Page 23 of Finding Basil (Foggy Basin Season Two)

They carefully tied a line to the axles of the truck from the winch on the ladder truck from the fire department to keep it moving, and then they tried to open the cab door, but it wouldn’t budge.

Herb was back up top behind the guardrail, and Herb and Juan took turns pacing and watching, pacing and watching.

No amount of assurance from the firemen and state troopers made him feel a thing except more fear. It wouldn’t be okay until he was safe and free of the truck.

The firemen had to use the jaws of life, and one of the EMTs climbed carefully into the truck to take Basil’s vitals and stay with him while they worked to free him.

“How the fuck is that safe?” Juan asked him.

“They’re tied to him, so…I guess they figure it’s safe, but that cop over there is pissed the EMT went in.”

They both looked over at the trooper, who was animatedly speaking to someone on his phone. Juan pulled one of the firefighters over to ask. “Is that even safe?”

“We’re hooked up well to the axles. And some others are heading down to extend a net with stakes ten feet in the ground for backup.”

None of it made him feel better.

When the door was finally cut open, however, and Basil was out of the truck, being placed on a gurney, he let out a sob of joy and relief that echoed through the valley below them.

He followed Basil up the hill and then took his hand as they set him down to again check his vitals and to look into each eye. “Dilated,” one of the EMTs said.

“Concussion,” another one agreed. “Get him in the bus and let’s get him to County.”

“Can Herb go with you all?” Juan asked, surprising Herb.

“Are you family?”

Juan answered for him. “He’s family, yeah. He’s Basil’s fiancé.”

Herb blinked at him for a second before he confirmed, “I’m marrying him.”

“Get in, but we have to go now.”

Herb threw Juan his keys and climbed into the ambulance with Basil and the EMT. Herb told the EMT, “Thank you for staying with him. You risked your life.”

“He’s going to be okay, and I don’t say that often. Even with all this, he’s got a good, strong pulse and his blood pressure is great. Just some head trauma that could turn bad, but the cut isn’t even that terrible. He was wearing his seatbelt, thankfully.”

Herb took Basil’s warm hand into his, and just that warmth was enough to send Herb into the clouds. He was warm, alive, and he was getting help.

Once at the hospital, however, he was taken into a trauma room, and Herb wasn’t allowed to go with him.

He paced outside the trauma doors, and felt tears, then a smile, then tears.

His emotions were all over the place. He was still terribly worried, but Joe, the EMT, his words kept moving into his mind, how he was going to be well.

He was going to be okay.

He didn’t have long to be alone with his rolling thoughts.

Soon, he was surrounded by the faces of the Jimenez family and more.

Lila was there, and he held her friends around the shoulders as they listened to the story they’d mostly already heard from Juan, but Herb told the story again, then added what the EMT and nurses had said.

“They’re running tests. He’s got a pretty nasty cut on the forehead, and he’ll need stitches. They’re mostly concerned with any head trauma. He’s at least got a concussion, but there could be more.”

Gasps and sobs came after that, and he hated he was the one who told them the bad news.

“Really, though, his heart is very strong; he doesn’t seem to have internal bleeding, anything like that. He was wearing his seatbelt, or it would have been worse.”

“Thank you, God,” Michelle said. “He’s…he looked okay?”

Juan took his mother into his arms and soothed, “He was talking to us, Mom, so I think he’s going to be okay. Our family is pretty tough, after all, you know?”

Sabrina teased her mom, “You dropped us all on our heads except him, and we turned out okay. He’ll be just like the rest of us scoundrels now, Mom.”

“That’s not funny, Sabrina! I never dropped any of you!”

Herb took Sabrina to a chair and made her sit. “You can’t be on your feet all the time or stressed. Please.”

“Are you practicing to be a father?”

“What? Me?”

She just smiled at him, but it was a little sad. “He’s gonna be okay, right?”

“Yes, and from now on, I’m going to wrap him in bubble wrap and keep him safe. This…it was too much.”

“He is a wonderful person. He’s a light in a dark place.

When any of us are sad or angry, we call him and in ten minutes, we’re laughing.

He’s been that way since he was just a little baby.

His smile, wow, lit up the room. None of us were jealous of him, even though he got so much attention. We were as captivated as the adults.”

“I love hearing stories about him. It confirms a lot. Does the guy have any faults?”

“Sure. He’s a terrible driver,” she said and rolled her eyes. “Shit.”

The doctor came out of the trauma room, surprised at the number of people who’d come while he was in the room. “Is everyone family?”

In one loud chorus, everyone said, “Yes!”

Michelle was the first to ask, “How is he?”

“He’s going to be just fine. The concussion is minor; the cut on his head will leave a very tiny scar, if any.

We did a CAT scan, and there are no signs of major trauma to the head.

He’s got a little whiplash, so he’ll need to be placed in a collar for a few weeks.

It may lead to some upper back pain, but we’ll handle the worst of it with meds and the rest with physical therapy. All in all, his outlook is good.”

The family shouted, and Herb felt hot tears draining from his eyes in thick rivers. He went to sit in a chair and held his face in his hands as he let out all the pent-up fear.

They were allowed in one by one, so Abuela and Michelle were first, then they came out a few minutes later to tell Herb that Basil was adamant about seeing him next.

Herb rose from the chair, his insides fluttering. He was going to see Basil, alive, awake, given a good bill of health. Much more than that, however, he was in love with a man so deeply, he didn’t think he could handle it if something like the wreck ever happened again.

Walking into the room, he saw the bandage on Basil’s head, saw how pale he was, but mostly, he saw the love of his life.

He went to him and grabbed his face tenderly, kissing him the same way. “You were very worried, I hear.”

Herb laughed and said, “A little, yeah.”

My mom and grandmother hugged me, kissed me and then began to bitch me out for not telling you what was happening. I’m sorry about that. I never wanted to lie to you, or keep things from you, ever.”

Herb sat in the chair next to the bed and took Basil’s hand, carefully taking it, being there was an IV in the vein there.

“Basil, I am not even a little mad. I was confused because, well, I saw you. I was hurt, yeah, but I knew something in my heart, that whatever it was, if it was you doing it, it was out of love.”

“I don’t still love him like that, Herb, I promise you.”

“But you love him enough that you didn’t want to see him in jail. I’d wonder about you if you didn’t. You’re not the type to just leave a person behind and stop caring. It’s one of the many, many reasons I’ve fallen so hard for you.”

“I’m so sorry I worried you. A deer ran across the road, and I swerved. I can’t believe how you guys found me, or how the truck was stuck on that tree.”

“No, God couldn’t be cruel enough to take you from me this early. Please, baby, don’t ever leave me. I mean, I am not some stalker that will hunt you down, or anything, but…”

“Good. Because I love you. I don’t want to leave you ever.”

“Okay, and that means you don’t get to drive anymore. Ever,” he said with a grin.

“That isn’t happening. I’m a free spirit; the road is my home!”

“No, the fields are your home, and we have a lot of work to do, so get better fast and make me a damn farmer.”