“Hi, sweetheart. My name is Chris and I’m here to help you. Can you tell me what hurts?”
She looked up at him with her tear-stained face. “Someone help my mom, please. She needs help.”
He leaned into the car and pointed a finger to the opposite side of the car. “You see that tall guy right there?”
She turned her head to look just before James straightened her head and secured a c-collar around her neck. “Yes.”
“Well, he is here to help your mom, and James and I are here for you. Let’s worry about you, so they can help her. Now, can you tell me what hurts?”
“My arm hurts, and it kinda hurts when I breathe.”
As much damage as the car had suffered, it was likely there were more injuries that she would feel once the adrenaline wore off. “Okay. We’re going to get you out of here. We need to keep you still in case you’re hurt in places you don’t notice yet, so try not to fight us.”
She sniffled as tears ran down her face. “Okay.”
Once they had the girl moved out of the vehicle and secured onto the stretcher, Chris looked across the car and made eye contact with Michael as he was covering the woman with a sheet and talking into his radio. Chris muttered a curse to himself as he tried to figure out what to say to the little girl. He preferred not to break the news, but he wasn’t going to have a choice. The fact that the other occupant in the car was dead, automatically made the little girl a critical patient, requiring the paramedics; the paramedics he said would be taking care of her mother.
“Fuck,” he mumbled again before he climbed into the truck behind his patient.
“You good?” James asked.
Chris took a slow breath. “I will be.”
He sat on the bench seat beside the girl who watched him with eyes wide. “Is my mom okay?”
Chris cleared his throat. “I’m not sure how your mom is since I’ve been paying all my attention to you. Is it okay if I check you over and make sure we find everything that needs fixed?”
She closed her eyes and nodded.
“Perfect,” Chris said softly. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”
“Rayne,” she answered without opening her eyes.
Chris did his head-to-toe exam, noting how she winced in pain when he checked over her ribs and abdomen. Her arm appearedto be broken so he splinted it while James took a set of vital signs. Just as Chris began cutting her shirt off to take a look at her abdomen, the side door of the ambulance opened. His body tensed when Michael stepped inside. They could no longer brush off Rayne’s questions.
“Is my mom okay?” she asked after straining to see who Chris was looking at.
“Why don’t we worry about you.” Chris attempted to distract her. “Does your stomach hurt, or just your side?”
“Just tell me. Please?” she pleaded, her tears resuming. “She’s dead, isn’t she?”
Michael stepped the rest of the way inside and sat in the seat across from Chris. “I’m sorry. There was nothing we could do.”
Michael explained that her mother was already dead when they got to her, likely dying on impact. Rayne didn’t look at Michael as he explained. She continued watching Chris with pleading eyes and he knew she wanted him to say something that would change what Michael was telling her. He wanted to. He wanted nothing more than to tell that little girl that her life as she knew it wasn’t over. But it was.
Swallowing hard, he looked over at Michael who held one of her hands in both of his, rubbing it soothingly. He and Mallory knew all too well the effects of losing a mother as a child. Chris no longer just saw his daughter when he looked at Rayne, he also saw a young version of Mallory.
“I’m so sorry, Rayne,” Chris choked out. “I’m sure your mom would want to make sure you’re okay. Let’s get you taken care of and to the hospital. Okay?”
Rayne closed her eyes and gave a nearly imperceptible nod.
“I’m going to start an IV. You’ll feel a big pinch, but it’ll only hurt for a couple seconds,” Michael said as he got started.
Rayne didn’t speak another word to them. Both Chris and Michael were careful with her, admittedly being more cautiousthan usual. The pain of the accident and the pain of losing her mother was more than enough. If Chris could have taken all of her pain for himself, he would have. The occasional eye contact she made with her large brown eyes was the only way Chris could be certain she was conscious.
Chris was cleaning up and restocking the truck when Michael climbed in through the open back doors. “That was tough.”
“Yeah,” Chris agreed as he continued doing what he was doing.
