First Responder On Call. Melinda Di Lorenzo

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ in surprise. “Celia?”

      Her eyes opened wide. “Xavier.”

      For a second, he thought she’d mistaken him for someone else. “Sorry, honey, I—”

      She cut him off. “Please, Remo.”

      “What do you need?”

      “Xavier.”

      “Where is he?”

      “The back.”

      “The back?”

      Her eyes flicked toward the shattered car. She couldn’t possibly be saying there’d been someone else inside. Could she? He looked down at her, hoping he’d see a hint of delirium in her gaze. Instead, he just saw faith. She didn’t know him at all, and she still believed in him.

      “I’m not even wearing the uniform,” he muttered.

      “Help him.” Her fingers tightened around his.

      Remo inhaled. “I don’t think Xavier’s here, Celia.”

      “He is. In the back.” Her eyes closed for a second. “I hurt.”

      “Where do you hurt?”

      “Everywhere. My leg, mostly.”

      Remo tilted his head down. A dark splotch stood out on one of her thighs. It nearly blended in with her rain-drenched jeans, but staring at it made him sure it wasn’t just water.

       Blood. Damn again.

      “The ambulance will be here soon,” he said, careful to keep the growing concern from his voice. “Hold my hand as hard as you want. Sometimes that helps.”

      She gave him a weak squeeze. “Promise me.”

      “I can’t do that.” It pained him a bit to say it.

      “Xavier, Remo.”

      He glanced toward the car. The engine was crumpled so badly that it was barely recognizable, the hood disintegrated. No doors. No steering wheel. An empty back seat. Except...

       What’s that?

      Remo pulled off his glasses, gave them another wipe, then looked again.

       A stuffed bear.

      His gut churned. She didn’t just mean there was another person in the car with her. She meant there was a kid in the car. A kid named Xavier.

      She had to be mistaken. She had to be confused. There was no car seat. No other sign that a child had been there. Yet there was that horrible instinct again, telling him he’d read the situation correctly.

      “Celia?”

      But her eyes were still closed, her breathing even and slow once again. She had a small crease between her brows, like her worry carried over into her lack of consciousness. Remo freed his hand from hers and smoothed his fingers across the wrinkle. It faded for a second, then reappeared. He sighed.

      “All right, honey,” he said. “I promise. If there’s a kid around here named Xavier, I’ll do my best to find him.”

      He stood and stepped woodenly toward what was left of the car. The rear seat was shredded, its leather split and its foam exposed. Rain thumped down on the remainder of the roof, then poured down onto the remainder of the floor.

      “Xavier?” he called softly.

      There was no answer.

      “You there, kid?”

      He took another step and called out a little louder.

      “Xavier? I’ve got a lady here who’s pretty worried about you.”

      Still nothing.

      He swiped the rain off his chin and squinted through his glasses, considering whether both Celia and his gut feeling were off. He tossed another quick look her way. From a few feet back, she looked smaller and more vulnerable.

       Shouldn’t have left her lying there.

      He moved to go back to her, but sirens cut through the air then, startling him so badly that he jumped. He stumbled a little, trying to catch his footing. He wasn’t quite successful. Cursing his own overreaction, he put out a hand to stop himself from doing a face-plant. The new position—one knee on the ground, body bent over—gave a different perspective.

      Between the split cushions of the car seat was a gap that led to the trunk. And inside that gap was an unmistakable object. A small, limp hand.

       Chapter 2

      The sirens he’d been counting on and the flashing lights that accompanied them became secondary. Remo raced over the puddle-drenched ground, desperate to free the child from inside the trunk.

       The trunk. What in God’s name was he doing in there?

      He brushed off the question as secondary, too. Something he could deal with later. He reached the rear end of the car just as the first emergency vehicle arrived. Vaguely, he noted that it was an ambulance. A good thing, because he would likely know whoever rode in it.

      He stared at the tiny hand for a tenth of a second before deciding two things. One, he shouldn’t wait for anyone else, and two, he shouldn’t try to go in through the trunk itself. He dropped to his knees, stuck his own hands into the crack and pulled. At first, he met with resistance. Then the seat groaned. It creaked. And finally, it cracked and sprung forward. Soaking wet pieces of fabric and shards of plastic flew out, and a chunk of foam smacked Remo directly in the forehead, then stuck there. He brushed it away, straightened his glasses, then bent down. His breath burned at what he saw.

      The little boy was splayed out on his back, his legs spread wide, the one arm flung near Remo, the other tucked up on his chest. He had his thumb jammed in his mouth, which hung slightly ajar, and his eyes were wide-open.

      For a moment, Remo feared the worst. Then the boy—Xavier, he reminded himself—blinked slowly. He pulled his thumb from between his lips and reached out his arms. The needy gesture tugged at Remo’s heart, and without thinking it through, he bypassed protocol. He leaned deep into the trunk, slipped his hand under the kid, then scooped the boy to his chest.

      “You’re okay, Xavier,” he said gently. “I’ve got you, kiddo.”

      He pushed to his feet, spun, and just about smacked straight into one of the first responders. He recognized him immediately—a senior EMT known for his by-the-book standards. Of all colleagues, this man was his least favorite. The one he’d least want to run into, even under normal circumstance.

      He forced himself to back up and nodded an acknowledgment. “Isaac.”

      The older СКАЧАТЬ