Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Diana
The EMTs arrive at the trailer park, where I’m still sitting on the ground, holding my injured hand. I haven’t tried to stand again. Not after my ankle nearly gave way from the pain.
Two paramedics approach me, a man and a woman.
“Ma’am,” the male says, “my name is Mark, and this is my partner, Sarah. Can you tell us what happened?”
I gesture toward the broken wood behind me. “I was stepping out of this trailer, and the wooden step just gave way. I fell through and cut my hand pretty badly. My ankle… I can’t put any weight on it without feeling excruciating pain.”
Sarah kneels beside me, gently taking my hand to examine the cut. “What’s your name?”
“Diana.”
“All right, Diana,” she says, “let’s take a look at that hand first. Mark, can you get a splint ready for her ankle?”
Mark nods.
“Can you move your fingers at all?” Sarah asks.
I nod. “Yeah. Moving them isn’t painful. Just where the cut is.”
Sarah begins to clean the wound. “This might sting a bit. Just hang in there. We’ll get you fixed up. How deep does it feel?”
“It feels pretty deep, but I can’t really tell,” I reply.
Mark finishes preparing the splint and moves to examine my ankle. “You’re doing great, Diana. We’re almost done with your hand. Let’s take a look at that ankle.”
I breathe in, trying to remain calm. Why did this happen? And where the hell is Mrs. Locke? A person was injured on her property, but she’s hiding inside her trailer.
Not that I’m surprised. This is a woman who gave her son away.
I told her I wouldn’t sue her, but she still doesn’t need any witnesses to see her on the scene.
Mark manipulates my ankle, and I suck in a breath.
“Does that hurt?”
“It’s calmed down a little,” I tell him. “But yeah, it still smarts.”
He nods. “It looks swollen and possibly sprained. We’ll need to immobilize it before we transport you to the hospital. I’m going to apply a splint to keep it steady.”
I nod. “Okay. Just do what you need to do.”
Mark gently places the splint on my ankle. “We’re going to be as gentle as possible, but it might be uncomfortable for a moment. Take a deep breath.”
I comply. It’s more uncomfortable than painful, as he’s being very gentle and careful.
“You’re doing great, Diana,” Sarah says. “Once we have the splint in place, we’ll get you on a stretcher and to the hospital.”
I shake my head quickly. “I don’t need a stretcher. I can make it into the ambulance, especially if one of you helps me.”
“It’s policy,” she says. “For your protection and ours. Do you have anyone we should contact for you?”
“My boyfriend. Dragon.”
My boyfriend? I can’t believe I just called him that. It sort of just fell out of my mouth. He’s really my roommate. My roommate I’ve gone to bed with three times now.
But I don’t hate the idea. And this EMT doesn’t need a full report of my sexual history.
“How can we reach him?”
I blink. “He’s staying at a hotel nearby. I’ll call him.” My phone is still next to me where I put it down after I called 9-1-1.
“Who lives here?” Mark asks.
“My…” I shake my head. “Just a woman. No one special.”
“Why were you here?” he continues.
Is that any of his business? Not really. He’s probably just wondering why no one is out here helping me.
“Just looking for some information,” is all I say.
That seems to satisfy him. I grab my phone, but before I can call Dragon, Mark and Sarah lift me onto the stretcher and then get me into the back of the ambulance.
“I’m going to take some vitals on you,” Mark says.
I nod.
“How’s the ankle feeling?”
“The pain isn’t so bad now,” I say. “Though I haven’t tried to put any weight on it.”
“That’s good news,” Sarah says. “It may not be serious. The doctors at the ER will be able to tell you more.”
Thank God.
Maybe it’s not a sprain after all. I probably just twisted it slightly. I’ve done that a million times on the ranch, and it usually feels better in a day or two.
“You want me to call your boyfriend now?” Mark asks.
I’m still gripping my phone. “I’ll do it.”
He answers right away.
“Yeah? Diana?”
“Hey,” I say. “I need you to meet me at… Just a sec.” I turn to the paramedics. “Where are we going?”
“St. Teresa’s, on the outskirts of town.”
“St. Teresa’s Hospital on the outskirts of town,” I say into the phone.
“What? Are you all right?”
“Fine. I just took a fall at?—”
Shit. He’s going to be angry I went to see his mother.
“You took a fall where?”
I have to tell him. My car is still there.
“I was out this morning, and I took a fall.” I draw a breath. “On the steps outside your mother’s trailer.”
I hear him drop the phone on the other side of the line.
A second later, his gruff voice is back in my ear.
“What the hell were you doing there ? ”
“I wanted to talk to her, Dragon. I thought I could get some information out of her.”
“God damn it, Diana.”
He’s angry, and I can’t blame him. But right now, I need him to meet me at the hospital.
“I may have sprained my ankle, although it’s feeling better. Your mother wouldn’t help me, so I had to call 9-1-1. I’m in an ambulance, and we’re on our way to St. Teresa’s Hospital.”
“How the hell am I supposed to get there?”
“Call a rideshare. I’ll pay you back.”
“Jesus Christ.” He sighs. “So much going on. But are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine. Just meet me at the hospital, and we’ll talk.”
After the call ends, Mark smiles at me. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’ll be fine.”
Mark narrows his eyes at me. “So…your boyfriend, huh?”
Mark is looking at me.
Really looking at me.
And for the first time, I realize how handsome he is.
He’s blond and blue-eyed, like my cousin Henry. Not quite as tall, but with a light-brown stubble and full pink lips.
One of the good guys. A paramedic. In a uniform.
So much different from Dragon.
“Yeah,” I say.
“Too bad.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah.” He shrugs. “I wouldn’t mind taking you out sometime.”
I furrow my brow at him. “Do you always hit on your patients?”
“I never hit on my patients. I’m not hitting on you.” He looks down at his clipboard. “I’m just stating a fact.”
I give him a weak smile. “If things were different, I think I would enjoy that.”
“But things aren’t different,” he says.
“No,” I say. “They’re not.”
Because I’ve already acknowledged—internally, at least—that I love Dragon Locke.
Can he ever love me back?
I don’t know. Having met his mother and knowing a little bit about his past, I’m guessing he probably thinks he can’t love.
But I believe that anyone can love.
Anyone at all.
Once we get to the hospital, Mark and Sarah take me into the ER. “Twenty-six-year-old female, laceration on her left hand, possible fracture or sprain of the right ankle.”
They get me into a bay, and a nurse enters. “Name?”
“Diana Steel.”
“Do you have insurance, Diana?”
“I do.”
“Good. I’ll get someone from admissions to come talk to you after we get you triaged.”
I simply nod as the nurse takes my vitals.
Then I tell her what happened.
“Are you in pain now?” she asks, examining my ankle.
“It feels a lot better,” I say.
“I’m not seeing any bad swelling, but we’ll probably do an X-ray and MRI to figure out what’s going on. The doctor should be in to see you shortly.”
“Thank you.”
She closes the curtain around me, and I lay my head down on the pillow of the hospital bed.
Staring down at me are posters—one of SpongeBob, and one of Bugs Bunny.
Obviously for when children are in this room.
Nice touch.
I sigh. Why did I go to see Mrs. Locke? Dragon is going to be mad as hell, and I can’t blame him. I didn’t even get that much information. Nothing I couldn’t have surmised on my own.
Chalk it up as a big mistake.
I guess I thought I could make her understand. Growing up on the ranch with loving parents and tons of aunts and uncles and cousins, I believe family is everything.
Family members take care of each other. So why isn’t Mrs. Locke like that? Shouldn’t everyone love their family? Put their family first?
Dragon didn’t grow up that way.
A lot of people don’t grow up that way, and I need to remember that. Mrs. Locke isn’t like my mother, who would take a bullet for any one of her four children.
When I think of Dragon at nine years old—that beautiful little boy with dark hair and hazel eyes who wanted his parents to believe him—I want to cry.
But I steel myself.
No tears.
I’m going to help Dragon find his sister. If she is indeed still alive.
I’ll spend my whole trust fund doing it if I have to.
Because I love Dragon.
And I will do anything for him.