Page 38 of Everybody Needs a Hero

Tess pulled her into a side hug. “Everything turned out fine,” she said. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

Ashley shook her head. “Well, that explains the mud,” she said with a shaky laugh. Tess smiled but then stopped when she heard people shouting and assumed the worst. She almost expected the ground to shake any second. Instead, she made out the words and was happy to hear them.

“Get in your cars. A lane is finally clear,” people were yelling. “And let’s get out of here.” It sounded like an excellent plan to Tess. She was ready to go home.

As the day grew dark,at last things winded down, and help had arrived. After all the stress of the afternoon, Drew was exhausted. Although only one case had truly worried her, the baseball team’s coach, several minor injuries had required medical attention. Still, when the ambulances finally made it to them, the coach was first to go. “We can’t thank you enough,” the paramedic said as he finished loading the last ambulance. “There were a lot of places where people weren’t so lucky to have an experienced ER nurse on the scene.”

Drew shook her head. “I only did what I was trained to do,” she said. “And honestly, now I’m exhausted.”

“We have it from here,” the paramedic said, closing the door to the back of the vehicle. “I suggest you head home and get some rest. We don’t want to see you end up in the emergency department tonight.”

“Going home is exactly what I plan to do,” Drew said and watched as the ambulance went on its way before returning to where Tess and Ashley waited. Noticing Bryce wasn’t around, she furrowed her brow. “I’m ready to go. Where is Bryce?”

Tess put a hand on Drew’s arm and gave her a small smile. Even exhausted, Drew couldn’t help but be warm from the woman’s touch. “Well, that’s kind of a surprise,” Tess said, and Drew noticed Ashley beamed beside her.They are up to something, she thought, not sure if she was in the mood for any surprises. “Let’s go to the Pathfinder and see if Bryce was successful.”

Growing more curious, with her emergency bag slung over her shoulder, Drew followed the two women to her vehicle. The load was significantly lighter, and she hoped she remembered to restock all her supplies.Just in case,she thought, but hoping there would be no reason to need it for a long time. When they reached the Pathfinder, she noticed the crumpled hood was open, and someone was under it looking at the engine. As she approached, the man in the red shirt she noticed earlier during the altercation with the truck driver stepped back. When he saw her, he grinned. “Okay Bryce,” he said. “Give it a go.” Bryce sat in the driver’s seat, and Drew guessed she pushed the button for the ignition to see if the vehicle would start. Amazingly it came to life, and the engine started.

“How in the world…?” Drew asked as Bryce joined them.

The man cleaned his hands on a rag he pulled from his back pocket. “Only a blown battery fuse, ma’am,” he said. “Sometimes that happens with these cars when there’s an impact in the front of your vehicle.” He shook his head. “You’re lucky the airbags didn’t deploy.”

Drew blinked and hardly knew what to say. “Thank you.”

With a shrug, the man turned back to the vehicle. “Bryce, you want to give me a hand getting the hood closed? She’s ready to go.” Drew watched as the two worked together to slam it hard enough to stay it in place. “That should get you home.”

Bryce shook his hand. “Thanks for all your help, Allen,” she said. “Glad I learned you’re a mechanic.”

“It was the least I can do considering how much you helped everyone,” Allen said, then gave them a mock salute and started to leave. “Drive home safe.”

Drew, still amazed, walked to the back of the Pathfinder to put her emergency bag away. “Which of you snagged my keys from my bag when I wasn’t looking?”

Tess shrugged but looked very pleased with herself. “It was a team effort,” she answered. “Bryce suggested it when she learned Allen was a mechanic. And you deserved a nice surprise.”

29

With night descending upon them, Drew hadn’t anticipated how dark it would be with the power out in major parts of the city. Progress was slow as they navigated from neighborhood to neighborhood trying to get through to Beverly Hills. Considering how crumpled the front of the Pathfinder was after the collision, they were lucky one of her headlights worked. Barely. The cover was cracked, so the light shined in a strange pattern, but the bulb itself was intact and provided some help. Thankfully, the rain finally stopped, and the skies cleared enough to provide a little light. Still, all she could do was go slow and hope the GPS would get them home eventually. At the moment though, the tracking device wasn’t much help, and they constantly had to turn around. There was no way for the thing to know if a road was temporarily blocked by a fallen streetlight, wrecked cars abandoned in the street, or even some crumbled buildings spilled into the road. At least with the four-wheel-drive they could go over the places where the road had buckled from the quake.

Coming to yet another snarl of cars, she rolled to a stop and let out a long, frustrated breath. The one headlight didn’t illuminate much, but it was enough for her to know they couldn’t easily get around with things like they were. “If any of those cars are unlocked, maybe I can roll them out of the way enough to go through?” Bryce asked, and Drew nodded.

“We need to try something,” she said. “I am beginning to feel like a rat in a maze.”

She heard Bryce open her door. “Wait, I’ll come with you,” Ashley said, and Drew wondered if she was going with her girlfriend because she wanted to help or because she didn’t want them separated. Since they got back in the car, Ashley hadn’t stopped holding onto Bryce. It was as if she reverted to her old fears once the adrenaline wore off.

“Be careful,” Tess yelled after them as the door slammed. The woman reached for Drew’s hand as soon as they were gone. She intertwined their fingers and rested their hands against Drew’s thigh. The tingle of heat the touch sent through her surprised Drew. Considering how exhausted she was, she would have thought nothing could make her heart race again tonight, especially in a good way.I’m wrong, she thought, giving Tess’s hand a light squeeze.And I think I like it.“You are a hero, you know.”

Drew raised her eyebrows, caught off guard by the comment. “I’m not, and I was only doing what I needed to in an emergency,” she said. “Anyone with my training would have.”

Tess leaned closer. “I don’t agree with that,” she said. “Keeping everyone calm during the disaster is more than training. How you acted was amazing, and I’m proud to know you.” She brought her lips to Drew’s ear. “And I want to know you even more.”

The heat Drew felt a moment before when their hands touched was nothing compared to the flame that roared to life in her at the sensual words. On instinct, she turned her head, and their mouths were nearly touching.It would be so easy to kiss her, she thought, remembering what it felt like, craving the touch, and then the backdoor opened. She jerked back and let go of Tess’s hand. Nervousness suddenly twisted her stomach even though only Ashley and Bryce were climbing inside. Tess insisted the younger people didn’t care that Drew and Tess were attracted to each other. Drew believed her as it was apparent Ashley was all for it, but still, her instinct was to hide.I wonder how long it will take me to get over that.She sighed.Or if I ever will.

“I think we can get by on the left now,” Bryce said, clicking on her seatbelt. “You’ll have to go up onto the sidewalk and maybe skim the building, but I figured you wouldn’t care, you know…”

Thankful for the distraction from her confusing thoughts, Drew snorted a laugh. “Because my car’s already a wreck,” she said. “Fair enough.” She put the car in drive and followed the flickering light from the one dim headlight in the hope of finding them a way home.

Glad they were moving again,Ashley looked out the window and watched the buildings go by. Even though it was hard to see much in the dark, it seemed the worse part of the damage had happened further south, near the middle of the city where they had been trapped.Beverly Hills should be fine, she thought, feeling her chest loosen a bit.Everything is going to be okay.She snuggled closer to Bryce. “How are you doing?” her girlfriend murmured, and Ashley paused to think.How am I doing?Fatigue, stress, and the absence of all the adrenaline that poured through her veins earlier left her feeling like her body weighed a thousand pounds. All she wanted to do was go somewhere safe, take a shower, and sleep.

She squeezed Bryce’s arm. “I’m okay,” she said, not wanting to let her know how rundown she felt. Admitting her discomfort would make her feel guilty. Everyone was as exhausted, if not more than she was. Like Drew for example. The nurse took charge after the earthquake and kept everyone organized. Things would have been an even bigger disaster without her. And then there was her mom.She crawled in the mud under slabs of concrete.The thought of what could have happened made Ashley’s heart race.But everyone is here in the car, safe, and we are on the way home.

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