CHAPTER TWO - Jason
Ozzi and I carried the gurney rather than wheel it through the snow. The drive and walkway were shoveled, but it was faster for us to maneuver this way. We trotted up to the porch, our steps in sync.
Each of my senses were on high alert as they were every call.
Sometimes there were protective dogs or panicked people on drugs.
That was as scary as it got in Fond du Lac.
Saying the town was sedate would be a fucking understatement.
Right now, the most frightening thing was that we were Alphas about to enter Primrose House.
Even as I knocked on the door and announced ourselves, I was hesitant to go in.
No Alpha had ever set foot in the house.
It was sacred ground for Omegas, and everyone respected that.
As a townie, I knew Eloise and vaguely remembered her husband and son while they were alive, but I was too young to remember Primrose House as anything other than what it was now.
“In here!” Someone shouted from within.
“Sandy said they were in the kitchen.” Ozzi nodded to me, and I swung open the door. The delicious scent of baking cake wafted over us along with the light feminine musk of Omega.
My Alpha instincts swelled, wanting me to rush in and rescue whoever was in trouble.
The need to save everyone was what had led me to become an EMT, and it was safer for me to focus my instincts this way rather than being the type of Alpha that wanted to control everything.
Sometimes I got too dangerously close to being that kind of bastard, and I’d fucked up too much in my life because of it.
My grip tightened on the gurney as we stepped inside to a house that was thoroughly decorated for Christmas.
Tinsel loped along the tops of walls and a poinsettia sat on almost every table.
A big fir tree twinkled with lights in the living room, and there was already a pile of presents under it.
Even each post on the banister was dressed as a unique snowman.
Despite it being a large old Victorian, it was cozy and welcoming. I didn’t know what I expected to see in a space just for Omegas, but this could have been any family’s home.
Following the Christmas music, I led the way to the kitchen and swung open the door. Out of habit, I announced our presence again. “Paramedics!”
Inside the large kitchen, my focus went to the older woman on the floor. She was on her side as she should be. We’d gotten texts from Sandy saying it was a stroke. Time was of the essence.
Ozzi and I didn’t even have to say anything. We automatically lowered the gurney and went down to our knees.
“Please. She isn’t breathing!” The trembling voice and sudden intoxicating honey sweet fruity scent expanded my narrow vision to take in the gorgeous blonde on the floor with us.
Holy shit. Lyla Berg. I knew her, but didn’t really. In my head, she was an internet sensation. Her reels about Fond du Lac had pulled me in a few years ago that I kept watching even when her content was mostly about fashion and food now.
She was even more beautiful than how she looked in pictures.
It didn’t matter that her golden locks were mussed and her big blue eyes shimmered with tears.
Every inch of me was electrified, needing to take a hold of her and comfort her.
I would smash down everything that upset her just to see her smile.
“Patient unresponsive.” Ozzi was keeping his shit together way better than me. He'd put on his gloves and turned Eloise onto her back, checking her over. Then he dug into the kit on the gurney and pulled out the bag-valve mask. “Starting CPR. Jason, count off.”
I swiftly yanked on a pair of latex gloves and positioned my hands just below Eloise’s sternum. My heart hammered, cursing myself for getting distracted. “One, two, three…”
Thirty chest compressions and then two pumped breaths. Repeat.
We did four rounds before Eloise gasped in a lungful of air. She didn’t wake, but she was breathing on her own again.
Lyla let out a strangled cry and reached to touch Eloise’s shoulder. “Thank God!”
“Miss, we’re going to lift the patient onto the gurney.
Please stand back.” Ozzi shifted beside Eloise’s head and shoulders, and I moved to be even with her hips on the same side.
Neither of us would have had any trouble moving the older woman on our own, but the direct ground lift technique was the safest and fastest way.
I was more than aware of Lyla backing away and gripping the counter of the kitchen island to stand up. Her quivering breaths came quickly, and heat radiated off her body.
Sliding one hand under Eloise’s lower back and the other under her knees, Ozzi supported her head and shoulders with one arm and held her upper back with the other. “One, two, up.”
I didn’t have to count out loud, but it was a habit. We moved in unison to place Eloise gently on the gurney. Immediately we covered her with the sheet and buckled her in before raising the stretcher.
As a pack, we moved as one unit. It was the only reason the hospital let two Alphas pair up as a team. Ozzi was my brother from another mother, and I couldn’t imagine doing this job with anyone else.
“We’re going to take Eloise out to the ambulance and put her on oxygen. If you want to ride with us, please get your stuff and lock up behind you.” Ozzi’s gaze lingered on Lyla for a few seconds before he signaled to me to hold open the kitchen door.
A flash of possessiveness had me gritting my teeth and wanting to put myself between him and Lyla. I slapped that Alpha instinct down. It would only cause me trouble.
“Okay.” Lyla nodded and looked around the kitchen as if searching for something. Her skin was clammy and pale. The girl was in shock and there was no one here to take care of her. She seemed to be lost and fuck if I couldn’t help myself.
“Lyla,” I said her name as a command, a little harder than I meant to. “Turn off the oven and the music. Get your coat, purse, and boots.”
I opened the door and pulled the gurney forward before she could reply. Ozzi shot me questioning looks the whole way to the ambulance. We lifted Eloise into the back and locked the gurney down so it wouldn’t move. Ozzi sat and affixed the oxygen mask to her face, switching it on.
“What was that?” He glanced at me as he began to hook up the rest of the monitoring equipment. “You know that girl?”
“I’ve never met Lyla before.” So many times I’d thought about coming up to her at her booth at a craft fair or whenever I saw her at one of the bakeries and introducing myself, but I’d always stop myself.
I was trouble, and she didn’t need my shadow looming over her.
I handed him the blood pressure cuff. “I follow her online and saw her around town a few times. I know Eloise.” I motioned to our patient.
“Everyone in town knows her. She does a lot of work with Omegas and kids.”
Ozzi nodded. “You drive. See if you can do anything to calm the girl.”
I hopped out the back of the ambulance and closed the doors.
Ozzi was more than capable of handling things.
He’d thought about becoming a doctor and had a few years of medical school under his belt, but when he realized what a fucking bureaucratic nightmare it was to be a doctor these days, he joined me in school to become an emergency medical technician, EMT.
We excelled in high stress situations, and no two calls were ever the same.
The job kept us on our toes and we liked it that way.
Lyla darted out the front door of Primrose House and locked it behind her. She’d thrown on a white puffy coat and chunky boots and carried a purse that was shaped like a Christmas tree.
I opened the passenger side door of the ambulance. “You can ride up here, Lyla. My partner needs room to work in the back.”
She stepped up into the vehicle and sat, buckling herself up. Her movements were choppy and her breaths were still coming fast.
I closed the door and jogged around to the driver’s side. Getting in, I buckled up, turned on the engine, and picked up the radio. “Team two, coming in. Patient secured. Senior female, stroke. Stopped breathing, but we got her breathing on her own again. Over.”
The response came almost immediately. “Loud and clear, team two. We’ll be waiting for Eloise when you bring her in. Over.”
Turning on the sirens, I backed out onto the road and started to the hospital. “How are you holding up, Lyla?” When she shook her head, I gave her a sympathetic look. “Talk to me. It will help.”
She fiddled with the beads on her purse and hesitated a minute before finally getting some words out. “The sirens aren’t as loud in here as I thought they’d be.”
“In the older models, they’d be very loud, but with new ambulances, the sound is pushed up and outward. That way we aren’t blowing out our ears all the time, and it allows us to communicate better with one another.” It was mundane talk, but it would help ease her out of her shock.
Lyla dipped her head with a nod and studied me out of the corner of her eyes. “How did you know my name?”
There was no way I was going to admit that I followed her online. She’d freak if she knew I liked watching her videos. Not that fashion was my thing, but her passion about it was what entranced me. She had such a love of life and didn’t hold back, while I was constantly reining myself in.
Yet I didn’t know what else to say. “You used to do those reels about Fond du Lac. You’d go to different spots and explore, talk about the history, and stuff.”
“You watched those?” There was a little light back in her eyes and a faint rosy flush in her cheeks. “I didn’t think anyone but my friends and family watched them.”
I darted around cars that pulled over as I zoomed onto the main street. “Yeah, it was great to see someone looking at everything with new eyes. I’ve lived here all my life and love it. There were so many spots I wanted you to go see, but you stopped doing them.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t getting the response from them like I’d hoped, but people really liked my fashion and food reels.
” Lyla gripped her seatbelt as we zipped through a red light.
“I would love to explore Fond du Lac more. It’s so pretty here.
I grew up in the south. My dads are in the army, and we moved a lot.
We lived mostly in hot places where they didn’t have winter like they do here.
I can’t imagine not having snow for Christmas now. ”
“Christmas without snow is sacrilege.” I agreed and turned down the street that would lead us to the hospital.
As our destination appeared ahead, Lyla twisted in her seat and looked through the window into the back where Ozzi was tending to Eloise. She put her hand on the window and nipped at her lower lip. “Do you think she’ll be okay?”
“Eloise is going to be fine.” I sped into the hospital parking lot and headed to the emergency entrance.
“With a stroke, the longer they are without oxygen, the worse it will be. She wasn’t breathing for maybe a minute or two at the most?
” Lyla nodded. “That’s excellent. Even better that she’s now breathing on her own.
They’ll take very good care of her here. ”
I pulled to a stop out front and jumped out of the ambulance. Fuck, I didn’t want our conversation to come to an end. Lyla was already getting some vibrancy back in her, but being inside would zap that again. There would be a ton of tests and so much waiting on her part.
Opening up the back, Ozzi was already unlocking the gurney. “Patient is stable and ready for transport.”
Always so professional. I envied him that sometimes. Yet this was Eloise Koch. Half the town was going to show up to see how she was doing and cheer on her recovery. Lyla, on the other hand, would be on her own.
That thought stabbed into me, making me swallow a growl. No, she wasn’t going to be alone. I’d make sure of it.
Ozzi and I lifted Eloise out. Lyla waited for us on the curb and followed us into emergency. We were met by an ER nurse who Ozzi handed off Eloise’s chart to, and then she was out of our hands.
Lyla moved to go with Eloise, but Ozzi held up his hand. “I’m sorry, miss. You can’t go back there. If you want to wait by reception, they’ll keep you updated on what’s happening.”
I wanted to hit him as a look of panic and misery crinkled Lyla’s face. Yeah, those were the rules, but it fucking sucked.
“Come with me.” I gestured to her to follow me.
If I could be the one who sat with her all day, I’d do it in a heartbeat, but my shift wasn’t over until eight.
So I’d put her in a person’s hands that I knew would take care of her.
I led Lyla to the emergency reception desk.
“Lyla, this is Nellie Bennet. Nellie, Lyla came in with Eloise Koch.”
“Yes, I know. Hello, sweetie.” Nellie was everybody’s mom and had the sort of nurturing aura that could put anyone at ease.
She came around her desk and wrapped an arm around Lyla.
“Eloise and I are old friends, and I know you’re one of her girls.
She brags about you all the time. Now, you come with me, and I’ll pull you up a seat near my desk so you aren’t in the waiting room proper with any Alphas who might come through. ”
Nellie flashed me a stern look at that, but there was nothing to be done about it. We were the team on call. Both Ozzi and I respected Lyla’s space and, as much as my instincts had been demanding otherwise, I didn’t even touch her.
As Nellie ushered Lyla off, Lyla glanced over her shoulder at me and Ozzi. She mouthed a ‘thank you’ before she was out of our sight.
Immediately, I wanted to race after her, to be near her. Fuck, this was dangerous. I’d stayed away from Omegas since my ex broke up with me, because she left me for all the right reasons.
“Jason.” Ozzi patted my shoulder and jerked me out of my masochistic thoughts. “Let’s go.”
It was like yanking out my own teeth turning to go back to the ambulance. As much as I was determined that she didn’t have to go through this alone, I needed to stay away from Lyla.
For her sake and mine.