Chapter 38
CHAPTER 38
C HARLIE
Alarms blare throughout the station garage as Garcia and Jones pull out with the engine first and head off toward Route 47. I’m just about to climb into the passenger side of the squad one when Reynolds runs up to me.
“Fitz, Captain says you’re with him in squad two. I’m riding with Finn.”
Jack’s the captain and he’s in charge, so even though it’s unusual, I don’t hesitate and jog over to squad two as Finn and Reynolds pull out. As soon I’m in my seat, Jack races out onto the road.
As I’m looking down and buckling my seatbelt, I mutter, “Damn Route 47. Everyone always takes those curves too fast.” The seatbelt clicks into place, and I look up at Jack’s profile, only to see a tic in his clenched jaw.
Something’s wrong. Besides that we’re en route to the scene of a terrible accident.
“What is it?” The strain in my voice is unmistakable.
Jack spares me a quick glance and there’s uneasiness in his eyes. “It’s Trina and Emily—the accident.” His voice is deathly quiet. “Fitz, are you gonna be able to do this? Because it would be perfectly understandable if it’s too much.”
“I got it.” I push down the panic that claws at me, making it hard to breathe.
He simply nods in response and we’re silent the rest of the way to the scene.
When we get there, we grab our stretcher and trauma equipment and run to the mangled car on the side of the road. I take in the controlled chaos around me. Trina’s car is the only non-emergency vehicle here, so I don’t understand how her car has so much damage. My stomach clenches when I see Garcia and Jones using the hydraulic extrication equipment to attempt to open the driver’s side of the vehicle, it’s loud, thumping sound is almost deafening. Reynolds is handing Finn cervical collars and a jump bag through the shattered rear window of Trina’s sedan.
As I survey the scene, my heart pounds when I realize our only access is through the rear window until they get the driver’s door open. The passenger side is wedged up against the rock wall.
I don’t let myself look through the windows—not yet—and instead focus on helping get two stretchers with backboards in position for when the driver’s door removal is complete. Once that’s done, Jack and I go to the back of the vehicle and wait for Finn to give us status updates.
“Both victims are breathing. Emily is confused and drowsy, coming in and out, but she has a strong pulse. Captain Trina’s pulse is thready, she’s breathing fast and shallow. She’s unconscious and pretty pale. I’ve got her cervical collar on. Pass me some oxygen and an IV start kit with a liter of normal saline. She’s so unstable, I think I need to get a line in her before I collar Emily.”
None of us question Finn’s judgment. There’s only room for one of us in the vehicle right now and we have to trust each other in these situations.
“Captain Donley, she’s pretty clammy. I’m worried about blood loss and think we need to alert the hospital to have trauma surgeons on standby.”
Jack gets on his radio to make the call.
Finn has Trina on an oxygen mask now and he’s placing an IV. When he’s got it in, I hand him the bag of fluid through the window so he can connect her.
I can’t see Emily’s face, only the back of her head. I try to remain as calm as possible. Panic won’t help Emily and Trina right now. But it takes everything in me to not lose it.
I swear we all breathe a collective sigh of relief when the sound of metal pulling apart fills the air since it means they’ve gotten the driver’s door removed. Several of the police officers on scene help move the heavy metal off to the side so the rest of us can focus on getting Trina out. Finn stays in the back seat and maintains control of her neck while Reynolds gets the rest of the equipment in place that we’ll need to move her.
“Guys, her oxygen’s dropping,” Finn calls out as he listens to her lungs. “Shit, I don’t hear lung sounds on the left. I think she has a tension pneumothorax. Someone hand me an IV catheter so I can decompress it. I don’t think it can wait until she’s out.”
I race around to the back and hand him another IV catheter which he expertly darts into the correct location on Trina’s chest to relieve the dangerous pressure. A whoosh of air tells us all he hit his mark.
Five minutes later, we have an unconscious Trina out of the vehicle and on a backboard, lying on a stretcher. Finn and Reynolds race with her to one of the ambulances, Garcia in tow to drive for them so they can have two medics in the back since she’s so unstable.
Fear fills me for my best friend, but I force it away, knowing the best thing I can do for Trina right now is make sure Emily comes out of this okay.
“I’ll take C-spine,” I tell Jack. I climb into the back seat of the vehicle then Jack crawls across the front. My gut clenches when I see Emily. She’s positioned at an odd angle, her head wedged between the door and the headrest of her seat. I wince when I see the starburst pattern on the passenger side window that shows just how hard she hit her head. While Jack assesses her injuries, I maneuver the cervical collar into the space and secure it around her neck.
Emily’s eyes flutter open, and she flits them about frantically. “Trina?” she whispers. “Where’s Trina?”
With my hands braced on either side of her neck to help stabilize it in case she has a fracture, I try to soothe her. “It’s okay, Emily. You were in a car accident and Trina’s at the hospital getting treatment.”
Emily fights against my hands to try to turn to face me.
“Don’t move your head, sunshine. We have to make sure your neck is okay, so I need you to not move it. Jack’s checking you over and then we’re gonna get you out of here.”
“N-no Charlie. Go help T-Trina,” she sobs, her eyes straining to see me in her peripheral vision.
“Trina already has help. Finn and Reynolds are taking care of her. Plus, you know she’d kick my ass if I left you.”
She gives me a small smile through her tears.
It absolutely kills me that I can’t wipe them away for her, but I can’t risk letting go of her neck.
“Em, does anything hurt you right now?” Jack asks.
“M-my arm, and my head,” she answers.
I watch as her eyes drift shut. “Hey. No, none of that. Stay with me, Em. You can’t go to sleep right now.”
“I’m so tired, though.”
“I know. But you can’t go to sleep just yet.”
Jack looks up, “Fitz, we can start moving her now. Jones, you ready with the cot?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Okay. On your count, Fitz. Let’s try to move her to the driver’s seat so you can climb behind her to help support her neck and back for the transfer to the stretcher.”
I nod. “On three. One. Two. Three.”
Jack and I move Emily in one fluid lift over to the driver’s seat. She cries out in pain, and it literally makes my chest ache. Jack takes over holding her neck so I can climb into the front seat and resume my role.
Minutes later, we have Emily out of the vehicle and secured in the back of the ambulance. Jack drives and I stay in the back with her. I place two IVs, then examine her more thoroughly. I suspect she has a broken wrist and a concussion, and I pray it’s nothing worse.
She’s shivering now and her heart rate on the monitor is clipping away faster than it had been, goose bumps visible on her forearms. Jack’s going as fast as he can, but I’m worried she’s going into shock, and we can’t get to the ER fast enough for me. I reach into our blanket warmer, grab two blankets and wrap her in their heat.
Her head is taped securely to the backboard so I don’t have to hold her neck and I reach for her hand. Her eyelids are drooping again.
“Come on, baby, stay with me. Please. I have some things to tell you, but I need you to stay awake.”
“I c-can’t. I’m so t-tired.”
“You have to. Because I lied to you, Emily. For the first time since I’ve known you, I lied to you, and I have to tell you the truth.”
Her eyes widen slightly.
“Y-you did? About w-what?” Good the adrenaline might be kicking back up in her again, making her fight to stay awake.
I kneel next to her so she can see my face and hold one of her hands, using the other to caress her cheek.
I gaze into her eyes. “All of it. I lied to you the night we broke up. I was ashamed that you saw what happened at my parents’ and my rage. And I heard you on the phone that afternoon, telling”—my voice hitches and I have to pause and take a deep breath—“telling someone you were afraid of me and I realized I had to let you go because?—”
“I’m not afraid of you,” she whispers. Her eyes, though still fighting to close, find me and she squints in confusion.
“It’s okay. I deserve it. I’m not mad at you but when you told the person you couldn’t imagine what it would do to a woman to be with me long-term, to have a child with a man like me…”
Her face suddenly relaxes with understanding.
“No, no, no.” Tears now stream down her cheeks. “I was talking to my therapist about your dad. N-not you.”
I’m speechless. How could I have been so idiotic that I didn’t even consider that possibility?
I haven’t cried since I was twelve, so I’m shocked at the unfamiliar sensation of something wet rolling down my cheeks. “So, you’re not scared of me?” I whisper.
“No. You’ve done nothing but protect me since I was nineteen years old, and you had to pick me up from that frat party.” She closes her eyes, unable to keep her them open any longer.
“Please, Em. Please open your eyes. I lied; it was never just physical for me. I absolutely lied about that. And about the house, too.” My voice is frantic and my speech rapid. “I designed it all for you. I always envisioned you there with me.”
Her eyelids flutter but still don’t open.
I’m so caught up in her that I don’t realize we’ve arrived at the ER until Jack opens the back doors of the ambulance. At that, my brain switches gears and Jack and I work efficiently to get Emily out of the ambulance and roll her into one of the ER trauma rooms, where a team starts evaluating her immediately.
I stay with her for several minutes, standing at the head of her bed, until X-ray comes in with a portable machine to check her neck and back so we can remove the hard board from behind her.
“C’mon, Fitz. We have to leave the room for the X-ray then they’re taking her for the CT scan of her head and neck.” Jack says. His hand is on my shoulder to get my attention.
“Okay, one second.” I lean down near Emily’s face. “Em, baby? Can you open your eyes for one more second?” She struggles, but she does it. “I have to step out to check on Trina, but I’ll be right back.” Her blue eyes try to hold my gaze, but she’s faltering again. “I love you, Emily. I always have.”
I kiss her forehead and follow Jack out of the room. We walk to the room across from Emily’s, where Trina is. As we approach, Ben is talking with Reynolds.
I overhear Ben say, “Listen, I know you heard us. But I’m asking you to keep that to yourself for now. Trina’s private and she’s not ready for people to know. Okay?” His voice is hushed like he doesn’t want to be heard, so I pretend I didn’t.
“Of course,” Reynolds replies.
Partially to let them know we’re near, I ask, “Ben? Any word on Trina? Is she awake?”
Ben turns to look at Jack and me. He runs his hand through his hair, gripping a fistful of it just like his twin, Jack, does when he’s stressed. He looks haggard.
Ben sighs. “She’s in rough shape but they think she’s gonna be okay. Finn was right, she had a collapsed lung. Doc says his assessment skills likely saved her from suffering a cardiac arrest. She’s got a tube in her chest. She has a broken wrist on the left side and they’re prepping her for surgery. Her spleen ruptured. She’s getting blood now and they’re about to take her up.”
“Can I see her quick?” I think we all hear the pleading in my voice.
“Yeah, go ahead. Janie and Annie are taking care of her, so I think they’ll let you.”
When I enter the room and see Trina, my best friend in the world and truly the most badass woman I know, lying in a hospital bed with IVs and blood transfusions going, a tube coming out of her chest, monitors beeping, and looking so incredibly pale, my legs stop working for a moment. It isn’t until Annie looks up at me and waves me over that I can force myself to move.
“You can see her for a few seconds and then we need to take her to the operating room,” Annie says kindly.
When I get to Trina’s bedside, her eyes are closed. I reach down and move a piece of hair off her forehead, then take her hand.
“Trina? I don’t know if you can hear me but it’s me, Fitz. I don’t want you to worry about Emily. She’s okay.” I see some fluttering under her eyelids, and I think she’s trying to open them, but can’t. “Keep your eyes closed and rest. You’re gonna be okay. They’re taking you to surgery now.” My voice hitches. I lean down and kiss her forehead. “I love you. I’ll see you after surgery.” I squeeze her hand once and walk away.
Annie and Janie roll her out of the room to take her to surgery while Jack, Reynolds, Ben, and now Finn watch silently with me.
Over the next hour, Jack, Reynolds, and Finn head back to the station and Jack tells me to stay at the hospital for the rest of our shift and to give him regular updates on Trina and Emily. He’s calling it official duty, but I see it for what it is—a kindness to allow me to keep watch over my best friend and the woman I now suspect he knows I love.
While Ben goes up to wait in the surgical waiting area, I go to sit in Emily’s room. It’s quiet in here now, the lights low, and I grab the chair for family and move it over next to Emily’s bed. I grip her hand in mine and rest my forehead on the side-rail of the ER cot.
I’m not a religious man, but today I’m a spiritual one, and though I rarely pray, I’m desperate. So, in a whispered voice, I send my prayers out into the universe. “I don’t know if anyone can hear this, or if there’s anything beyond this world, but I think maybe there is. Even if I don’t understand it all, I’m asking for help. I don’t know if you’re God or if maybe Teddy you can hear this, but please, someone help us today. Please let Emily and Trina be okay. Please don’t take either of them from us. I can’t survive losing either of them, and I know they can’t lose each other. Please.”
“Charlie?” The voice is faint and raspy, but I whip my head up and am so damn grateful to see Emily’s gorgeous blue eyes shining with life, watching me. I’m not sure how much of my prayer she heard.
“Hey,” I whisper. I can’t stop myself from reaching my hand up to cup her cheek.
“Trina? Is she okay?” Emily’s voice shakes, and I know she’s afraid of my answer.
“Truth?”
“Always,” she whispers. “All of it.”
I swallow around the thick lump in my throat and nod. “She’s hurt pretty bad. She has a collapsed lung, a broken wrist, and her spleen ruptured from the impact of the car into her side. She’s lost a lot of blood, so she’s getting blood transfusions and she’s up in surgery now to take her spleen out. But they think she’ll be okay. Ben is upstairs waiting for her to come out of surgery. And I’ll wait with him once they put you in a room.”
Silent tears stream down her face. “About the other stuff… The stuff you said in the ambulance. Is it true? All those things you said when you broke up with me were a lie?”
I caress her cheek with the pad of my thumb and look her straight in the eyes, hoping she’ll see my sincerity.
“Yeah. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. I thought you were afraid of me, and I’m scared I’m gonna end up just like my father and ruin everything beautiful about you. That you’ll lose yourself again because of?—”
“Stop.” Her voice is soft, but commanding. “You’re not him, Charlie. How could you think you’d ever been like him? Don’t you get it? You helped me find me again this year. You make me feel brighter and you see me. I was never afraid of you. You were defending your mom. I was scared of your dad and the situation, but never you.”
Jesus, who knew words could be so healing?
“Will you come back home with me? Stay with me again?”
“Of course I will.” She smiles sweetly. “I love you.”
“I love you, too. I’ve loved you from the start. I don’t know exactly the moment it happened, but it didn’t take long after meeting you. It’s always been you for me, Emily. No one else.”
“Really?” Her voice is a whisper, her gorgeous eyes wide. “Y-you never told me. If you had, then m-maybe?—”
“No, sweetheart. Don’t do that. We’re gonna move forward, not think about the what ifs. Though I wish I had been more upfront, I wasn’t. But now we’re together, and that’s what matters.”
She nods, not taking her eyes off me.
Just as I’m about to kiss her, the curtain whips open and Shayna flies into the room like a hurricane.
“Em!” Shayna runs to the other side of Emily’s bed and grabs her hand. She searches Emily’s body with her eyes for injuries.
Just then, Dr. Adams walks in, surveying the three of us.
“Ms. Flynn, is it okay to talk in front of your…”
“My family. They’re my family. And yes, you can talk in front of them.”
“Okay. Well, as you know, your neck and back don’t have any fractures or we wouldn’t have removed the equipment we did. You did, unfortunately, break your right wrist, but it won’t need surgery. We’ll splint it here and have you follow up with orthopedics for a longer-term cast. It will probably hurt for at least a few days, though. Your CT scan of your brain shows no bleeding or swelling. But you have a concussion and, because you hit your head so hard, we’re going to admit you for at least forty-eight-hours to make sure there are no complications.”
We thank him and when Dr. Adams leaves, Emily looks at Shayna. “I lied to you,” she whispers.
Shayna’s forehead creases in confusion. “Really? About what? You always tell me everything.”
“Remember when we went and got waxed a few weeks ago and you asked if I was having sex with someone?”
“I should step out,” I say, standing.
“No. Stay with me, Charlie.”
“Ugh. This is gonna be embarrassing,” I mutter. But I sit back down.
Shayna looks between us, curiously.
“Remember?” Emily asks her.
Shayna nods.
“It was a white lie because I wasn’t having sex with anyone at the time, but I had been having sex with Charlie before that. Lots of sex.”
“I knew it,” Shayna hisses. “Was it good?”
“For fuck’s sake, you two, can we not talk about this?” I beg.
Both women laugh and I rest my head on the side-rail again. These two together are nothing but trouble.
An hour later, Emily is in her room in the neurological intensive care unit and Shayna and I sit with Ben in the surgery waiting area.
He’s really squirrelly, pacing around. Shayna and I give each other looks, and I know we’re both wondering why Ben is reacting this way.
Finally, when Trina’s been in surgery for close to three hours, the surgeon comes out to the waiting room to tell us that everything went well, and Trina is going to be okay.
“When can we see her?” Ben asks.
“She’s just getting settled in the ICU. Give the nurses about ten minutes and they’ll be out to get you.” With that, the surgeon nods and takes his leave.
I breathe a sigh of relief and Ben’s entire body visibly relaxes as he plops himself into a chair and scrubs both of his hands over his face and through his hair. He closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths, his facial features less tense than I’ve seen them all day.
After a few minutes, Ben’s phone rings and he answers. “Donley. What’s up?” He pauses and listens for a minute. “Excellent. Keep him in the interrogation room. I’m going to see how Trina is and then I’ll be down.”
When he hangs up the phone, Shayna and I stare at him, expectantly.
“We got him. Meadow Creek shut down their end of Route 47 when we called them, and they got him trying to exit. He tried to flee but couldn’t get away. Between the vehicle damage, Emily’s description of him and his vehicle, and the rear and front dash cams I had installed on Trina’s car, there’s no way this guy is getting off.”
“Thank God,” I say.
When the nurse comes to get Ben a few minutes later, Shayna and I head over to see Emily and update her on Trina’s condition.
I’ll give Ben some time with Trina and then I’ll go see her.
As Shayna and I walk into Emily’s room, I throw up a silent prayer of thanks to whoever answered my prayer from earlier.
My best friend and the woman I love are going to be okay.