Authors: Mahalia Levey
“Ma’am, if there is something to cover your heads with, grab it. There
are men working on putting out the fire while we get you out. Stay calm.” Mia
watched a flood of foam hit her engine. Beside her, firemen worked to pull the
vehicle out of the way. There wasn’t time.
“Ma’am.”
Mia snapped to at the commanding tone in his voice. She found her wool
pea coat and placed it over their heads.
“Mama, what’s happening?” The SUV jostled as the car stuck to their door
was yanked free. The uniformed man signaled for her attention.
“The firemen are putting out a fire in our engine and they’re going to
break the window. I know you’re scared and hurt. Just breathe baby, they’re
here to help us and will do everything in their power to get us out.” Deep
down, she believed the words with her whole heart. She fought to keep positive,
though tears coursed down her cheeks and pain threatened to drag her into the
abyss of unconsciousness.
“Mom.
Mom
.
Wake up
. Mom,
can you hear me.
Hurry.
Please, my mom isn’t answering
me.” The distant sound of glass exploding met her ears. Sound slowed as her
eyes drooped, too heavy to keep open. “Take her first.” In her mind her words
resounded crystal clear.
“Backboards.”
“My daughter.
Get her out.”
“Ma’am, breathe, that’s a girl, now save your strength. We have you both.
They’re sliding your daughter out on a board now. She’s free.
Backboard two in.
I got you now. Lift her easy.” Strong
hands hoisted her out of the back section of her smoldering vehicle.
“
Whitier
here, has some oxygen for you.
Armstrong has your baby. She’s a little beat up but okay. Breathe as Whiter
places on the mask.”
“Thank you.” Blurred vision kept Mia from making anything but his helmet
out. She grasped the hand he held offered. Darkness descended, sucking her into
its undertow.
Pain radiated from all parts of her body. Mia struggled to move her neck.
A few machines beeped around her. She noticed the IV bag hanging on a stand
with a steady drip of saline into the tubing connected to her arm. When she
attempted to move, nausea swamped her. Bringing a hand to her forehead, she
touched soft cotton and tape. Disoriented, her heartbeat quickened. Where was
Ashland?
“Mia can you hear me?”
The voice.
The same one from the
wreck.
The calm commanding voice that promised her safety spoke to her.
“Ashland.”
“Is having breakfast right now. One of the nurses took her for a walk.
She’s okay, you’re both okay.”
“Thank you Jesus.” Tears filled her eyes. “Thank you God.” She pressed
her hand to her eyes to wipe away the moisture.
“The doctor wanted to wait until you woke before removing your neck
brace.” He pressed a button beside her head. “Mrs. Justice is awake.”
“Thanks, we’ll notify the physician.” The man with the calm collected
voice moved directly over her. Slate grey eyes looked down at hers filled with
compassion.
“Thank you for saving us.” Her lips wobbled as her emotions started to
get the better of her. Her hero placed a steady hand on hers and Mia wanted to
drown in the sympathy.
“And for staying.”
“I went through your cell phone. The number in ICE was out of service.”
She didn’t want Ashland’s grandparents to come. “I keep forgetting to
update my emergency contact just in case. There is no family or anyone to call
besides my best friend.” The white lie bothered her more than she wanted to
admit. Still, there was no way on God’s green earth she would allow her
deceased husband’s emotionally distant parents to take her daughter from her.
Mia forced a deep breath and studied the man before her. She had a guardian
angel in him. This man, who not only performed his job by saving her life and
countless others, also went out of his way to watch over her and Ashland. His
dedication left her speechless.
“Friends?”
Shaking her head, Mia wanted to trust the man who saved her but withheld
the information he asked for.
“How long have I been out?”
“Most of the evening.
We brought you in
just after three in the afternoon. For the last couple of hours you’ve been
dozing. They cleaned up a nasty cut on your head.”
“I remember hitting my head and the sound of glass exploding but we were
covered.”
“We had to move a car out of the way to get you both out. That was most
likely the loud sounds you heard plus voices as they were taking care of the
other injured parties.”
With his reply, she gained a visual of how they were freed. “When will
Ash be back from breakfast?” She could care less about her injuries, and felt
the motherly need to have a firsthand visual of her only child.
“One of my guys brought your things from your vehicle.
Volante
went to give her the backpack we found. Her cell
phone was still intact. He has a daughter her age and figured she’s going crazy
without something to occupy her time. She hasn’t been far from your side since
she checked out okay. I’m sure they won’t be too long.”
Mia’s throat clogged
. God, if
anything had happened to that kid.
It had been the two of them for quite
some time now.
“Why are you here?”
“I wanted to be here when you woke up.” He reached over to her tray
stand, poured a cup of water, and gingerly eased her up a bit to take a sip. The
cool liquid eased the raw feeling in her throat.
“I appreciate all you’ve done and for staying with us.” She needed to
know why he cared enough to sit with them instead of going home to sleep or
back to work. “Being here, this isn’t part of your job, is it?” Mia took a
second sip and eased back to put her head on her pillow. “I don’t even know
your name.”
“Dire.
Dire
Sylis
.”
He
scooted a chair up beside her. “To answer your question, watching over you and
your kid is a pleasure. She is a shark at Uno, though. A nurse brought us a
deck to pass the time while we waited for you to wake up, to keep her mind
busy.”
Kind eyes regarded her. Mia lost herself in his stare but recovered
quickly. “We have game night once a week at home or more depending on my work
schedule and her cheer competitions. I hope she won’t have an issue competing,
missing out would kill her.”
“She has some cuts but nothing bad. You did a good job moving away from
the front seat of your vehicle. Ashland should be fine to go back to competition
when the doctor clears her. Sometimes stiffness can set into the body a few
days after a wreck. So far she’s doing well.”
“Have you been here the whole time?” Mia licked her dry lips to moisten
them.
“Every second.
She couldn’t leave you and I needed to
see you wake up and shine those pretty brown eyes at me.”
Is firefighter guy hitting on me? No
way, not in my current condition, I have to be the most unattractive mess ever
seen.
There was something deep, a reason why he’d hung
around, he wasn’t copping to. She really wanted to know, but thinking exhausted
her. In the end the reasons weren’t as important as his choice to go above and
way beyond the call of duty.
“Mom.”
The door opened. Ashland rushed over to
her side and instantly latched on. “I’m so glad you’re awake.” A smile spread
over her baby’s face as the worry lines disappeared.
“Hi, Mr.
Sylis
.”
Her boisterous daughter addressed their savior with ease. Mia watched
the byplay with mild curiosity.
“I thought we agreed to call me Dire.” He gave her daughter a warm smile.
“Why don’t we step outside now that you’ve seen she’s fine so the doctor can
speak with her?”
“I have to address you with respect. My mom would have a fit if I called
any adult by their first name. But I’ll call you that out of earshot.” Mia
relaxed as they departed the room so the doctor could come in.
“Mrs. Justice. I’m Doctor Jacobi. Do you remember what happened?”
“I remember getting clipped by another car trying to move over, and then
being punched again into traffic. After that my memory goes a bit hazy. I know
we got out and I ended up here.”
“You were brought in a little over three hours ago. The good news
is…every now and then you’d speak. We’ve watched you for perseverating and I’m
glad to report your brain isn’t stuck in the moment of the wreck or shortly
after. How are you feeling?”
“Perseverating? I don’t know what that word means. I’m sorry, I feel so
tired and confused.”
“I apologize. Perseverating means repeating the same thing over even when
we’ve already told you the answer previously. Kind of like a record stuck in
one spot repeating the same line of lyrics. Confusion is to be expected with
any type of head trauma. We’ve run blood
work,
a CAT
scan and MRI to make sure you don’t have further injuries. We’ll keep you tonight.
In the morning we’ll reevaluate you. Do you have anyone who can look after your
daughter for the night? I’d really like for someone to stay with you and your
daughter for at least a week or so to keep close tabs on you.”
“I can see if my friend
Sinclaire
is back in
town yet.”
“No family?’ he probed gently and she appreciated his candor.
“My husband died four years ago. My parents when I was in college. His
parents don’t live close by. Ash is all I have. I can maybe call one of her
teammates to see if she can stay with them.
It’s
Christmas break so there is no school. I’ll have to see who is still in town.”
“I see. Well then, we’ll see what we can do for now. Down the road we’ll
come up with another solution if one isn’t easily found. If nothing else Ash can
remain here with you. I need to examine you and my nurse will be in shortly
with some medication to make you more comfortable. When you’re ready to try a
bit to eat, we’ll send for a tray.” The doctor set his clipboard down. The
stethoscope felt cool against her bare skin as he listened to her heart and
lungs, instructing her to breathe and exhale. “I’m going to be rotating your
neck a bit. Take deep breaths and tell me when it’s too much. This will
determine the level of pain and discomfort from how your body responds.”
As he barely rotated her head, Mia wanted to hit him for putting her
through such agony.
“Stop.”
Bringing her hands up to
her neck made her muscles tense. The movement caused a new headache to swarm
over her, leaving her feeling nauseated.
“Breathe slow and deeply.” He laid her head down gently on the pillow
when he was finished. The nurse came in behind him with pain meds. Mia didn’t
hear her enter through the explosion of pain in her head.
“I’m Brenda.” She checked her wristband. “Can you tell me your first and
last name?”
“Mia Justice.”
“Good and your date of birth?”
“February 28, 1975.”
“Thank you. I’m pushing in your pain meds now.”
“I’ll order some anti-nausea meds for you Mrs. Justice. The stitches in
your head will dissolve on their own in a few days. The nurse will change the
dressing as needed.” The doctor patted her leg and murmured to the nurse who
nodded and stepped aside for him to leave the room.
“Why did he have to do that?”
“To gauge your body’s reaction and see if there’s a need for any
additional medical treatment or physical therapy. The nausea is a side effect
of whiplash as is the slight concussion you received. We’ve treated the one,
now we play the waiting game for the rest. I’ll get out so your handsome young
man can come back in.
Never seen someone so intense.”
I don’t have a young handsome man.
“Thank you.” Unbidden tears escaped, coursing down the side of her face.
She closed her eyes to force back the nausea rolling in her stomach. Until now
she hadn’t planned for the worst. What would’ve happened if she’d passed away
or been seriously injured? Where would Ashland have gone?
To
his parents?
They had been trying to get their hands on her baby for the
last four years. She understood they wanted to have a piece of their son, they
had so in Ashland.
Mia didn’t want to relive the hell the two put her through—as if losing
her life partner wasn’t enough, they petitioned the courts to have temporary
guardianship of her daughter. True she was in the throes of grief and not the
most coherent mother for a twelve year old girl at the time. While
Sinclaire
advised her not to worry, she had. His parents
had stability as well as unlimited amounts of money.
Financial
security.
She on the other hand, finished college by taking a few courses online
for the past few years, while holding jobs that allowed her to move often as a
military wife.
Connor’s parents never grasped why he joined the service when he could’ve
had any career in life he wanted with his Ivy League education and background.
They never understood the measure of a man he’d become. How being in their
world suffocated him, how he would never be the type of man his father was.
Connor wanted to be as far removed as possible from their lifestyle. So of
course when he’d been approached for officer candidacy, he jumped at the chance
of a lifetime to protect and serve his country. From the beginning of their
lives together, she’d known there was no love lost between Connor and his
parents after he chose to abdicate his father’s plan for him to step into his
shoes. Connor never planned to give up his dreams.