I turn, studying the near-empty hallway. A few other nurses mill about with charts in hand while another nurse wheels a flirtatious older man down the hall in a wheelchair.
“Noah? Noah Sullivan? Well, I’ll be damned. Haven’t seen you in ages.”
A tall, familiar looking man with perfect bleached teeth walks by me in an equally white lab coat.
Clark?
“Hey,” I say, reconciling the disheveled jock from high school to the now polished and pristine doctor. His sun-faded hair is tousled past the point of unnatural, and the golden hue of his skin screams stereotypical Californian.
“What’s up, man? Heard you were with the National Park Service.” He gestures toward my uniform, and I nod. “Anyway, some of the old gang hangs out Saturdays. We grab a beer, play a pickup game of basketball. Jenson tries to get us on the golf course—you should come.”
“Yeah, that’d be fun.”
“You still talk to Brent?” he asks. “Maybe he’d like to come, too.”
My molars grind as I clench my jaw. “Yeah, sure, I’ll ask him.”
He grins and slaps me on the shoulder. “Good man. I’ll catch up with ya later.” He spins and takes off down the hall at the same time the nurse behind the station counter speaks up.
“She’s in room two fifteen, but unconscious. Dr. Young will be in there in just a moment. You can head in if you’d like.”
I hesitate for a moment before crossing the hall. The raw memories make me uneasy, yet there’s a draw I can’t shake. An odd curiosity. Whoisthis girl?
When I find the door, it’s already wedged open, and like an idiot I knock before pushing in. The room is bland, with a single window pinched into the corner of the room.
The girl is in bed, her head wrapped in a bandage and looking younger than I remember. Her hair is tangled around her face from where they pulled out her ponytail. The steady beep of the heart monitor ticks in rhythmic bursts as her chest rises and falls beneath the thin hospital blanket. She still looks cold.
Someone clears their throat, and it’s then I realize I’m not alone. Ranger Dan is in the corner, combing through her tattered backpack. He pulls out a wallet. “Doctor said she’d wake soon. I’ve been assigned to notify family and take a statement.” He studies me and I divert my eyes, now wondering if I’m breaking some sort of protocol by being here. “It’s normal. Wanting to check on your first save. Pretty impressive you marched down the speed you did considering the conditions.”
First save. I pinch my lips together, but don’t correct him. She isn’t my first. That was a nine-year-old boy on a hike with his father. He’d forgotten his inhaler and had an asthma attack. I was the closest to respond with the paramedics still a couple minutes out. I’ll never forget his wide, frantic eyes as his chest heaved, desperate for a gulp of air. His father was hysterical, understandably so, but the boy in the moment needed to remain calm as we waited for the paramedics. I talked him through breathing slowly, instructing him to concentrate on fighting for each breath. I supported him, keeping him upright and as collected as possible until the paramedics arrived and administered oxygen along with a rescue inhaler.
His name is Ethan, and his tenth birthday invitation hangs on my refrigerator, the party three weeks away. So, yes, it’snormal to want to check on your first save, but if the tightness in my chest is any indication, it doesn’t stop with your first.
The IV line snaking into her arm draws my attention, and I follow it to where it burrows under her pale skin.
“Lily Parker.”
My head snaps in Ranger Dan’s direction once again. He’s peering down at what looks like her driver’s license. Even from here, I can make out it’s not a California license. So, she must be traveling? At least not interested in California long term if she hasn’t changed her ID.
He continues, and I move closer. “Well, look at that. Birthday’s today. Must’ve decided to celebrate with a hike. Twenty-two years old with a home address from Ruin, Mississippi—wherever that is. The town, not the state.” He chuckles at himself.
No wonder why she looks so young—the girl is eight years younger than I am and spending her birthday alone in the rain on a hike. Sounds depressing, but perhaps she’s celebrating with a trip and hiking as much as possible before she leaves.
“Well, I’m going to go do some research and call the local sheriff in Ruin to try and connect with some of her family. I’ll be right back.”
As he exits, Dr. Young, a middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair, shimmies past him in the doorway. “You must be the ranger who helped her off the trail.”
“Yeah,” I reply, nodding as he steps farther into the room. “How is she?”
“Stable now. She has a mild concussion, and a gnarly gash on her head, but nothing too serious. She should come out of it any moment now. She’s lucky—another inch or a different rock with a sharper point—well, let’s just say it could’ve been a lot worse.” His gaze softens as he glances at the girl.
I follow his movement and linger on her peaceful face. It’s funny, the storm that raged all around her hours ago feels like a distant memory, even now.
“I know Ranger Dan has been assigned to figure out who we need to contact, but hopefully when she comes to, she’ll be able to give us more answers. She’s lucky to have had someone like you out there.”
I swallow hard, then force a smile. “I just did my job.”
“And is it your job to come check up on her in the hospital?”
