Chapter Five
Several days afterSam’s party for Dylan, Connor, Sierra, and their pilot landed in a field near a tiny clinic outside of Red Lodge, a small town southeast of Livingston, minutes ahead of a huge snowstorm blowing in. The request for an air ambulance had come because the patient needed surgery for a compound fracture of his fibula and the small, rural clinic wasn’t equipped to deal with it. They’d asked for help from other closer EMS transports but Marietta’s was the closest that wasn’t tied up at the time the call came in. They were fighting the clock on this patient because a compound fracture needed to be operated on within six to eight hours after it occurred. Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas.
Getting from the helicopter into the clinic was challenging, even as close as it was. The wind had picked up and felt like it was gale force. Once inside the building, their pilot Rick said, “You might as well take off your outer layers and get comfortable. We aren’t going anywhere until the weather clears and it looks like we might be in for a long wait.”
“I was afraid of that,” the clinic doctor said. “It’s already been two hours. That doesn’t leave us much of a window to get him someplace where the doctors can take care of him.”
“Maybe there’s a ground crew who can get here,” Connor said.
“Maybe. We’ll have to try. Again.” To Rick the doctor asked, “What if there’s a lull in the weather? Could you take off in that case?”
Connor didn’t see much hope of a lull, not considering the wind and snow, which only seemed to be picking up steam. But he wasn’t a pilot.
“I’m afraid not,” Rick said. “You’ll do better to try to get a ground crew out here. There are some hospitals that aren’t too far away.”
The doctor nodded, looking resigned. “I’ve already tried for both air and ground transport, but I’ll try again for ground ambulance. There’s a staff lounge with coffee and there might be something to eat, though probably not. Anyway, make yourselves at home.”
All three of them took him up on the offer. Rick immediately busied himself listening to the weather, trying to figure out when they might have a chance to leave. The doctor left to call around and see if he could get a ground crew from somewhere to pick up the patient. Rick hadn’t been hopeful that the weather would clear in time for the helicopter to fly.
“How’s the coffee?” Connor asked Sierra, who’d poured herself a cup when they entered the break room. He doubted it was any good but still hoped for the best.
She made a face. “It tastes like I imagine kerosene tastes. But there’s a Coke machine out in the hall.”
He put the cup down before pouring any. “I might get a soft drink later.”
Rick stood and left the room, muttering something about finding the doctor.
Connor sat beside Sierra on the couch. “Have you been delayed because of a blizzard before?”
“No. Rain, hail, thunderstorms but no blizzards. Although we’ve had some ice storms in Dallas before. Last year we had what everyone called snowmageddon. It snowed and everything froze for over a week and lots of people lost power. No one could get anywhere because Dallas has no equipment to deal with ice and snow. Luckily I wasn’t working at the time so I didn’t have to try to make it in to the hospital and my power didn’t go out.”
“I remember hearing about that on the news. They said people’s swimming pools froze solid.”
“They did. It was an experience. Not one I want to repeat.” She sighed and nodded toward the window, which showed snow still coming down heavily. “We’re lucky we got here before the storm hit. I wouldn’t have wanted to fly in that.”
“Me neither.”
“Sucks for the patient, though.”
She nodded in agreement. “Makes you think, doesn’t it?”
“What? That life’s too short?”
She nodded again. “Yes, and you never know what’s going to happen in your future.”
“Does it make you regret not following through?”
“Following through?”
He motioned between them. “With you and me.” He didn’t really expect an answer and sure as hell not a positive one.
She tilted her head and looked at him. “Sometimes.”
*
He stared ather. “I didn’t expect that answer.”
“I didn’t expect to admit it.”
