Page 5 of Code Trauma (Extreme Measures #1.5)

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R eports of a multicar pileup on the interstate always sent dread through Holly. She sent up a silent prayer for those involved and buckled herself in. Penny sent them whirling into the air while Holly stayed in contact with the paramedic on the scene in order to be prepared for whatever emergency they were walking into.

“Three victims,” Holly said, repeating the information. “The head trauma is ours.”

Raina nodded, and five minutes later, Penny hovered over the area where she’d been cleared to land. Following the motions of the officer directing her, she touched down with barely a bump in the middle of the highway just a short distance from the collision. While Penny powered down the chopper, Raina and Holly beelined toward the scene.

“Over here!”

Holly followed the voice to find paramedics, Carl and Nadine, strapping the neck brace to the woman on the ground. Carl looked up. “Trauma dressing in place, you have two large bore IVs in the ACs, and 1000 ml of Normal Saline has been administered. She’s lost a lot of blood, and it’s possible she has a skull fracture, but she’s stable for the moment. Let’s get her on board.”

They worked together to get the woman into the belly of the chopper and were soon back in the air heading toward the hospital. “I’ve got the doctor on the line,” Raina said.

Holly commenced to give her report of the woman’s condition. “Patient is a fifty-two-year-old female?—”

“Holly, the bleeding isn’t stopping.”

“Administer LR, TXA, and two units of blood.” TXA, a hemostatic agent commonly used to stop bleeding in severe trauma.

“On it.”

They pushed fluids, and several seconds later, the woman’s eyes blinked open. Panic flared. “What’s going on?”

Holly took her hand. “You’ve been in a car accident, but you’re going to be just fine.” She took another look at the vital. Strong heartbeat, good breath sounds. Blood dripping into her veins to replenish what she’d lost. She was going to be fine. She reported the status to Dr. Mann.

“What’s your name?” Holly asked her.

“Liza Hollister.”

“Nice to meet you, Liza. Sorry it’s under these circumstances.”

Liza smiled then closed her eyes. “My head hurts,” she whispered.

Because her brain was probably swelling. “We’ve got you covered. Raina, Decadron?” Decadron should reduce the brain swelling. She passed the woman the vial.

“On it.” Raina pulled the meds and inserted them into the IV port.

Two minutes before they were to land, the woman went into cardiac arrest.

Holly reacted. “Grab the paddles!”

Raina was already moving. She placed the paddles on the woman’s chest. “Clear!”

Holly lifted her hands and watched the monitor. “Come on, come on, you can do this.” Sinus rhythm appeared for a moment then went back into V-Fib. “Push one milligram of Epi. Follow with twenty of saline.”

Raina inserted the needle into the IV port and administered the dose.

Two minutes after the first shock, Penny was landing on the tarmac. “Shock her again,” Holly said.

Raina settled the paddles on the woman once more. “Clear.”

The machine popped, and the woman bowed off the table before dropping back on it. A team met them at the chopper, ready to take over—Dr. Mann and Sylvia included. Thankfully, they were all business. Raina called out all the information, including the drugs and dosage amounts, while Holly did CPR until they could shock her again. “Get her in the trauma bay now,” Dr. Mann said. Holly climbed on the gurney and continued the compressions all the way into the bay where the trauma team took over. They worked on her for the next thirty minutes before Garrett shook his head. All activity ceased, and the heart monitor squealed its tragic tone.

“Time of death, 6:04.”

Raina closed her eyes and drew in a ragged breath. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Sylvia drew the sheet over the woman’s face, and Holly pressed her fingers to quivering lips.

Her phone buzzed. The team was needed once more.

For the next three hours, Holly and the others worked nonstop. Once the last victim was rushed through the sliding glass doors, Holly, Raina, and Penny made their way to base. Holly fought exhaustion even while her mind was flipping through the events of the day.

When they stepped into the kitchen of the base, Holly shook her head. “I don’t understand why she died.”

Raina and Penny stopped and looked at her. “What?” Raina asked, a frown on her face.

“The woman with the head injury. We gave her blood, TXA, and fluids. Her vitals were starting to stabilize. I just don’t understand what went wrong.” She shook her head. “There was no reason for her to have arrested.”

Raina bit her lip. “Well, there was something wrong, obviously. Maybe the paramedics on the ground missed it.”

“No. Her heart rate was fine, and then all of a sudden she was in V-Fib.”

“Come on, Holly,” Penny said, “these things happen sometimes.”

“Her husband was there. She had no history of heart issues. No allergies to drugs, nothing. She had a head injury and went into V-Fib. How does that make sense?”

Penny walked over and wrapped Holly in a hug. “You’re upset because we lost her. It’s understandable.”

Holly sighed. It was more than that, but she wouldn’t think about it for now. She checked her phone and found a message from Andy.

Can we have dinner?

Yes. What time?

Whenever you can get away.

I’m on duty, so has to be here.

As he well knew.

Of course. Don’t leave base without me. I want to meet you at the door and walk down with you.

He was worried she’d be attacked again. In the hospital where she’d always felt safe.

That’s fine. I’ll be here.

See you soon.

But what would she say to the man who’d ghosted her during one of the most painful events of his life?

While he appeared to regret that, could she ever trust him not to do it again?

And if Dr. Mann wasn’t the person threatening her, who was?

* * *

Andy waited for Holly to step through the door and join him in the hallway. She looked rough. Lovely, but ... “Hard flight?”

“I can’t even explain how hard.”

He took her hand and led her to the hospital cafeteria, where they walked through the line then headed to their table in the corner. He slid onto the padded seat and over next to the wall, then waited for her to join him on the same side.

Only she put her tray on the table and took the opposite booth.

He raised a brow, his heart constricting, praying he didn’t fumble his words. He cleared his throat. “So, I owe you an apology. An ... explanation.”

“No, you don’t owe me anything. If you’re going to explain, then do it because you want to, not because you believe you owe me something.”

He paused and nodded. “Okay, fair enough.” He drew in a steadying breath. “I ... don’t even know where to start. After Chris was killed, I just ... reacted. I couldn’t think. I didn’t want to be around anyone.” His eyes met hers. “Except you,” he whispered.

She frowned. “Then why push me away?”

“Because I was afraid.” He lifted a shoulder in a hesitant half-shrug.

“Afraid of what?”

“Of you seeing that side of me.”

“What side ? Please, Andy, don’t make me drag this out of you.”

He ran a hand down his face. “I’m not trying to make you do that.” Clearing his throat, he took her hand. “You know that from the age of six, Jacob and I were in and out of the foster system.”

“Yes.”

“Well, when we got older, we ended up going back to live with our parents for a while. Shortly after Jacob and I were returned to our parents after the latest foster stay, my dad left. Just packed up his stuff and walked out the door without a backward glance.”

“Oh, Andy, I’m so sorry.”

“It was bad. So, then it was just my brother and Mom and me. Mom had to pick up another job, and I had to quit football and start working. It was a horrible, horrible season of life, and I spiraled real fast into a very dark hole. I suffered a debilitating bout of depression for about a year.”

Her eyes were narrow, studying him. But not judging. They held sorrow and compassion and a love that nearly took his breath away. A love that he certainly didn’t deserve.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me this before?”

“Because it’s ugly. It’s not who I am. Not who I wanted to be. And I didn’t want you to think it was.”

A tear hovered on her lashes, and when she blinked, it rolled down her cheek. Andy lifted a thumb to brush it away.

“And you were afraid I’d judge you?” she asked. “Think bad of you? Break up with you?”

He nodded. A slow dip of his head. “I don’t know that I ever consciously thought that, but yes. I think, deep down, I was afraid if you saw me in the depths of grief—and yes, depression—you would walk away.”

“But ... why?”

He ran a hand over his face. “Probably because of Sharon, the girl I was dating when my dad left. She couldn’t handle it. Didn’t even want to. So, she left, too.”

She blinked and her face stilled into a neutral expression he couldn’t read. “And you thought I would be like this Sharon girl? Like a teenager who couldn’t deal with your pain?” She pulled her hand from his and pinched the bridge of her nose, then swiped the tears from under her eyes.

“It sounds stupid when you say it like that.” And it did.

“Like what, Andy? You compared our love, our commitment to one another, to some teenage puppy-love thing?” She shook her head. “I’m not saying that wasn’t a traumatic experience, and I’m not belittling the pain I know that caused you, but I thought we had something that went deeper than?—”

“We do, Holly, we do!” He kept his voice low but hoped she could feel the intensity behind the words. “I love you.”

“And I love you, too, Andy.” Tears welled in her eyes, and she looked away to breathe deeply. When she met his gaze once more, the tears were gone. “I honestly don’t know what to think, but I’ve got to get back to work.” She slid out of the booth and looked down at him. “I’m not walking away from you, from us. But I do need to process, to think.”

“Holly—”

“Please, Andy, give me this time.”

He’d blown it. He curled his fingers into fists on the table, but nodded. “All right.”

She turned and walked away. He could only pray it wasn’t forever.