d wanted to forget she was a doctor and just be a woman.

But she should have known that wasn’t possible.

While she spoke to the medical responders, one ambulance pulled away, sirens blaring.

“We’re waiting for two more ambulances,” the EMT told her. “Two kids in the back of one car and one in the other weren’t wearing seat belts. We’re transporting them first.”

“Where do you need me?” she asked.

He motioned to two teenagers stretched out on the ground, blankets covering them, and IV lines already running. “Check on them and make sure vitals are stable. The girl has a broken leg. The guy’s shoulder is dislocated. Then you might want to check on the three kids talking to the police. They said they were okay but after an accident like this, we’ll want to examine them anyway.”

After inspecting the injured teenagers where an EMT monitored them, Tessa made her way toward the berm away from where the firemen were dealing with the crash vehicles. Three more teenagers were huddled there, blankets around them, while Vince and one of his officers spoke with them.

She asked Vince, “Are you finished with any of them?”

“Start with Linda,” he suggested gently, gesturing to the blond teenager to the right of the other two.

She crouched down beside Linda and asked quietly, “Are you dizzy? Short of breath? Anything like that?”

Linda shook her head.

Tessa asked her to scoot down a few feet from the others so she could take her pulse and her blood pressure with the cuff she’d lifted from the paramedic’s van.

“I’m worried about Amy,” Linda said, her voice catching. “Is she going to be all right? They took her away in an ambulance. After the crash, she wouldn’t answer me when I called to her.”

“Once we transport your friends to the hospital, we’ll know better how they’re doing. Now I just want to make sure you don’t have to go there, too.”

The wail of sirens was almost earsplitting. Two more ambulances pulled into the crash site and screeched to a halt. Tessa knew scenes like this were parents’ worst nightmares. She just hoped everyone here would be returned to their family safe and sound.

Tessa stayed at the scene long after the ambulances had pulled away. Someone handed her a cup of hot coffee and she sipped at it to stave off the slight chill. She’d heard bits and pieces from officers’ conversations as well as emergency personnel. The kids in one car had been drinking. They had run a red light and slammed into the other car. She wouldn’t want to be doing what Vince was doing now, making calls to the kids’ parents.

Then he was on the move again, striding toward her fast.

“I have to get to the hospital and talk to the parents of the kids who were most seriously injured. John will take you home.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“Why?”

“Because I know the parents of the girl who was most seriously injured, Amy Garwin. I treat her younger brother and sister. I might be able to help somehow.”

The wide brim of Vince’s hat shadowed his face. She couldn’t really see into his eyes.

“All right,” he finally agreed, “but I have to ask some tough questions. Don’t get in the way of that.”

“I won’t.”

After a studying moment, he nodded, and they hurried to his SUV.

At the hospital, Vince questioned the two teenagers who were injured but conscious and spoke with their parents. He was aware of Tessa at first consulting with medical personnel, then conversing quietly with Amy Garwin’s parents. The mom was crying and her husband’s arm circled her.

Vince’s stomach clenched and his chest grew tight. When he’d inquired about Amy’s condition, the nurse had told him the teenager was not conscious and tests were being run. He didn’t want to intrude on her parents at a time like this, but he had to talk to everyone at some point. That’s just the way it was.

Tessa was seated in a chair across from the couple. He introduced himself, then consulted his notepad.

“You’re Mr. and Mrs. Garwin?”

The couple nodded, the petite redhead holding on to the arm of her husband.

“Do you have to do this now?” Tessa asked in a low voice.

“I’m afraid I do. How is your daughter?” he asked Mrs. Garwin.

Her eyes brimmed with tears. “She’s not waking up. They can’t make her wake up.”

“They’re doing an MRI,” Mr. Garwin explained. “That’s why we’re waiting here.”

Respecting what they were going through, Vince kept his interview short. After all, Amy hadn’t been driving. She’d been one of the passengers in the backseat of the tan sedan, not wearing her seat belt.

When he finished with the Garwins, he consulted with a paramedic who had first arrived on the scene. Tessa and the couple disappeared.

Vince sank into one of the chairs to review his notes, to make sure he hadn’t left anything out or forgotten details. The insurance companies were going to have a field day over this one and he wanted to make sure every i was dotted and every t crossed. Besides, it kept him from thinking of the teenager who wasn’t waking up, the girl who would be having her leg set, the boy with the dislocated shoulder. One carful of kids had been doing what they were supposed to do, driving home after a pool party with friends. The other carload of kids had been drinking. He wanted to slam his fist through a wall, just like he’d wanted to do some of those nights when he’d come home and found his dad drunk on the living room floor. But he’d learned long ago to channel his anger into something more productive.

He stood when he saw Tessa walking toward him. It was hard to believe mere hours ago he’d been holding her in his arms. She’d felt good there…too damn good. Was that why he’d messed up the evening with his question? What had he intended to accomplish by making her voice the pain they’d both experienced?

“Are you finished here?” she asked, glancing at his notebook.

“For now. I can drop you off on the way back to my office. I want to do the paperwork while it’s still all fresh in my mind.”

“You go ahead. I’m going to stay here for a while with the Garwins.”

“What did the tests show?”

“Amy has a severe concussion. Now we just have to wait and hope.”

Vince’s grip tightened on the notebook. “I can’t imagine being in their position. Elective surgery with Sean is bad enough.”

“Amy was in the car with the kids who weren’t drinking. If she’d only had her seat belt on—”

Vince shook his head. “You can tell them what to do and teach them right, and still this kind of thing can happen. Why would anyone want to be a parent?”

“You tell me,” Tessa suggested softly.

“I’m sorry, Tessa. I shouldn’t be talking about this with you.”

She brushed her hair over her shoulder and gave a shrug. “I have to face these kinds of conversations a lot with the parents of the kids I treat. I manage to detach most of the time. I understand what you’re saying, Vince, but you already know the other side of it. You know the deep joy of having Sean grip your finger, of holding him in your arms, of seeing him smile. There’s no way to prevent the heartache. You can only hope the joy outweighs it.”

He was reminded again of how strong a woman Tessa had become. She wasn’t the teenager who had looked to her father for support and comfort. “How are you going to get home?”

“I know many people here. There’s a nurse up on Amy’s floor whose shift ends in a couple of hours. She’ll give me a ride back to Sagebrush.”

“And if something happens and you decide to stay the night?”

“Then Francesca or Emily will come and get me. Don’t worry about me, Vince. I’ll be fine.”

In other words, she didn’t need him. He’d take her at her word.

She glanced over her shoulder at the elevator. “I’d better get back up there. Thanks for inviting me to the party tonight. I don’t socialize as much as I should.”

“We’re going to talk about what happened.”

She shook her head. “There’s no need to talk about it.”

Her voice was sure of her conclusion, yet in her eyes he saw a flicker of uncertainty. No matter what she thought, they had something to finish.

“Sean’s appointment with Rafferty is this week. I’ll let you know if we’re going ahead with the surgery.” He slid the pen he’d been using into his pocket. “Take care of yourself, Tessa.”

“I will,” she murmured.

He turned and walked away first. But as he exited the hospital, leaving didn’t feel right…just as leaving hadn’t felt right twenty years ago.

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