Slow Burn: A Colorado High Country Novel (21 page)

Then Taylor was there. “EMS and the PD are on their way. What the hell happened? Was she hit?”

“I don’t think so. Some son of a bitch shoved her into the street. She fell backward. I think she hit her head. Did anyone get the plate number?”

“I … I didn’t even think about that,” said the woman.

Bear finally spoke. “They tried to take my cake. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work.”

So they’d tried to take Bear’s cake, and she’d stood up for him.

“Come here, buddy,” Taylor said to Bear. “Why don’t you sit down?”

“Is she …
dead
?” Bear asked in a tiny voice.

Eric left it to Taylor to help Bear and the woman from the car, their words fading into the background as he focused on assessing Victoria.

He rubbed a pressure point on her breastbone hard with his knuckles, deliberately trying to cause her pain. “Victoria, can you hear me?”

She didn’t move, didn’t even moan.

Damn it.

Come on, honey.

“That young man just shoved her, and she fell right in front of me.”

“Thanks for the information, ma’am,” Taylor’s voice was calm. “The police will want to hear what you saw.”

“Oh, my God! Did she get hit? What happened?” That was Lexi.

Eric let Taylor answer her questions.

There wasn’t even a mile between the firehouse and the inn, but it seemed to take fucking forever for the ambulance to arrive. When it did, Silver was driving, Ryan riding shotgun. They jumped out, grabbed gear out of the back.

Eric brought them up to date. “I think she hit her head. She’s breathing. Pupils are normal. Pulse is rapid and weak. Ryan, grab a C-collar. Let’s get some fluids going and give her some O2. Then we can—”

A hand came down on his shoulder, gave him a squeeze.

He looked up.

Taylor.

“Leave this to them, okay? You’ve done your part. Just let them work. You’ve trained them well. They know what they’re doing.”

“Right.” Eric made room for them, took Victoria’s hand in his, watching while Silver started an IV in each arm. “Victoria, can you hear me? We’re right here. We’re taking good care of you.”

And then it hit him.

His hands started to shake.

Jesus.

She’d almost been killed.

Victoria had almost been killed.

* * *

V
ictoria heard Eric’s voice
. She could hear him talking to her. He sounded worried. But no matter how she tried, she couldn’t answer him.

* * *

E
ric walked
the length of the ER waiting room. They’d taken Victoria back for a CT scan more than an hour ago. What the hell was taking so long?

She’d started to come around on the ambulance ride to Boulder, opening her eyes and squeezing his hand when he asked her to. Her pupils had remained normal, and fluids had helped stabilize her blood pressure. But she’d been unconscious for so long. Things like “skull fracture” and “brain bleed” had started running through his mind.

She’s going to be okay.

“Hey, Hawke,” Taylor called. “You’re pacing again. Come and sit down.”

Lexi and Austin sat near the window together, talking quietly, their flight to Hawaii canceled, their honeymoon on hold for the moment. They were still dressed as bride and groom and drew a lot of stares from the people walking in and out.

Eric walked over to them, sat beside Taylor. “What is taking so long?”

“I don’t know. Maybe she’s waiting in line for the CT machine or something. Or maybe the radiologist—”

An ambulance pulled into the bay—a Boulder EMS company’s rig—and EMTs pulled out a stretcher. The man with the bleached white hair lay on it.

“That son of a bitch.” Eric was on his feet.

Taylor stopped him with a hand to the chest, leaning in close. “The chief of Scarlet FD cannot beat the shit out of a patient in the ER, not even one who deserves it. Besides, it looks like he’s in bad shape.”

“Fuck. Yeah. Right. Sorry.”

They had a C-collar on the bastard and had intubated him. His face was pretty banged up, large-bore IVs in his arms, fluids wide open.

A Forest County sheriff’s car pulled in behind the ambulance, and Julia Marcs climbed out.

“You stay here with Lexi. I’ll find out what the hell happened.” Taylor turned and walked out the sliding doors.

He and Julia talked for a moment, then walked inside together.

“Hey, chief. Hey, Lexi.” Julia glanced at her watch. “You look awfully pretty in that gown, Lexi. Sorry this happened today.”

“Thanks. We’re sorry, too.”

“As I was telling Taylor, a description of the SUV the assailants were driving went out over the county channel. About an hour later, I saw them pulling out of the parking lot at the Mine Shaft and turned on my lights. They didn’t stop. The driver drove down the canyon like a maniac and lost control at the intersection of Ninth and Canyon. Rollover MVA. The other three had their seatbelts on and are on their way to the Boulder Hilton, but this guy didn’t and was ejected.”

“Shit. I’m sorry.” Eric knew cops hated car chases that ended with injuries. “It looks like he’s in bad shape.”

“Yeah. Now I need to hang around past the end of my watch so I can finish my report. How’s your friend?”

Eric shrugged. “That’s what we’d like to know. She was only semi-conscious when we got here, but she—”

A man in green scrubs walked over to him. “Eric Hawke?”

Eric’s pulse jumped. “That’s me. How is she?”

The doctor gestured to one of the private rooms. “Why don’t we talk over here where we can have a little more privacy.”

Shit. Damn it.

That’s what doctors said when they had bad news.

He, Taylor, and Lexi followed the doctor into a room with a table and a few chairs. The doctor closed the door behind them.

“We’re both advanced life-support paramedics,” Eric told him, hoping that would encourage the doctor to get to the point and not talk to them like they were two-year-olds.

“The good news is that she’s conscious with no neurological deficits that we can see. She knows who she is. She knows where she is. She knows that she was maid of honor at your wedding. She doesn’t remember what happened, which isn’t surprising. That’s very common with concussion.”

“Oh, thank God!” Lexi looked like she might cry from sheer relief.

Eric took this in. “So what’s the bad news?”

“She’s got a skull fracture. It’s a simple linear fracture, and scans show no sign of subdural hematoma or swelling. She’s having some nausea and dizziness, but that’s to be expected. Mostly, she’s got a very bad headache. Because she was out for so long, I’d like to keep her here overnight, keep her under observation, try to get her comfortable.”

“Thanks so much.” Taylor shook the doctor’s hand.

But Eric couldn’t stand it any longer. “I want to see her.”

V
ictoria felt
someone stroke her cheek and opened her eyes to find Eric looking down at her. “Eric.”

“Hey.” The smile on his lips did nothing to hide the crease of worry between his brows. “How do you feel?”

“My head … hurts a lot.”

“You’ll be getting another dose of morphine in about twenty minutes.”

She reached out for his hand. “I’m so glad to see you.”

He gave her fingers a warm squeeze. “Lexi and Taylor are here, too, remember?”

“They are?”

“Hey, Vic.” Lexi appeared beside Eric, still wearing her wedding gown, Austin beside her. “We’re still here.”

Vic didn’t understand. “Weren’t you supposed to be on a plane?”

“We canceled our flight,” Austin told her. “We’re going to stick around until we know you’re okay.”

“But why … how?” It was all so confusing.

Eric stroked her forehead. “Do you remember why you’re here?”

Of course, she did. Except that when she tried to recall what had happened, her mind went blank. “No.”

Eric exchanged a glance with Lexi and Austin. “You got a bad bump on the head and have a concussion and a skull fracture. You’re having some problems with short-term memory, but that’s not unusual.”

She looked from Eric to Austin and Lexi. “I ruined your wedding, didn’t I? I ruined your honeymoon.”

“No!” they said together.

“No, sweetie, you didn’t ruin anything. Don’t think that for a minute.” Lexi reached out to touch her knee.

“You’re a hero to everyone in Scarlet now,” Austin told her.

“I … I am?”

Then Eric told her how she’d run out to the street in front of the inn to protect Bear from some meth-head bullies who were trying to steal his cake and how one of them had shoved her, sending her toppling backward into the street.

“You hit your head hard, and you were out for at least ten full minutes.”

It was like hearing a story about someone else. She truly couldn’t remember any of it—defending Bear, arguing with meth-heads, falling into the street.

“Is Bear okay?”

“He was pretty shaken up about what happened to you, but he’s going to be all right. Winona got him settled down. Megs helped him clean his jacket. Kendra brought him another piece of cake.”

“What about the meth-heads? Did anyone catch them?”

The three exchanged a glance again.

“Yeah,” Eric said. “They caught them. They’re in jail.”

“Good.” Then it occurred to her. “How many times have you told me this?”

“Four. Or five now, I think.”

“Wow.” She closed her eyes, her head throbbing.

“Are you in a lot of pain?”

“Yes.” It was like the worst migraine ever.

She heard a beep, and then Eric spoke. “Victoria is still in a lot of pain. Can you please call the doctor to ask him to boost the dosage and do something to help her now?”

“I’ll be right in,” said a woman’s voice through the speaker.

“I called your father to let him know what had happened,” Lexi said. “I told him you’re going to be okay.”

Eyes still closed—the light hurt—Vic thanked her. “What did he say?”

“He wants you to call when you’re up to it.”

So he wasn’t coming out here. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised.

“Your boss called. Eric spoke with her.” There was a note of amusement in Lexi’s voice that brought Vic’s eyes open.

“Oh, no. What did you tell her?”

“I told her that I couldn’t tell her anything due to patient privacy laws. Then I whispered that I was the first paramedic on the scene and that you were in the hospital with a skull fracture, and we weren’t yet sure how badly injured you were.”

“Oh, my God.” Vic laughed, then winced at the explosion this caused inside her head, pressing her fingers to her temple. “What did she say?”

“She wanted to know your hospital room, so I told her. Then she asked when I thought you’d be discharged. I told her I didn’t know because I was just the paramedic and not a doctor. But I told her you probably wouldn’t be able to travel for a week.”

Vic couldn’t help but laugh again, despite the pain. “You’re terrible.”

“I just want her to leave you alone so you can rest.”

She squeezed his hand. “Thanks.”

The door opened, and a nurse in maroon scrubs breezed in, something in her hand. “Are you in a lot of pain?”

Vic nodded.

The nurse injected medication into her IV.

Vic’s eyes drifted shut, and she floated away.

* * *

E
ric helped
Victoria into his truck to make certain she didn’t get dizzy and fall. When she was buckled in, he walked around to the back of the vehicle and made a quick call to Megs. He would never ask her to do anything like this under normal circumstances, but he was desperate.

“Megs here.”

“Hey, I need your help. Can you and whoever else is around head to my house, climb in through the bathroom window, and clean the place? I haven’t been there much for the past week, and it’s a pit. I’m headed that way with Victoria—”

“Oh, my gentle Jesus.” She moved the phone away from her mouth, but not far enough that Eric couldn’t hear her. “Hawke wants me to tone out the Team to clean his house for Victoria. He must be in love.”

He hadn’t asked her to tone out anyone. “There’s a six-pack in it for those who volunteer. I don’t want her to see the place when it’s a wreck.”

Megs laughed. “You mean you don’t want her to see how you really live. You’ve got it bad for her, don’t you?”

“You have no idea. Please, will you do it?”

“Sure. I’ll see who else is willing to help me.”

“Thanks, Megs. I owe you big time.”

“I probably owe you a few, too, but who’s counting?”

“Thanks so much. We’re leaving Boulder now.”

“How is she?”

“She’s still having bad headaches and short-term memory problems. Light hurts her eyes. But her scans have all been normal. She’s going to be okay.”

“I’m relieved to hear it. She’s got guts.”

“Yes, she does.” Eric thanked Megs again and ended the call, then walked around to the driver’s side door and climbed in.

“An important call?” Victoria asked him.

“Just Megs. Team stuff.” He shoved his key into the ignition, and then his pager went off. He slipped it off his belt, scrolled through the message.

Jesus!

The Team would never let him live this one down.

They talked of little things on the way up the canyon. Victoria was unusually quiet, a slight frown on her face. Was she in pain?

“Hey, are you okay?”

“I’m so happy that I’m here with you, but I feel bad about missing work. I feel like I’m playing hooky or something.”

She had rescheduled her flight for next Saturday. Eric had managed to trade for more days off, but he would be on call. Still, that gave them the better part of six more days together—unless someone set the town on fire.

He reached over, took her hand. “You have a skull fracture and a concussion, for God’s sake. You heard the doc. He said you need lots of rest.”

“He also said I could travel.”

“He said you could travel
if
you felt up to it—which you and I both know you don’t. Cut yourself some slack, okay?”

She nodded, tried to smile. “I’m not very good at that.”

“I’ve noticed.”

Eric drove to the inn first to get Victoria’s bags. Bob and Kendra had moved her things downstairs into Lexi’s old bedroom to make room for the suite’s new occupants.

“The inn looks like itself again,” Victoria said.

The party tent was gone. The chairs were gone. Britta was gone, too, having caught a flight to California.

Victoria went inside with him to say hello. “Did Lexi and Austin make it to the airport this morning?”

It was the third or fourth time she’d asked someone about them.

Bob didn’t know that. He got to his feet. “They sure did. They should be getting
leid
real soon.”

Kendra shook her head. “You really think you’re funny, don’t you?”

Victoria gave Bob a smile. “It was a beautiful wedding. Thanks for having me as your guest. The Matchless is one of the most comfortable suites I’ve ever stayed in.”

“You’re welcome, honey. We’re just glad you’re going to be okay.” Bob gave her a hug, then turned to Eric. “What did you think? Is the bed comfortable?”

“Yeah, Bob, that bed is comfortable. I suppose I should thank you, too.”

“Nah, we’ll just send you a bill.”

Kendra gave Victoria a hug, too. “Don’t listen to him. He’s kidding.”

Eric loaded Victoria’s bags in his truck, then they headed off to his place, making light conversation. The closer they got to his cabin, the more nervous he felt. He wasn’t ashamed of how he lived. But somewhere in the past twenty-four hours, it had dawned on him that the woman he loved might as well be from a different planet. She had traveled the world, while he’d spent most of his life in Scarlet. She had a college degree, while he had a high school diploma. And then there was the bit about her being a millionaire.

What could a woman as sophisticated as Victoria possibly see in him? She would probably take one look at his cabin and realize she’d made a mistake.

Knock it off, dumbshit.

“Tell me about your house,” she said.

“It’s a cabin.”

“Cool.”

“I rent it from this couple that lives up the mountain. It sits on their property. It’s small, but I don’t need much space. Most of what I own is climbing gear. I spend a lot of time at the firehouse anyway.”

“I bet it’s cozy.”

He felt an irrational urge to laugh. “That it is.”

A familiar green Subaru came around the curve headed their way, Megs at the wheel, Sasha in the passenger seat, Ahearn following them in his white Jeep Cherokee. As they passed, Sasha stuck her entire upper body out the window and gave him a thumbs-up.

“Oh, hey, there’s Sasha.” Victoria waved.

Eric coughed. “I wonder what they were doing out this way.”

Five minutes later, he turned off onto the dirt road that led to his cabin, feeling terribly self-conscious. He could stand in front of her naked and feel completely at ease, but taking her to his home… He’d never brought any woman here.

“Oh, God! Is that it? It’s like a gingerbread cottage. I love it.”

“Yeah?” He let out a relieved breath and pulled into his driveway.

* * *

V
ic waited
until Eric reached her door to climb out, protective hands helping to steady her as she stepped to the ground. “I’m okay, really—just a slight headache.”

“I’m not taking any chances.” He took her hand in his. “Let’s get you settled inside. Then I’ll come back for your bags.”

“Can’t I see the outside?”

“Okay. Sure.”

It was the most adorable cabin Victoria had ever seen, like something from a postcard. The bottom half was built of large rounded river stones, a wide stone chimney rising past the steeply gabled roof. Four broad steps led to a covered porch beneath which firewood stood neatly stacked. The front door was painted a cheery color of red, the window casings bright blue.

He led her around to the right. “Taylor and I built this deck a few years back. The owners bought the materials, and I got a discount on my rent for doing the work.”

A few simple Adirondack chairs sat on the deck, and Victoria could imagine the two of them kicking back with a few beers here on a summer evening.

Then she saw it. “Look! You have your own creek.”

It ran down from the hillside about thirty feet from the cabin, babbling its way over rocks and through groves of aspen before heading off down the mountain.

“It’s not really mine, but, yeah, it’s nice. Sometimes deer and elk come down at night to drink.”

“It must be wonderful to live that close to nature.”

He grinned. “It is—until there’s a forest fire or the creek floods.”

“What a beautiful place.” She crossed the lawn to the creek’s edge and just stood there, breathing in the stillness, a bittersweet ache in her heart. She didn’t want to leave Scarlet. She didn’t want to leave
him
.