Page 36 of Escape

“Right here, honey.”

“Will you hold my hand?”

I couldn’t explain it, but those five words pierced something in the center of my chest. It was suddenly difficult for me to breathe. Without hesitating, I reached down and took Josie’s hand in mine. “I’ve got you.”

“Please don’t let go,” she begged.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Greyson ushered the paramedics inside, and as they worked to get Josie ready to go on the gurney, I had to swallow down the frustration and anger I felt. It killed me to hear her whimpers and groans of pain.

I could have protected her from this. I should have done something more.

The guilt ate away at me.

“She’s complaining of pain in her shoulder,” I advised them. “She also said her face hurts, it’s difficult to breathe, and she feels tired.”

“Okay. And what’s her name?”

“Josie Day.”

The medic turned his attention to her as he put a collar around her neck and asked, “What shoulder hurts?”

“The right one.”

“Alright, Josie. We’re going to roll you slightly onto your left side so we can get you on the stretcher and up onto the gurney without doing any additional damage,” he informed her.

Her hand remained firmly in my grasp as they turned her slightly and slid the stretcher beneath her body.

I felt so lost. I was attempting to pay attention to everything the medics were saying while keeping my focus entirely on Josie. All I wanted to do was pick her up in my arms, take her home, and fix everything for her. Protect her and keep her safe.

The next thing I knew, we were moving from the kitchen and toward the front of the house where the gurney was waiting. As soon as the stretcher was secured, they wheeled her out of the house.

I never let go of her hand.

But once we made it to the ambulance, one of the paramedics said, “Sir, we need to get her loaded.”

“Please,” Josie begged. “Can he stay with me?”

He hesitated for a few seconds before offering a slight nod and jerking his head toward the open doors of the ambulance. I reached my hand into the pocket of my jeans, pulled out my keys, and tossed them to Greyson.

“I’ll follow you,” he said.

Ten minutes later, we pulled up outside Steel Ridge General Hospital. Josie had gotten quieter and quieter on the ride, the exhaustion taking over. I walked beside her, continuing to hold her hand, as she was wheeled toward the emergency room doors.

I only got so far before a nurse stood in front of me and said, “Sir, we’re going to need you to let go of her now.”

“I can’t.”

“If you want us to help her, you have to let her go,” she said, her voice firm.

I glanced at Josie one last time. She was breathing, but she’d drifted off. I didn’t want to let her go; I promised her I wouldn’t, but I had no choice. I needed them to help her.

The nurse placed a hand on my arm, held her other one out to the opposite side, and said, “If you’d like to wait, please head this way with Katrina.”

Another woman in scrubs walked up to me and said, “Follow me.”

I moved, but I did it in a daze. Somewhere along the way, Greyson caught up to me. And then it was just the two of us in the waiting room.