Page 5 of Bad Seed

“Here!” Brendan yelled, and held up his hands.

The man hobbled to the edge. “I can’t jump!”

“Sit down and slide. I’m tall enough to ease you down, buddy. I won’t drop you. I promise!” Brendan said, then watched as the man dropped down on the frame between two broken-out windows and, with his legs dangling down, slid right into Brendan’s arms.

Within seconds, Brendan was helping him to a place of safety. He didn’t know how long it would take for the ambulances to arrive, but this guy was going to bleed out and die before that happened, unless he did something about it.

He grabbed a short, sturdy stick from the side of the road, pulled the bandanna out of his pocket, knelt down beside the man, and began to make a tourniquet above the cut.

“What’s your name?” Brendan asked.

“Alex Fallin. My sister is Josie Fallin. She’s performing at one of the music venues in Jubilee.”

Brendan paused long enough to take his phone out and handed it to him. “My name is Brendan. I work at the Serenity Inn. Call her to let her know what’s happened, and maybe she can be waiting for you at the ER.”

“Thanks, man,” Alex said, wincing as Brendan cut the pant legs of his jeans all the way to the gash onhis leg, then made the call as Brendan was applying a tourniquet.

To add insult to injury, it began to snow.

***

Josie Fallin was onstage doing a practice set with her band when her cell phone rang. She’d left it on the piano without putting it on Mute and waved at Trinity, her assistant, to answer it.

Trin grabbed it and hurried backstage to talk.

“Hello?”

“Uh…who’s this? I need to speak to Josie. It’s an emergency.”

“I’m Miss Fallin’s assistant. Who’s calling?”

“Oh, hi, Trin. It’s me, Alex. I’ve been in a wreck. I need to—”

“Oh my lord, honey! Hang on!” Trinity said, and rushed back onstage and thrust the phone in Josie’s hand. “It’s Alex! He’s been in a wreck.”

Josie gasped, waved at the band to stop. “Alex! Where are you? Are you okay?”

“I’m…oh shit, man…that hurts. Sorry, Sis. There’s a guy putting a tourniquet on my leg. I’m…”

“Oh my God! Are you hurt bad? What happened? Where are you?”

“We were right outside of Jubilee when the charter bus I was on just got hit head-on by a moving van. It rolled the bus over onto its side. This guy…” Hegroaned again. “I’m getting dizzy. I need to let him talk,” he said, and thrust the phone back in Brendan’s face. “You do it, man. I’m gonna pass out now.”

Josie was in hysterics. “No! Alex… Where…?” And then all of a sudden there was a soft, deep voice in her ear.

“Miss Fallin, my name is Brendan Pope. I live in Jubilee. I witnessed the wreck and pulled your brother off the top of the bus after he got himself out. He has a deep gash in his leg just above the knee. I’ve got a tourniquet on it, and ambulances are already beginning to arrive.”

“Where is he? Where did this happen?” she cried.

“Between Jubilee and Bullard’s Campgrounds, but you can’t come out here. They’ll be putting up roadblocks and setting up a triage for a whole lot of injured people on-site. Maybe you could go to the ER and meet him there when they bring him in?”

“Yes, yes, I will. Oh my God! Thank you for saving him. Thank you!” she cried, and then hung up and told her crew. “Bad wreck just outside of town. A moving van hit a charter bus head-on. My brother, Alex, was on the bus. I have to get to ER.”

***

Alex was trembling and going in and out of consciousness. Brendan could tell shock was setting in as he pocketed his phone. He had to get him to an ambulance.

“I’m sorry, buddy, but this is gonna hurt. There’s no time to waste and I’ve got to move you. Just hang on to me as best you can,” Brendan said. “What do you weigh?”

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