Page 51 of Full House

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Victoria’s shriek had Nate’s head whipping her direction. He watched—as if in slow motion—as she flipped over the handrail, disappearing from view behind the stairs. It was at least a four-foot fall.

“Victoria!” His feet started moving before his brain could compute what he’d just seen. Picking up speed, he sprinted full-out only slowing to round the stairs. His foot skidded on some loose dirt, and out of reflex, he made a grab for the tilted handrail. It tore away from the trailer, the side he wasn’t holding, landing with a thump a few inches from Victoria’s head.

“What the fuck?”

Tossing the railing to the side, he dropped to his knees, his hand coming out to lightly skim Victoria’s face. He was afraid to touch her. “Tori?” Her lids fluttered. “Tori, baby, can you hear me?” His hand fell to her neck, searching for her pulse and was only slightly relieved when he felt the strong beat under his fingertips.

“Tori?”

Her head moved toward the sound of his voice, her eyes fluttering open. He brought his face down to her level. “Sweetheart, can you hear me?”

Her arm flew up, her hand coming to rest on her forehead. “What happened?”

“Don’t move.” He reached into his back pocket of his jeans for his cell phone. His fingers trembled, making it difficult to wake it, but he finally found the correct buttons to connect his call.

His heartbeat pounded at an alarming speed through his ears as he waited for the operator to pick up. “Starlight Studios, how may I direct your call?”

“This is Nathan Reed. I need an ambulance sent to my trailer, immediately.”

“One moment, sir. Please hold the line.”

“Nate?”

He felt Victoria try to shift, and he quickly moved his hand to her shoulder holding her in place. “Baby, please don’t move until someone comes and looks you over.” He didn’t want her hurting herself worse than she already may be.

“Emergency services.” A female voice said over the line.

“This is Nathan Reed,” he clipped out, pissed he needed to repeat himself. “I need an ambulance at my trailer, studio thirty-nine.”

“One is on its way with an ETA of three minutes. Can you tell me the nature of the emergency?”

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, knowing he wouldn’t be doing Victoria any favors by yelling at the people trying to help her, he said, “My fiancée fell off some stairs—about four feet. She hit her head, blacking out for a minute. She’s pregnant.”

“Thank you, sir. The information has been relayed to the EMTs. Please stay on the line until they arrive.”

“Nate, I’m fine. You didn’t need to call an ambulance.”

Nate put his phone on speaker and set it on the ground. “You’re going to the hospital. No arguing this time.”

She didn’t argue, but her lips compressed, and she shot daggers at him. If he weren’t so worried, he would laugh at her effort to restrain sassing back. As it was, he was doing his best not to flip the fuck out.

He heard a car approach at the same time he heard sirens in the distance. Turning his head, he looked over his shoulder to see security pull up. A large, beefy guy stepped out of the car and headed his direction.

“What’s going on, Mr. Reed?”

“Banister gave way and my fiancée fell over the side.” Nate nodded at the handrail, lying discarded on the ground.

He watched the security guard inspect the rail and the side of the trailer but was soon distracted when the EMTs arrived.

“Sir, you need to step back.”

Though it went against every natural instinct, Nate did as the medic asked, watching with a hawk eye as they examined Victoria, asking her questions and taking her vitals. After securing her neck with a brace, they lifted her onto a stretcher and started wheeling her to the ambulance.

“Wait.” He stopped the medics before they could lift her. “Where are you taking her?”

“Cedars,” the EMT on the right piped up.

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