The sheriff hummed.
“I feel fine now. I’m a nurse, and I can assure you that I’d take health issues seriously. If I have another incident, I’ll be sure to get checked,” I reassured him.
He nodded, hesitated a moment, then asked, “Do you know how you got to that house?”
“Umm, I walked?” I sort of made it a question, because hadn’t I just told him that?
“I only ask because it was about a mile and a half away, and you said you felt sick,” the sheriff answered.
“What?” I asked.
I looked at Corbin, but he just squeezed my hand reassuringly.
“How was it that far away?” I asked the sheriff. “I don’t remember walking for that long.”
I hadn’t felt well. Would I have walked a mile and a half not feeling well? But I knew I hadn’t gotten a ride or anything weird. I’d walked.
“That doesn’t make sense,” I told the sheriff. “Are you sure? Maybe they’re thinking of a different shop?”
The sheriff stared at me, his eyes kind of intense. Finally, he asked, “You don’t remember anything that happened?”
I shook my head. “I know that’s weird. My nurse instincts must have kicked in, because they think I performed CPR on the older guy.”
I suddenly had a thought, and guilt echoed through me. I looked at the sheriff, and I knew my face was stricken.
“Oh my god, do they think I could’ve saved the younger guy, too? Like, if I had performed CPR or called an ambulance faster?” I felt tears gather in my eyes. “Because I don’t even thinkI called 911—I think the guys did that when they got there, and I don’t know how long that took. I just remember sitting on the couch and being all fuzzy brained.”
I leaned forward, putting my head in my hands. Corbin’s hand immediately began running up and down my back soothingly. The sheriff reached out and put a hand on my knee.
“Sebbie,” he said, and he waited until I looked at him. “Sebbie, you did everything you could have. Do you understand? You saved that man’s life. There was no way you could’ve saved the younger guy. CPR or an ambulance wouldn’t have made a difference.”
“But how do you know?” I asked. “You can’t know that.” God, if I hadn’t been out of it, maybe two people would be alive instead of one.
“The other sheriff told me that between the level of drugs in his system, the injuries he’d sustained, and the fact that he appeared to have had a heart attackanda brain aneurysm, there’s no way he would have survived. The ME basically told him that the guy was a walking time bomb.”
“You did everything you could have,” Corbin reassured me, still rubbing my back. “You saved the right person.”
The sheriff agreed. “Yes, even in whatever confused state you were in, you triaged correctly. The hospital was amazed the older gentlemandidsurvive, and they attribute that survival to the prompt medical attention he received. Heshouldhave been dead.”
I nodded my head slowly. A heart attackanda brain aneurysm? Coupled with drugs? I was kind of amazed he’d been able to even get into an altercation. Although maybe the altercation with his dad had been what triggered the medical emergencies. Trauma, both emotional and physical, definitely had an effect on our bodies. He’d been physically fighting withhis father, but I was sure there was a lot of emotional fallout as well.
“Is that all you needed to know, sheriff?” Corbin asked.
There was a note of finality to his words, and the sheriff must have heard them, too, because he got up.
“Yes, that’s it, thank you. I can show myself out.”
“I’ll walk you out. It is, after all, my house,” Jude reminded the sheriff smugly. It wasn’t said in a mean way, but he was definitely teasing the sheriff.
The sheriff rolled his eyes and let Jude lead him out. When the door shut, I turned to Corbin.
“What is it with those two?” I asked.
“I just hope Jude doesn’t kidnap him and hold him hostage in the basement or something,” Corbin muttered.
I laughed a little, but Corbin looked serious.
Aww, Jude wasn’t that crazy. He just had a little crush on the guy. I was sure they would be fine, no locking in the basement required.
