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“Yeah, it’s me. You fell asleep the second you stopped talking.” Tammy placed a warm mug in her hand.

She inhaled the bold aroma. “How long?”

“I let you rest for ten minutes, then decided I’d better wake you up in case we get swamped by patients.” Tammy took the seat next to her.

Jennie took a sip, then massaged the kink out of her neck. “I guess I needed it.”

“I’d say. Want to tell me what’s really going on?”

The ward clerk poked her head into the room. “We have an ambulance coming in from the police station. Something about an explosion.”

“Who?” she demanded, but the petite woman had hurried off. Jennie’s heart thundered against her breastbone. “It can’t be him. It just can’t be.” She jumped from her seat and rushed to the emergency entrance.

Tammy stood next to her and rubbed circles on her back. “Want me to call for backup and you sit this one out?”

She shook her head. “No matter who it is, I have a job to do, and I’m going to do it.” Inhaling, she planted herself at the door, looped her stethoscope around her neck, and gripped the ends.

Please don’t let it be David.

The sliding doors whooshed open, and the hot July air slapped her in the face.

Mitch hurried next to the gurney, pushing it into the building. “Where do you want him, Jennie?”

Jennie focused on the older paramedic, afraid to find out the identity of his patient. “Bay one. We’re clear right now. Vitals?”

Mitch rattled off the man’s vitals, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

They worked in unison to transfer the patient to the ER bed.

The man groaned.

She unwrapped her stethoscope and prepared to use it. Steeling herself to look at her new patient’s face, she swallowed. Her breath caught in her throat. She froze. Her fear had become reality.

David lay in front of her, IV in his arm, and an oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth.

A hand touched her forearm. “Jennie?” Tammy’s whisper broke through her paralysis.

Jennie shook her head dislodging the cobwebs.Treat him like any other patient.She plastered a smile on her face and leaned over Detective Whitman. “I think Dr. Bennett was right. You can’t seem to stay out of trouble.”

Crinkle lines appeared at the corner of his eyes, indicating a smile, then disappeared.

Double checking his lungs and heart rate, Jennie opened the second drawer of the supply cart and removed plastic tubing. “Let’s trade out the mask for a nasal cannula, then you can tell me what hurts.”

David closed his eyes and relaxed his shoulders.

She exchanged the breathing devices. “David?”

He peered up at her.

“Here. Have some ice chips. Those oxygen masks tend to make your throat dry.” She spooned a couple of tiny chips into his mouth.

He swallowed and whispered, “Thank you.”

She nodded. “Now, tell me what hurts.”

***

What hurts? Everything hurts. The more time that passed, the more he remembered and the more aches and pains he discovered.