Revved Up Hearts (21 page)

Dawn got up early the next morning to finish packing. She skipped her morning jog so that she could go straight to the track and put her stuff in the hauler. She was on her way to the chapel service and drivers’ meeting when she spotted Jeremiah. “Good morning,” she
said.

“Good morning,” he answered as she fell in step beside him. “I’m headed to chapel and drivers’ meeting. You
coming?”

“Yep. I was just looking for you to ask you the same thing. Bryan is already there and is supposed to be saving me a seat.” They held hands as they walked to the meetings. When they arrived, Dawn looked around for Bryan. She spotted him and waved. She started toward him and noticed that he had a shocked look on his face. She got to her seat beside him and sat down. “What’s going on?” she asked Bryan as Jeremiah sat down on the other side of
her.

“I don’t know what you said to him, but it must have made an impression. He never comes to
chapel.”

“I thought this was
mandatory.”

“The drivers’ meeting is, but chapel isn’t. I’ve never seen him here early enough for the
service.”

Later that afternoon, Dawn sat on the top of Bryan’s pit box, watching the race. “You’ve been awfully quiet,” Travis
said.

“Concentrating on the race,” Dawn answered. “Do you think Bryan will make it all the way through the
race?”

“I think so. He’s feeling pretty good. He wants to try, but it’s early. He could change his mind after it gets really hot in that
car.”

“Is Kenny ready if you need
him?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. I’m going to get something to drink. Do you want
something?”

“Sure. I’ll take a bottle of
water.”

Dawn unplugged her headset and climbed down off the box. She fished two bottles out of the cooler and was wiping the moisture off them when she heard the crash. She turned suddenly and noticed that everyone was looking toward turn 4. She ran around the pit box to see what was going on. What she saw caused her stomach to drop to her knees. There in the grass, just past the entrance to pit road, sat Jeremiah’s car on its
top.

“Oh, God. Oh, God!” Dawn prayed. She grabbed hold of the pit wall for support. There was no movement inside the car. She desperately wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. An ambulance whizzed by, temporarily blocking Dawn’s view. “Please, please, please!” she begged God as she continued to watch. “Lord, he was just opening his heart to you again. Please don’t stop that now.” Suddenly, she remembered all the times that she forgot to read her Bible or pray. “I’ll do better. I promise,” she pleaded with God. “Just let him be okay.” Still no movement coming from Jeremiah’s car. Dawn felt someone coming up behind her, holding her elbow to steady her. From the corner of her eye, she could see that it was
Ted.

“C’mon, buddy,” he whispered. “Open that window-net and let us know that you’re okay.” Still nothing from the car. The emergency crews were there now. Someone was kneeling beside the car, reaching in. “What’s going on?” Dawn asked as a single tear ran down her
cheek.

“He’ll be okay,” Ted said, trying to reassure her. “He’s a big, tough guy, and these cars have so many safety features. He’ll be okay. He’s probably just stuck in the car because it’s on its top. That happens sometimes.” The safety crew finally had the window-net open, and Dawn could see Jeremiah moving around inside the
car.

“Thank you, God,” Dawn whispered. She hadn’t even realized until that second that she had been holding her breath. She could see Jeremiah trying to get out of the car, but he wasn’t having much luck. The EMTs finally pulled him from the car. He lay on the ground at first then rolled over on his side. The EMTs were trying to hold him still but they weren’t successful. Then he made it up to his hands and knees. One of the emergency workers removed his helmet. Jeremiah shook his head, obviously trying to clear the cobwebs. Dawn stepped forward, going out there to check on him for herself. She had to know that he was okay. Ted’s grip on her elbow tightened, stopping
her.

“Don’t do that,” he said. “They’ll take him to the infield care center. Go meet them
there.”

“Okay. Thank you,” Dawn said, still not looking away. She watched until Jeremiah was safely in the ambulance and the doors closed after him. Then she turned and ran to the care center as fast as she
could.

Dawn rounded the corner of the garage, and she could see the infield care center a few yards away. She got just a glance of Jeremiah’s head as the stretcher was pushed inside. Jeremiah’s crew chief and crew members were ahead of Dawn, and she could see the concerned looks on their faces. “Oh, God,” Dawn continued to pray as she ran, “please let him be okay.” Dawn arrived in the infield care center to see a group of doctors and nurses gather behind a curtain. She could hear Jeremiah’s voice coming from the same
area.

“Leave me alone!” She heard him say. “I’m okay. I said leave me alone. Let me out of here.” Dawn could also hear the doctors trying to calm him down. It didn’t sound like it was working. “You are not sticking that needle in my arm. Get that thing away from me. I mean
it!”

By that time, Dawn had made her way closer to the crew, just outside the curtain. She stood next to Wes. “Is he okay?” she
asked.

“Yeah,” he answered, without looking away from Jeremiah. “He hit his head, so he’s a little woozy. Lucky for us, he is really
hardheaded.”

“It doesn’t sound like he is cooperating with the
doctors.”

“He isn’t. That’s the hardheaded part. He’s terrified of
needles.”

“He told me that story,” Dawn
said.

“I can hear you two talking about me,” came Jeremiah’s voice from inside the curtained
area.

That’s when one of the doctors poked his head outside the curtain. “Can one of you help us talk some sense into
him?”

“Knock it off!” Wes
said.

“I’ll knock it off when they knock it
off!”

Wes’s only response was to throw his hands in the air and look
up.

“Strike one,” the doctor said. “Miss, do you want to give it a
try?”

“Can I come closer?” Dawn
asked.

“Yes,” the doctor answered. The doctors and nurses moved out of the way so that she could stand next to the bed. That was when she got a good look at Jeremiah. Other than a nasty-looking bump above his left eye, he looked pretty good. Once she reached the bedside, she took his hand and held it. It felt so warm as she squeezed it. She leaned in closer and looked into his eyes. He looked so
scared.

“One of the signs of a concussion is that you act a little crazy because you’ve hurt yourself. So as you fuss and fight, it makes the doctors think it’s because of your injury. So calm down, be rational, answer their questions, and cooperate with them. Then they can assess you properly and let you go home, if you’re
okay.”

“What about the needles?” he asked, still holding her hand, intently looking into her eyes. With her free hand, she pushed a strand of hair out of his
eyes.

“What is the needle for?” she asked the doc, never looking away from
Jeremiah.

“We need to take a little blood, to make sure that he wasn’t under the influence of anything. It’s a NASCAR
rule.”

“Can you do that with a finger
stick?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

“Why?” Jeremiah asked, tearing his gaze away from Dawn to look at the
doctor.

“We need more than just a drop. We have several tests to
run.”

Jeremiah turned back to look at Dawn again. Without a word between them, he asked her a question with his eyes. “Yes. I’ll stay with you,” she
answered.

Dawn, Jeremiah, and his crew left the care center about forty-five minutes later. The media was waiting on them. One of the TV pit reporters asked Jeremiah for an interview, and he agreed. Dawn tried to step away, but he grabbed her hand and held it. He only let her go far enough away to be out of the camera shot. They waited for a few seconds. Then the cameraman counted them down from five, and the red light on the camera came on. “I’m standing here with Jeremiah Jones who has just left the infield care center.” When he finished, the reporter turned to Jeremiah as the camera zoomed out to a two-shot. “What happened out there?” he asked
Jeremiah.

“I’m not real sure. One second I’m coming out of turn 4, and the next second, I’m in the wall. I may have clipped the guy in front of me on the way back down the track, but I don’t know. I’ll have to look at the tape. Anyway, the next thing I remember, I’m in the back of the ambulance surrounded by
paramedics.”

“It looks like you blew a tire. Had you been having trouble
before?”

“No, not that I recall,” Jeremiah replied. “I took a hard hit to my hard head. I remember that the #91 was running fine. I had been talking to my crew chief about our next pit stop. A few seconds later,
wham
!”

“Well, thank you for your time. We’re all glad that you’re okay. I know you’re ready to get back to your motor coach to get some rest.” Then he turned back to the camera. “Back to you guys upstairs.” With that, the light on the camera went off. The reporter shook Jeremiah’s hand, wished him a speedy recovery, and thanked him again for the interview. Then the reporter and cameraman walked away, looking for their next
story.

“He was right. You need to get some rest,” Dawn said, trying to lead him to his motor
coach.

“I know that I need to take it easy, but not yet. Since I’m out of the race, I’m going back to Charlotte. I’ll get some sleep on the
plane.”

“Okay,” Dawn said. “Do you want me to walk you back to the coach and help you get your
stuff?”

“You can walk with me if you want, but I’m not going back to the coach. One of the guys went to get my stuff. There should be a car waiting to take me to the airport by the time I get to the parking lot. You can walk out there with me if you
want.”