“I don’t need to go to the hospital,” she said repeatedly. To him, and then to the paramedics when they arrived pretty quickly. Considering how far away she was from any large town, it felt like a miracle.
“We’ll get you checked out anyway,” a friendly EMT said. “I’m Matt. This is Dani.”
He got her door open, although it protested and creaked in a bad way that told her the frame was fucked.
She wouldn’t hear the end of this from her mother. Or her father.What were you thinking, trying to turn around on a snowy highway?
She had waited! She—
“What’s your name?”
“Monica Fischer.”
“And where are you, Monica?” He turned a pen light on as she answered his questions, then he looked at both eyes and checked her neck, her arms, her legs, before confirming for his partner that they didn’t need the backboard. “We’re going to wait until the fire department and the tow truck gets here before we try to get you out of here, okay? Are you cold?”
She was shivering, she realized. They covered her in a metallic blanket before she could answer the question. More sirens could be heard approaching, and then the female paramedic—Dani—opened the passenger side door and crawled in next to Monica.
“The tow truck driver is here, and so is the first fire truck. They’re going to make sure the car is stable before we get you out.”
“I think I can just…” But everything hurt and maybe she shouldn’t. What was the saying? Accept the things you cannot change? Right now, she couldn’t do much about the fact her car was at a forty-five degree angle down a ditch, resting against a tree.
Gripping the crinkly blanket tighter around her, she glanced in the rearview mirror, but it only showed her the ditch. Carefully, she slid her gaze to the left, to her sideview mirror—and thankfully, her neck didn’t hurt. Okay, she could move her head.
She exhaled in rough relief, and twisted more to see the gathering rescue effort.
Any momentary internal peace she might have found fled her body when she caught sight of the tow truck driver standing stock still on the shoulder of the highway—as if he had just realized who was driving the rental car he was staring stonily at.
She gripped the wheel. Nope. This wasn’t going to work.
In the mirror, Josh steeled himself in exactly the same way she was. He squared his shoulders and burrowed into his jacket. Straightened his gloves.
Lesson learned, universe. I will get the hell out of Pine Harbour. I will leave him alone, and not meddle in whatever legal process needs to happen next.
Then he was scrambling down the bank. He said something to the male paramedic, then he was at her door. He gripped the frame of the car and leaned in. “Hey,” he said really quietly. “You’re okay, eh?”
She nodded. “Just…weird angle.”
He looked past her to Dani. “I’ll let the fire supervisor confirm, but the car looks stable to me. You transporting her to hospital?”
“I don’t need to—” Monica started to say as Dani said, “She’s declining transport.”
He shook his head. “No. Let’s get her checked out. I’ll have to take the car to the autobody shop in Owen Sound anyway.”
Owen Sound. That was where her plane was. Maybe it hadn’t left yet.
Dani looked at her. “Monica? What do you want to do?”
She tried to shrug. If that’s where the hospital was, she could go there. She slid a glance sideways at Josh, who hadn’t moved from the open door of her car. He was blocking out the cold with his big parka, so she didn’t hate that he was so close, even if the proximity played weird tricks on her mind.
She suddenly felt very, very tired.
“You don’t have to enjoy the consequences of my choices quite so much,” she muttered at Josh when he started to smile.
His gaze flickered for a second, then he hardened his expression again. “I’m not enjoying any part of this. Just want to make sure you’re all right.”
There was a shout from the road, and he swore under his breath. “Hang tight. We’ll get you out of here fast.”
Then he was gone, and she was cold again.
