Drivingin a Texas rainstorm was not something she’d enjoyed in her younger years, but she supposed it was something she was going to have to get used to again. For some reason, they always seemed worse here than anywhere else. Right this second, visibility was almost nil.
She squinted. As her vehicle crawled down the street, she was barely able to make out flashing taillights. Easing down on the brake, she came up behind a parked car. By chance, the rain eased up slightly, and she saw a car in the middle of the intersection that had damage to its rear end. It looked like there was another vehicle in front of the one she had pulled up behind. A chain reaction accident. The third driver hit the second, who hit the first while stopped at the light.
Carefully, she maneuvered over to the side of the road, then got out of the car and opened her trunk. After pulling out her rain slicker and her high-powered flashlight, she jogged over to the cars.
There were seven kids in the car directly in front of her—three in the front and four in the back. Three of the kids in theback were fine, but the fourth, who’d been sitting behind the driver, hit his nose, which was bleeding and likely broken. The driver, a boy, was complaining of a hurt arm and shoulder, but nothing appeared dislocated or broken. The other two girls in the front seat were the worst off. One had hit the side of her head on the passenger side window, but the girl in the middle of the bench seat had hit her head badly. The windshield had a circular spider web crack that was lined up with her head, and the dashboard in front of her had a significant dent. Likely, she’d flown off the seat, hit the windshield, then bounced off the dashboard. Copious bleeding came from her broken-open forehead, and she was also barely conscious.
Sirens whined faintly over the rain. “An ambulance is on its way!” she yelled into the car. “Everybody, stay where you are. The EMTs will move you.”
Quickly, she lowered herself to her knees and looked under the car. It had sustained the worst of the damage, and she checked to be sure there was no oil or gas leaking.
Car two was also a group of high school kids, too scared to really answer her questions, but no real apparent injuries other than some bumps and bruises.
Inside car one, the one that was in the intersection, a single adult male passenger said he was fine and had no injuries.
The rain had slowed to a slight patter, signaling they were on the tail end of the storm. The police were the first to show up—a tall man exiting his vehicle, pulling on his own rain gear. She waved her arms at him, and he jogged over.
“Lieutenant Quint Axton, SAPD.”
“Officer Elyxandre Hookstead. New SRO for Tejeda Springs High School.”
“Sorry to meet you for the first time like this. Hopefully, the next time will be a bit happier.”
“I’ll settle for less wet,” she joked.
He grinned. “Let’s hope.” He glanced at the cars. “Did you witness the accident?”
“No, but I came up on them just a few minutes ago. The first and second cars seem to have superficial injuries. In the third car, there are two head wounds, one bleeding badly. Possible concussion on the second, and a broken nose in the back seat. Driver complaining about his arm. Others seem okay.”
“Did you notice any damage to the vehicles that might be concerning?”
“No leaking fluids that I can tell. I didn’t ask the kids what happened, but it looks like a chain reaction crash at the light. The first car has minimal damage, but it got pushed into the middle of the intersection. The driver is more startled than anything. Kids in the second car are pretty shaken up. The third car is a mixed bag. The ambulance should go there first for the girl in the middle of the front seat.”
“Got it.” The fire truck pulled up, and he looked over his shoulder. “That’ll be Station 7. They’ll take it from here. I’d appreciate it if you could stop by the station and give a statement as soon as possible.”
“I’d like to hang out for a few minutes, if that’s okay. These could be some of my kids. With school starting next week, it’ll help to let the staff know if we have any injuries coming in or things to worry about.”
“No problem. Having a woman on the scene often helps. One firefighter is a female, but I’m not sure if she’s on shift or not.”
“Thanks. I’ll stay out of your way. Then I’ll go file the report.”
“Appreciate it.” With that, he was off. He waved three fingers at the firefighters, letting them know which car should be their first concern, then he went to the second car to check on the passengers there.
A MEET CUTE IN THE ER
LUCAS
He glancedat his watch for what felt like the hundredth time. Ezra had a curfew of one o’clock on the weekends, and it was currently two thirty. He tried to tell himself that with the rain, the kids might just be running late with everyone flocking to leave the park, but he was still on edge. Ezra was far too responsible, and he would have called to let him know they were going to be late.
When the phone finally rang, his heart kicked up a notch.
“Lucas Vaughn,” he answered.
“Mr. Vaughn, this is Lieutenant Quint Axton of SAPD. Your son is fine, but he’s at the hospital with his friends. They were in an accident, and he’s here waiting to see how they’re doing.”
Lucas took off his black-rimmed glasses and used that hand to swipe through his short, black hair. “I’m the new principal at Tejeda Springs. He was with other kids from the school. Can you tell me how they’re doing?”
“I don’t have specifics, and because they’re not family, even if I had them, I couldn’t give them to you. All I can tell you isthat there were injuries, one of which looked to be moderately serious.”
