Minka #3
I stride through the door and into blissful cool, at least forty degrees cooler than the untamed heat outside.
Then I lower the girl to the floor and point toward a terrified, staring Mia.
“Go to her. Soothe her, Fifi. She’s earned a woman in her life who won’t let her down when shit gets scary.
Hey?” I brush the hair off the girl’s face and look up as the dad rushes into the shop.
“What’s her name? Does she have any other medical concerns? ”
“No, she…” He drops to his knees and takes her hand. “She’s normally okay. She’s…” His eyes spill over. “She was fine, and then she started talking funny. And now she’s—”
“She needs to cool down.” I swing around in time to catch Mia transferring from Penny to Fifi.
From standing on her own two feet and holding the old woman’s hand, to wrapped around Fifi’s torso, her arms and legs clinging, and her face buried in Fifi’s hair.
Good. I look to Lori. “Get us water. Lots and lots of water. And a wet washcloth. And a pair of scissors.”
“Here.” The dad finds a pair on the floor, half hidden under the rolls of fabric I tossed earlier. “What are you gonna do?”
“I’m gonna take some layers off, and we’re gonna call an ambulance.”
“You want her to chug a bunch of water?” He takes a bottle from Lori and tears the cap off. “You want her to drink?”
“No!” I slap his hand away before he can line the bottle up with her little lips and drown her, then I cut through her shirt and carefully peel the fabric off her chest. “We’re gonna do this gently.
Nothing crazy. And we’re not tipping water down her throat while she’s unconscious.
We’re simply going to stabilize her until an ambulance arrives, or we risk making things much, much worse. ”
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to…” He chokes on his tears. “I’m sorry. I’m not very good at this.”
“You’re learning.” I tip a little water onto her hair, and some more onto her chest. “It’s okay not to know everything.”
“Her mom and I split up.” He shakily accepts another bottle of water, but then he sets it down again and takes her shoes off.
“We split up, and now I only get to see my baby every other weekend. This is our first summer where I get two entire weeks in a row, but now I…” He strips her socks off and whimpers.
“She’ll never let me see my daughter ever again. ”
“Let’s worry about making sure she’s okay.” I wet the tip of my finger and hover it right over her lips. “She’s breathing. And her heart is pumping.” Which is way better than Teddy is doing. “She’s overheated, and sitting in the car in that traffic would’ve been like sitting in an oven.”
“Ambulances are on the way.” Fifi sways with Mia, hugging her baby close and stroking her back. “You hear those sirens, Moo? That means they’re coming to us, and since they get to drive extra fast when they use their lights, they’ll get here real quick.”
The little girl’s lashes flutter, her eyes wheeling beneath the lids.
“You’re in there, huh?” I lay my palm over her chest and wait the paramedics out, since there’s literally nothing I can do but make sure she continues to breathe.
That her heart continues to beat. And God, I hope she doesn’t seize.
“You’re sleeping, because it’s so freakin hot out. But I see you in there, little girl.”
“Cara.” Her father tosses her socks and shakily tips water onto her feet. “She’s my princess. My whole world. She’s going to be okay, right?”
“She’ll stay a night at the hospital.” I stroke her hair and wait for her to come back. To open her eyes. “They’ll hook her up to an IV for fluids, probably. Run some tests to make sure her kidneys are okay.”
“Are you a doctor?” He licks his lips and dribbles water along her legs. Poor Lori’s floor. “I heard someone shout about doctors.”
“I’m a medical examiner.” I lean over Cara and watch, bewitched, as her eyes flicker open and she takes in the world around her.
“Hi there, pretty girl.” I run my fingers through her hair and search her eyes.
Her pupils. “You must’ve got those from your momma, huh?
Since yours are green and Dad’s are brown. ”
“Daddy?” From dazed to distraught, she scrunches her face and tries to shove up to her elbows. “Daddy?!”
“I’m here, baby.” He comes closer and cups her cheek, and though I know he wants to whip her up and into his arms, he says nothing of my restraining hands holding her down. “I’m so sorry, princess. Daddy is so silly for getting caught up in this traffic jam.”
“You have to stay here, okay?” I gesture Lori over, knowing I’m running out of assistants.
“She’s to remain on the floor until the ambulance arrives.
Tell them she was unconscious for about a minute, maybe two.
Dehydrated, but not fried. Her pupils are responsive, and she knows who she is upon regaining consciousness.
Don’t let her stand up, even if she says she wants to.
” I grab Lori’s hand and drag her down so she can replace me.
“Even if she cries, even if she begs, even if she swears she can do cartwheels and dance, she’s to stay down here until the paramedics take her.
” I push to my feet and meet Dad’s eyes.
“Let her sip a little water if she wants it. Just a little. And only while she’s sitting up.
She has to be able to do it on her own. Don’t force it down her throat. ”
“Thank you, Doctor. I really…” He hiccups. “I really appreciate it. I don’t know what would’ve happened if—”
“It’s gonna be fine. She’s gonna be okay now.” I lift my chin to summon Fifi, but I move to the door, where the sound of honking horns grows louder and the shouts of angry commuters turn more aggressive.
“Yeah, Chief?” She comes to a stop just two feet away, her hand rubbing smooth, rhythmic circles against Mia’s back. “What a freakin’ mess, huh?”
“You saved that little girl’s life.” I clap her shoulder—good game—and swing the door wide.
“You found your patient and demanded medical attention. Heat stroke is a silent killer, and if you’d left her to rest, she might not’ve woken up again.
Well done.” Heat blasts in from outside, swallowing up the remaining cool air.
I know I have to close the door and leave them behind, but I sweep Mia’s hair aside and find her splotchy-faced and with a trembling lip.
“You’re being extra brave, Moo. I’m proud of you for being so strong. ”
“I’m not strong. I’m just crying a lot.”
“You think that’s bad?” I wrinkle my nose and inch closer, as though to tell a secret.
“There’s a fully grown woman outside who is screaming so loud, she made my ears sting.
” I tap her button nose and wink. “You’re doing just fine, pretty girl.
And you’re giving Miss Fifi the nicest hug ever. Maybe I could get one of those later?”
“Okay.” Her jaw quivers. “Promise. Maybe after I give Daddy a hug first.”
“Sounds like an excellent plan. Why don’t you sit with Cara and see if she wants to make friends?”
Her eyes light up. “Really?”
“Really. But she’s not allowed to get up.
So try to think of a game you could play sitting down.
” I stroke her cheek and coax a smile that travels most of the way to her eyes, then I turn on my heels and head back to the bullshit.
Back to the heat, to the guy who caused a car accident because of a heart attack, and then the half dozen cars behind, too distracted to stop before they hit the one in front of them.
“Aubree?” I pass families packed into SUVs, with their windows up and their air conditioning blasting while they watch the carnage outside, and I pass other cars, not so up-to-date with the windows down because their cooling sucks.
“This is gonna be at a standstill for a while.” I stop by an elderly couple and wait for their attention to swing my way.
“There’s a medical emergency a little further up, so you won’t be moving for a while.
Hop out and find some shade, or you’ll end up as a medical emergency, too.
” I rap my hand against their roof and continue through the mess. “Aubree?”
“Over here, Chief!”
I step around busted-up cars and through a gap between vehicles, only to come upon Aubree exactly where I left her, sweat pouring from her brow and her hands pumping Teddy’s chest.
His wife is on the ground, too, her knees up and her head pressed down by the girl I made eye contact with earlier. She shakes and heaves for oxygen, but she holds the old woman and clutches the phone between her shoulder and neck.
Kneeling across from Aubree, I study Teddy’s slack face and understand what she already knows.
“He’s gone?”
She nods, shifting her gaze toward the old woman. But she continues to compress, and every twenty seconds or so, she gives the man her breath. “I’ll keep going till ambos arrive, but…”
“Please don’t die.” Donna rocks under the girl’s touch. “It’s not time, Teddy.”
“I’ll take over.” I gently brush Aubree’s hands away and continue for her. “You need to rest for a second, Aubs. Get some water before you kill yourself.”
“What happened with that kid?” She drops onto her butt, her destroyed wedding gown black from the road and torn at the hems. Jesus.
I forgot she was in her gown. Heaving for fresh air, her chest lifts and falls, and her hair sticks to her brow.
All that extra fabric, all the extra weight from her dress, only making her hotter than it already is out here. “She okay?”
“Yeah.” I time my hands with the rise and fall of our conversation.
With the natural rhythm of chatter. Teddy’s gone, but until the ambulance arrives, Donna needs to know we kept trying.
“She was close to catastrophic, and smaller than Moo. It could’ve been bad, but Fifi caught it early and we got her back.
” I look out at the crowd that gathers. The looky-loos, happy to brave the heat, all to get a look at a dead man.
And then I lock eyes with a guy and a camera.
Not a phone camera. Not something a tourist would tote around. But something much larger and far more serious. “Fuck. Eyes down.” I drop my gaze, but I peek up to make sure Aubree does the same. “We’re gonna be on the news in three, two, one…”