Page 133 of Bound By Words

“Kelly,” Deacon said softly, snapping his fingers in front of my face, but I stared at the blood on my fingertips.

I blinked hard, having trouble focusing on him as I looked up, intensifying the pain in my temples. Closing my eyes, I leaned my head backward, wincing as the tender spot where he’d pulled my hair touched the hard metal.

“Stay with me, Kelly,” Deacon said, his voice louder and more panicked.

“S’ok,” I mumbled, opening my eyes and wincing at the strange orange brightness from the overhead lights. “I’m just gonna rest my eyes.”

“You need to stay awake until the paramedics get here.”

Deacon kept talking to me, but I was too distracted to listen, his voice sounding wooden in my ears. Sirens echoed off the walls of the parking structure, making me wince and hold my hands over my ears. My eyes opened, and I could see Deacon’s mouth moving, but I couldn’t tell what he was saying to me.

Moments later, but it could have been longer, a man in a dark blue paramedic uniform knelt before me, grasping my uninjured wrist and pressing his fingers to my pulse point. Static filled my ears as he pulled a penlight from his pocket, studying my eyes and gently touching the cut on my head with his gloved fingers.

He placed his hands underneath my armpits, another paramedic sliding a stabilizer around my neck as they slowly turned me, leaning me back onto a waiting backboard.

Deacon’s concerned face flashed in my peripheral vision as I was lifted again, flashing lights strobing across my blurry vision. My ears rang as my head was secured in place.

My consciousness started slipping as several faces entered my field of vision, a pinch in my arm causing my eyes to widen. I knew they were asking me questions, but I couldn’t understand them, my tongue feeling heavy.

The lights were brighter as we entered the hospital, more faces rushing around me as I tried to rest my eyes. Deacon was gone, replaced with a concerned-looking doctor who used another light to look into my eyes.

“She’s got a concussion for sure. Let’s order a CT to rule out bleeding or a skull fracture since her face is starting to swell. Do we need to start a rape kit?”

“No,” Deacon’s low voice called out from within the room. “It didn’t get that far.”

“Alright,” the doctor nodded. “Empty her pockets. Are you next of kin?”

“No,” Deacon answered again. “I’m her employer. I was with one of the building security guards when we found her in the parking garage.”

“Check her phone if you’ve got it to see if there’s an emergency contact. A nurse will give you some forms to fill out while we try to reach her emergency contacts. Did she have a purse with her?”

“I’ve got it,” Deacon answered.

The doctor looked back toward me again, “I’ll get you down to CT soon. I can only give you a very mild sedative until we know what kind of head injury we’re dealing with.”

I tried to nod, but my head was still strapped in place. “Okay,” I rasped but felt my stomach turn, wrinkling my face.

“Get me an emesis bag,” the doctor said to someone outside my field of vision, slightly tilting the board I was strapped to forward.

She held the blue bag to my face, the contents of my stomach emptying into it while she whispered encouraging words to me. Not that it was much since I skipped lunch. How embarrassing was it to throw up in front of your boss?

“Get that sedative going and make sure her orders are rushed. She’s clearly in pain, and I can’t start pain meds until I know what’s happening there.”

The doctor left my field of vision, and Deacon grasped my hand, speaking softly. “I’m still here, hun. Is there anyone I need to call? You’ve got about two dozen missed call notifications on your lock screen.”

“My parents,” I rasped quietly. “Can I have my phone?”

He pressed it into the hand of my uninjured arm, and I awkwardly tried to hold it up to use facial recognition. It didn’t work, the passcode screen popping up after it’d failed. I typed in the number sequence a few times until Deacon took the phone back when I couldn’t get it unlocked.

“What’s your code?”

I slowly slurred out the numbers for my passcode, and he unlocked the screen, my head suddenly feeling heavy. He started talking, but I drifted off, listening to his deep, concerned voice.

“Okay, your parents are already on their way here,” he said louder, his voice beside my face. “Is there anyone else you need me to call?”

I opened my mouth to answer as someone else pulled the curtain of my cubicle aside. “Let’s get Ms. Stineman going. You’ve got a slot in CT.”

Deacon talked to her, squeezing my hand as his kind face leaned over me. “Who else do you need me to call?”

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