This Side of the Sun (The Sun Trilogy) (12 page)

The police officer who held me back could have been angry at me for fighting him, and likely was, but did his duty in keeping me safe. People were yelling all around me, their voices garbled by my own blood pounding in my ears and the sound of the machine ripping through the cab of Saul’s truck. “Get her out of here!” and “Forget that one, he’s dead!” were the only two coherent things I picked out of the jumble. The smoke was making it difficult to breathe and I didn’t want to be drug away. I needed to get to Saul. I had to force myself to stay in the present, when it felt so much like I was back in the middle of the explosions.

“Stop!” I shouted as loud as I
could muster, trying to break free.

“Hattie, no!” It was my father’s voice. “Stop, it’s not safe!”

In the distance I heard Miranda yelling at Helen. It was rare for Miranda to actually cuss. Something about it made me start laughing. I was back in the front yard now, my father and my brother on either side of me, holding my arms. I shrugged them off, but stayed where I was, watching the scene before us.

“Saul! Saul!” I screamed. “Oh God, Saul!” I could barely recognize my own voice through the sound of my own fear.

The ambulance crew was busy bringing Lina out from the house behind us, complete with a stretcher and neck brace. Her head had been bandaged and blood was wicking through. She was pale and her eyes full of terror.

“Lina!” I ran to her side, once there matching the pace of the moving stretcher. “What happened?”

“Hit us…” she muttered, along with something else that was incoherent.

“Lina, was Saul driving?”
I pressed.

The traumatized girl began crying. “Where’s Saul?” She was nearly hysterical and barely able to ask the question.

“You’re going to have to step back now, ma’am; let us get her loaded and the hospital,” said a slightly plump woman wearing tight navy blue slacks and a white uniform shirt that bore the logo of the ambulance company.

I obediently took a step back to let them do their job. Everett was standing behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. I found it comforting, albeit in the smallest of ways. Within the next moments Lina’s ambulance backed out of our driveway and turned right. I watched it for only a brief moment before looking back to the accident scene. Other neighbors had gathered on their porches and in their yards and also looked on.

Flames had begun to erupt from the smaller mangled vehicle. One of the two fire engines had begun spraying water in an attempt to extinguish the fire. Three different firemen continued to work with the Jaws of Life, their efforts appearing to double now that active flames were present on the scene. As the metal cutters finally quieted I could hear one of the firemen shouting for the others to help move parts of the truck frame back. I put my hands over my mouth and waited.

At long last I saw one of the firefighters pull Saul from the wreckage. Everett, still standing behind me, encircled me in his arms. Things seemed surreal as I watched the medics carefully load Saul onto a stretcher. I didn’t see any blood but I was also standing at a distance. Two of the medics fastened a long safety strap around his body as a third and fourth secured a brace around his neck.
I knew he was alive because he raised one of his arms. I let out a sigh of relief and turned to face Everett. He held me close as I rested my cheek against his chest. He stroked my back soothingly.

“Hat, let’s get you inside,” said Everett.

“I need to go with him,” I insisted.

My father had walked over to where we stood and placed a hand upon my shoulder. “No, let them work on him,” he said. “We’ll find out where they’re taking him and meet them there in a little while.”

I nodded, knowing that he was right. I let Everett take me back into the house. He guided me to the living room where we sat together on the couch. He kept an arm around my shoulders and I leaned against him.

“Carolina. Is she going to be okay?” I asked

Miranda walked over, carrying a glass of water and set it on the coffee table in front of me.

“The ambulance guys seem to think so. They’re taking her into Anacortes for x-rays just to make sure her spine is okay and to stitch up the side of her head.”

“Good. She’s a really sweet girl,” I said as I picked up the glass of water.

“She Saul’s sister?” asked Everett.

After swallowing a sip of water I nodded. “Yeah, she just flew in from Virginia last night.”

“Well she better pay to have this carpet cleaned,” added Helen. I ignored her completely.

“Honey, your dad’s seeing if he can find out where they took Saul and once we know one of us will drive you there,” said Miranda sweetly.

“Thanks,” I managed to mumble.

My stomach was in a knot and all of a sudden I felt exhausted. When my father entered the room talking on his cell phone, I sat up straighter. He held his index finger up, indicating that I should wait. I sat as patiently as I could and Everett took his arm from around my shoulders and slipped my hand into his.

Soon, my father was off of the phone and sat in the chair that was kiddy-corner to the couch.

“The crew outside was really busy but one of them said that they were pretty sure they were taking Saul to Anacortes General. That’s a good thing, because if he were real bad off they’d be life flight’ing him to Harborview down in Seattle,” said my father.

“Yeah, he’s right, Hat,” said Everett.

“I need to go see him.”

“I’ll take you. Just let me grab my keys,” said Everett.

“Why don’t the rest of us stay put and go ahead with the barbecue? That tiny hospital doesn’t need all of us taking up space in the waiting room,” said Miranda.

Joe and Justine were standing together near the threshold to the kitchen and he had an arm around her. I suddenly felt bad about leaving on their special day. Knowing me too well, Joe spoke up.

“Go, Hattie. Will be fine here.”

I walked to him and gave him a quick hug and followed it with a kiss to Justine’s cheek.

“Call as soon as you know something?” said my new sister-in-law.

I nodded. “I will.”

***

The drive to Anacortes General was unremarkable. The sky had turned gray and the temperature had dropped. I was
glad to have Everett at my side. We walked through the main entrance together and across a small lobby to a reception desk that was labeled “INFORMATION.” A little elderly woman was behind the desk. She wore a dark blue smock and half-moon reading lessons. Her gray hair was just barely a hint of blue and she wore it in short curls. Her earlobes sagged from heavy sapphire earrings. She smiled at us as we approached, which caused her entire face to light up. As upset as I was, I found myself smiling back.

“How can I help you young lady, young man?” asked the charming older woman.

“I think my friends might have been brought here,” I said in a shaky voice. “They were in a car wreck over on the edge of Fidalgo Bay.”

“
Ohhhh yessss,” she said in an overly sympathetic grandmotherly voice. “I heard about that from some of our nurses. Let’s take a look and see if your friends were admitted. What are their names, Honey?”

I felt Everett place his hands on my shoulders. It had a very calming effect.

“Saul and Carolina Meyers.”

The woman tapped away at a keyboard. Her arthritic fingers were much faster than I would have imagined.

“Oh yes! I see them right here. They’re both still in the emergency room.”

“Can you point us in that direction, please?” asked Everett.

“I can give you a map if you’d like,” offered the sweet little woman. “But it might make it more confusing.”

“Thanks, we’ll trust you,” I said.

The woman flashed us another of her brilliant smiles. “Just take that escalator right there down one level. At the bottom turn left and keep going straight. Once you can’t go anymore, you’re at the emergency room. Just go in through the red double doors and the nurses station is right there and they’ll help you out. Tell them Mrs. Carole sent you.”

“Thanks, ma’am,” said Everett. “We appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. And I hope your friends feel better real soon.”

“Thanks,” I said quickly, anxious to get to Saul’s side.

Everett took my hand in his and we walked to the escalator together. I could feel my anxiety growing as we walked down the moving steps, surpassing the automated speed.

“He’ll be okay, Hat.”

I looked over at Everett. “You think so?”

“I hope so.”

“Thanks, Ev.”

The hallways were painted a neutral tan color and the floors were an off-white tile that had little blue speckles in the pattern. It all felt very cold. An occasional framed print hung on the walls, but they did little to make it feel warm or welcoming.

“That’s it up there,” I said when I saw the red doors.

I quickened my pace, pulling Everett along with me. The doors swung inward easily enough. I had expected a lot of noise once we were in the emergency room, but it was oddly quiet. There were a handful of red plastic seats, but only three were occupied. Just as promised, a nurse’s station was in plain view. A clean-cut black man who looked to be perhaps in his forties sat in a chair behind the desk looking at a computer screen, seemingly lost in his own world. He wore blue scrubs and a name badge clipped to a front shirt pocket that read “David K.”

After we had waited for several seconds, the man finally looked up.

“Can I help you?” he asked, his voice gentle and soothing.

“We’re looking for Saul and Carolina Meyers. They were brought in after a bad car accident,” I said quickly.

“Just a moment while I look them up,” said the man. His fingers clicked away at the keyboard and within a moment he looked up. “They’re both here. I can show you where Carolina is, but it looks like Saul is in radiology.”

“Thank you,” I said.

The man stood and we followed him around the desk and through a threshold that lead to a larger room that was sectioned off into cubicles. Each smaller room had a panel of cloth
for privacy that hung from tracks in the ceiling.

“She’s just down at the end of this row,” he explained.

Most of the little rooms were obviously empty, but four had lights on with the privacy curtains drawn. I heard someone cough loudly; the kind of hacking cough that grates on your nerves. By the sound, I guessed it was an old man. Finally, the man escorting us stopped at the last cubicle on our right. He knocked on the wall that was beside the privacy curtain.

“Miss M
eyers, is it okay to send a couple of visitors in?”

“Sure, David. Thank you.”

The sound of Lina’s voice made my heart skip a beat; I was just so happy to hear her.

“You two go on in. But make sure you let her get some rest.” The man winked at me before walking away.

Everett quietly held the curtain back and I stepped into the cubicle. A huge smile spread across Lina’s face. Her left cheek was bruised and swollen, causing her grin to be a bit lopsided.
Her left eye was almost swelled shut and she had a bandage on her right temple. I smiled back at her, not sure just what I should say.

“Dang girl, that’s some shiner you’ve got!” said Everett, sounding a bit like a fool.

“Attractive, huh?” she said back to him.

“Lina, I’m so glad you’re okay,” I whispered as I walked to her side.

She patted the mattress beside her, indicating that I should sit down. I did so, but reluctantly; I didn’t want to do anything that might hurt her. Everett remained standing, his arms across his chest, and leaned against the wall by the foot of her bed.

“Have you seen Saul yet?” she asked.

I shook my head side to side. “Not yet.”

“Have you heard anything about him?” she pressed.

Everett shifted his weight to his other foot. “Just that he’s here.”

“They told me that they took him for a CT scan just to make sure his neck is okay. The doctor who first saw me said were lucky to both still be alive and that it’s a miracle we don’t seem to have any major injuries.” Lina’s entire face lit up as she began laughing. “You should have heard him after they gave him a shot of pain medicine! Oh my God! He was laughing at the stupidest things.”

Suddenly Lina’s happy expression turned to one of grief.

Everett walked to her and took one of her hands in his.

“Hey now, what’s wrong?”

The girl sniffled and wiped away a fresh tear that had begun to fall down her cheek.

“I heard the nurses talking. The other driver died.”

I nodded and gently took her other hand in my own, being careful of the IV line in her arm.

“Yeah, they did. Lina, do you know what happened?” I asked.

“Saul was driving. He had driven by your house once to show me where it was. He offered to let me out while he parked farther down the street.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “I
told him no, that I would go with him. If I would’ve said yes maybe none of this would’ve happened.”