Page 15 of Code Trauma

“I’m telling you,you’ve got the wrong guy.” Dr. Garrett Mann crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair.

Andy watched through the two-way mirror while the sheriff tried to wring a confession from the doctor. Only he wasn’t budging. “Someone stole my car. And I was at the hospital during the time you say I was running that guy off the road.”

“We’re checking your alibi. Until we get some answers, you want to tell us about your relationship with Holly Cooper?”

“Relationship?” He snorted. “It’s strictly professional.”

“So, you’ve never asked her out?”

The doctor sighed. “Yes, I’ve asked her out. She said no, that she was in love with someone else. End of story.”

Andy’s heart flipped at the thought of Holly saying she loved him. She hadn’t given up on him just because he’d acted like a jerk.

One of the deputies slipped into the conference room being used as the interrogation room and passed a note to the sheriff.

Sheriff Lewis read it and frowned. He looked up at the mirror. “Alibi is solid. And the stolen car report is there just like he said.”

Dr. Mann stood. “Now, may I please leave and get back to work?”

“Yes. Thank you for your time.”

He left, and Andy’s heart chilled. “I need to get back to Holly. If Mann’s not the one we’re after, the person threatening Holly is still out there.”

The sheriff nodded. “You’d better give her a heads-up.”

Andy headed for the exit, snagging his phone from his pocket. Still walking, he called Holly. When it went to voice mail, he texted her.

Mann isn’t the guy who’s threatening you. Stay on guard. I’m heading to the hospital. You’ve got a bodyguard until all of this is resolved.

Her response was almost immediate.

I’m headed for the chopper. We got a call. Will text when I’m back.

His adrenaline surge abated a fraction. As long as she was in the air, she was safe.

At least from someone who intentionally wanted to hurt her.

5

Reports of a multicar pileup on the interstate always sent dread through Holly. She sent up a silent prayer for those involved and buckled herself in. Penny sent them whirling into the air while Holly stayed in contact with the paramedic on the scene in order to be prepared for whatever emergency they were walking into.

“Three victims,” Holly said, repeating the information. “The head trauma is ours.”

Raina nodded, and five minutes later, Penny hovered over the area where she’d been cleared to land. Following the motions of the officer directing her, she touched down with barely a bump in the middle of the highway just a short distance from the collision. While Penny powered down the chopper, Raina and Holly beelined toward the scene.

“Over here!”

Holly followed the voice to find paramedics, Carl and Nadine, strapping the neck brace to the woman on the ground. Carl looked up. “Trauma dressing in place, you have two large bore IVs in the ACs, and 1000 ml of Normal Saline has been administered. She’s lost a lot of blood, and it’s possible she has a skull fracture, but she’s stable for the moment. Let’s get her on board.”

They worked together to get the woman into the belly of the chopper and were soon back in the air heading toward the hospital. “I’ve got the doctor on the line,” Raina said.

Holly commenced to give her report of the woman’s condition. “Patient is a fifty-two-year-old female?—”

“Holly, the bleeding isn’t stopping.”

“Administer LR, TXA, and two units of blood.” TXA, a hemostatic agent commonly used to stop bleeding in severe trauma.

“On it.”

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