Page 82 of I Am Salvation

“Can you move your fingers at all?” Sarah asks.

I nod. “Yeah. Moving them isn’t painful. Just where the cut is.”

Sarah begins to clean the wound. “This might sting a bit. Just hang in there. We’ll get you fixed up. How deep does it feel?”

“It feels pretty deep, but I can’t really tell,” I reply.

Mark finishes preparing the splint and moves to examine my ankle. “You’re doing great, Diana. We’re almost done with your hand. Let’s take a look at that ankle.”

I breathe in, trying to remain calm. Why did this happen? And where the hell is Mrs. Locke? A person was injured on her property, but she’s hiding inside her trailer.

Not that I’m surprised. This is a woman who gave her son away.

I told her I wouldn’t sue her, but she still doesn’t need any witnesses to see her on the scene.

Mark manipulates my ankle, and I suck in a breath.

“Does that hurt?”

“It’s calmed down a little,” I tell him. “But yeah, it still smarts.”

He nods. “It looks swollen and possibly sprained. We’ll need to immobilize it before we transport you to the hospital. I’m going to apply a splint to keep it steady.”

I nod. “Okay. Just do what you need to do.”

Mark gently places the splint on my ankle. “We’re going to be as gentle as possible, but it might be uncomfortable for a moment. Take a deep breath.”

I comply. It’s more uncomfortable than painful, as he’s being very gentle and careful.

“You’re doing great, Diana,” Sarah says. “Once we have the splint in place, we’ll get you on a stretcher and to the hospital.”

I shake my head quickly. “I don’t need a stretcher. I can make it into the ambulance, especially if one of you helps me.”

“It’s policy,” she says. “For your protection and ours. Do you have anyone we should contact for you?”

“My boyfriend. Dragon.”

My boyfriend? I can’t believe I just called him that. It sort of just fell out of my mouth. He’s really my roommate. My roommate I’ve gone to bed with three times now.

But I don’t hate the idea. And this EMT doesn’t need a full report of my sexual history.

“How can we reach him?”

I blink. “He’s staying at a hotel nearby. I’ll call him.” My phone is still next to me where I put it down after I called 9-1-1.

“Who lives here?” Mark asks.

“My…” I shake my head. “Just a woman. No one special.”

“Why were you here?” he continues.

Is that any of his business? Not really. He’s probably just wondering why no one is out here helping me.

“Just looking for some information,” is all I say.

That seems to satisfy him. I grab my phone, but before I can call Dragon, Mark and Sarah lift me onto the stretcher and then get me into the back of the ambulance.

“I’m going to take some vitals on you,” Mark says.

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