Sweet Tea and Secrets (40 page)

A loud roar filled the air as the flames pushed through the roof.

Garrett had a hard time distinguishing between the noises he heard.
Was the fire whistling or was that sirens?
The sound got louder,
but he didn’t have time to wait.

He sprinted around the side of the house and leaped side-saddle over the low picket fence, searching for a safe entry point. At the back door, he
forced himself to stop long enough to lay a hand on the door to check for heat, although he knew in his heart it wouldn’t matter.
She was supposed to be here waiting for me to pick her up.
If there was any chance....

He couldn’t leave Jill inside. He had to get her out.

Thankfully, the heat wasn’t as intense back here. He twisted the knob, but the door was locked. He balled his hand in a fist and popped out the back glass panel, and
reached through the shards of glass to unlock it. Blood spilled from the slice in his forearm.

Garrett squinted in the heavy smoke, desperate to find Jill. Hot flames blazed, roasting his skin. He raised an arm to shield his face so he could look for her.

He stumbled in the kitchen, barely able to see through the thickening smoke.

“Jill,” he choked out, frantic. If she was upstairs he’d never get to her. “Where are you?”

I can’t lose her now.
“Jill. Can you hear me?”

But the fire was snapping up everything in its path, muffling even his own voice.

He tripped and fell to the floor.

As he clamored to get up, he realized it was Jill he’d stumbled over.

Thank you, God.

“Jill!” He shook her but she seemed lifeless.

She didn’t move.

Flames licked from the dining room into the kitchen.

Time was running out, and he knew it.

He tried to lift her but the chair jammed near the cabinet.

Garrett shook off a dizzy feeling.
Give me a second chance. Please, God. I’ll never let her down again.

He lifted his shirt up over his nose and pulled his knife from his hip to cut her loose, but his eyes were tearing so badly he could barely see. He coughed, choking on the acrid fumes.

Unable to free her from the chair, Garrett heaved the chair and Jill into the air in one swift motion, and ran out the back door. He didn’t stop running until he was nearly to the woods and away from the heat.

Jill’s head hung forward, limp. Her hair, a tangled mess.

“Talk to me.”
He reached for her face
and tipped
her
chin up, but she didn’t respond.

“Come on,” he shouted, “you have to be okay. Hang in there,
angel.”

Garrett dared to hope when he heard Jill trying to draw in fresh air between raspy coughs. Soot smudged her face.

I’ll kill that bastard.

The EMTs dragged Garrett away. He hadn’t heard the emergency vehicles arrive. He prayed that they were in time and could save his girl.

The emergency workers began immediate triage. Jill responded to the CPR. They quickly put her on oxygen to quiet her heavy coughing and gagging.

They transferred Jill to a stretcher and put her in the ambulance. Garrett jumped in the back of the ambulance and the medic closed the door behind them.

“Stay with me, Jill. Please. You’ve got to hang on.” He clung to her arm.

Jill’s lashes fluttered. A tear cleared a trail down the soot on her face.

The ambulance lurched forward, sirens blaring as they sped toward the hospital.

“How bad is she burned?” Garrett asked the medic.

The large man didn’t look to be out of his twenties, but he moved with confidence. “She doesn’t appear to have any severe burns.”

“Thank God,” Garrett said.

“But she’s not out of the woods.” The medic raised the IV bag to a hook, repositioned the oxygen mask and took her blood pressure.

Garrett wiped his hands on his jeans, and then put his hand on the wall of the ambulance for balance.

“Burns look worse, but more people die of smoke inhalation than from burns.” The medic stayed steady at work as he spoke.

Garrett swallowed hard. “Hang in there for me, baby.”
Don’t leave me.

The medic pointed to the gash on Garrett’s arm. “That doesn’t look good. You probably need a couple of stitches.”

Garrett tugged his arm away. Blood had coagulated and stiffened against his shirt. “Concentrate on her. I’m fine.”

Jill thrashed.

Garrett reached for her arm. “She’s struggling to breathe.”

The medic talked to the ER on a two-way radio. Through the scratchy speakers, they repeated the vitals and followed the treatment plan the hospital dictated. “Do you know how long she was in there?” the medic asked.

He shook his head. “No. I don’t know.”

The medic conveyed the message and gave the hospital the update on Jill’s condition. It sounded serious. If she had to be intubated, they didn’t want to do it in transit.

The medic monitored Jill and tried to keep her comfortable, while reporting status to the hospital via the radio.

Jill flailed and appeared to struggle for air every time she floated into consciousness.

When they got to the hospital, the ER team met them at the doors, ready to move Jill directly to an individual resuscitation bay for immediate care.

The hospital team worked quickly.

“She took in a lot of smoke,” said the attending physician, a tall lanky man.

“There are burns in her throat. Even her nose hairs are burnt.” He leaned in, placing his stethoscope to her chest.

A nurse fussed with the monitors and they began to beep and spit out data. Another nurse drew blood then scurried from the area.

“Let’s start hyperbaric oxygen therapy and see if we can get her oxygen levels where they need to be,” the doctor said. The nurse moved immediately to execute the orders.

Garrett’s injuries were minor and treated quickly. The slice in his forearm took over a dozen stitches. Getting the stitches hurt far worse than the cut itself.

After he’d been patched up, he paced the length of the waiting room. He’d spent more time in this hospital this month than he had in his lifetime. If he ever had to be here again, it would be too soon. As much as he’d hated being a patient, it was far worse to have Jill behind those curtains fighting for her life.

The desk nurse called Garrett over. “The doctor will be right out to discuss her condition with you.” She pointed toward the green double doors. “There he is now.”

Garrett met the doctor in the doorway.

“We’re watching her closely. We’ve started oxygen therapy.”

“I heard them talking about intubation on the emergency radio on the way over.”

“We haven’t intubated, and we won’t do that unless we have to.”

Garrett closed his eyes, his chin quivering. “Thank you, God.”

“Depending on how she does overnight, I’d like to do a bronchoscopy in the morning. It’s a visual exam done with a fiber-optic tube. That will give us the chance to see how much damage has been done to the lungs and airways.”

“She’s going to be okay, right?”

“I’m not going to sugar coat my prognosis. Her condition is serious,” the doctor said. “We’re monitoring her respiratory rate and other vitals. We’ll take good care of her. We’re going to move her to ICU as soon as we can get a bed. You’ve been through a lot, yourself. You might want to go home. She won’t be allowed visitors.”

Garrett hesitated.

“I know it’s hard to leave. We’ve sedated her to keep her comfortable and regulate her breathing. Trust me. We’ll call if anything changes.” The doctor cuffed Garrett’s shoulder and gave him a nod. “Any other questions for me?”

Garrett couldn’t think of any. “No, sir. But please, doc, take good care of her.”

The doctor nodded, then turned and walked away.

Garrett stood there alone, not wanting to leave.

The nurse at the desk must have recognized the lost look on his face. “Sir. Can I call a friend or a cab to give you a ride home?”

 
“No, thanks.” He walked toward the front of the hospital. He lifted the phone out of the clip on his belt and pushed redial.

Scott Calvin answered. “Is Jill okay?”

Garrett wiped his brow. His arm was stiff from the heavy bandage they’d wrapped from his forearm to his bicep. “She’s not out of the woods, but she’s going to recover.” He swallowed hard. “She has to.”

“I’m out here at the house. Garrett, it doesn’t look good.”

“I know. The place was engulfed in flames when I got there. I can’t believe I got her out of there, man.”

“Thank God you turned around when you did.”

“Did your guys get Kase?”

“No,” he admitted. “I’m afraid not.”

“Damn it.” Garrett pounded his fist into the air. “I thought you said you had a man right in the area.”

“We did.”

“Then what happened?”

“Kase talked his way out of it. He had fake FBI credentials. My deputy believed him when he said he was on undercover assignment and in hot pursuit of the perp. My deputy escorted him all the way to the county line, blue lights and all. Kase gave him a thumbs-up as he crossed into Carolina.”

“I bet he did. Damn Kase.” Garrett kicked a trash can over. “FBI? Could that guy stoop any lower?”

“He’s a pro.”

Garrett dropped his head into his hands. “Kase won’t get away with this.”

“Trust me. Dan is feeling pretty bad about being duped. He’s a little overzealous and an odd duck, but he has a good heart.”

“Yeah, look what that got me. That deputy of yours handcuffed Jill in her own living room, and now he escorts an an arsonist and attempted murderer across the state line. I suggest you take his bullet away, he’s a wildcard.”

“We haven’t given up, Garrett. We’ll find Kase.”

“He better hope you find him before I do.”

“Don’t go doing anything crazy that I can’t get you out of, old buddy.” They’d been friends for a long time and Scott knew it took a lot to set Garrett off, but once he lit, there was no stopping him.

Garrett picked up the trash can and righted it. “He’s going to pay for this.”

“We’ll get him. Look, there’s nothing else I can do here. Need a ride to your place?”

“No. I’ll catch a ride from here.” Garrett flipped his phone shut then reopened it to call Carolanne to tell her what had happened.

“Garrett?”

He turned to see Carolanne running toward him.

“I heard the sirens. I went to Pearl’s when Jill didn’t answer. They said they’d just taken you both to the hospital. My God. Are you okay? Your arm?”

He hugged Carolanne to his chest. “Yeah. I’m fine. Jill’s going to be in ICU all night. No visitors.”

“But she’ll be okay?”

“They said the burns weren’t severe, but the smoke...it’s bad, Carolanne. I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

“No,” Carolanne gasped.

“The smoke got her real bad. It’s serious, but they’re doing everything they can.”

Carolanne held her hand over her mouth then laced her fingers. “Oh...my...Garrett, if anything happened...”

“Don’t even say the words.” Garrett lifted his hand in warning.

“I can’t see her?”

“Nope. Neither can I.” He shrugged.

She tossed her keys to him. “Let’s go home and get some rest so we’ll be in shape to see her tomorrow when she really needs us.”

“The doctor said he didn’t know how long they’d have to keep her. It could be a while,” Garrett explained as they walked toward the parking lot.

Carolanne pointed out her rental car in the emergency room patient parking area.

“How did the fire start?” Carolanne asked as they got in the car.

He sighed and dropped the keys to his lap. “I’m not sure. I passed Kase on the road just before I saw the smoke. I know he set the fire, but I guess we won’t know the whole story until Jill can tell us more.”

Carolanne leaned her elbow on the center console and rubbed the side of her face, shaking her head the whole time. Her hands trembled. “I never thought I’d be capable of hurting someone, but I swear if he were here right now...”

“Get in line.” Garrett started the car and headed to his house. He knew exactly how Carolanne felt. They stopped at Garrett’s parent’s house on the way home to tell them the news and ease their concerns. Garrett’s mom would pass the information on to whoever else needed to know, and he could count on lots of prayers from the community for Jill.

***

Garrett stayed right by Jill’s side as soon as they’d let him in the room. She’d slept the better part of the first couple of days in the hospital. Permanent internal scarring was still a possibility, but she was becoming more stable and that was a relief.