Page 37 of Dangerous December
The bells over the front door jingled again, and this time Dev burst through the door. He surveyed the situation, watching the EMTs continue their initial assessment for a moment, then he turned to Beth and gently gripped her upper arms. “I heard those sirens and thought something had happened to you.”
Flustered, she met the intense, searching expression in his eyes and tried to smile in return. “Sorry, but you’re still stuck with me for the next six months.”
He made a sound of frustration deep in his throat. “That isn’t what I meant, and you know it.”
The bell over the door rang as more people crowded inside. Frank Ferguson. A few of her regular customers. And, Beth realized with chagrin, her mother.
Maura frowned as she quickly dismissed the woman on the floor and glanced between Beth and Dev. “What’s going on here?”
Beth took a step back to release Dev’s hold on her. “Everything is fine,” she called out to the gathering crowd. “Janet just had a little fall.”
“But you’re all right,” Dev said in a low voice. “Thank God for that.”
“I do thank Him. Every single day.” She turned back to Janet and the EMTs. “Is there anything I can do?”
One of them was talking rapidly into a cell phone. The other one double-checked the air splint they’d just placed on Janet’s left leg, then sat back on her heels. “We’ll be taking Ms. Baker in. She needs to be seen by a physician.”
Beth held a hand at her throat. “Is it serious?”
The EMT shook her head. “That’s confidential, ma’am.”
Janet lifted her head a few inches, her skin pale. “They want to make sure the baby is okay,” she whispered. “My husband is out of town. Would you call my sister and let her know? She can tell the boys.”
“Absolutely. I’ll follow you to the hospital if you want me there.”
“That would be wonderful. If anything happens to this baby...” Janet’s lower lip trembled. She turned toward Teresa. “Please, can she ride in the ambulance with me?”
The EMT hesitated. “Well...there’s room, as long as you’re stable.”
“I’ll follow,” Dev said, resting a hand on Beth’s upper arm once more. “I can wait with you and then give you a ride home.”
Maura drew in a sharp breath. “I could go instead.”
Beth felt the exponential rise of tension sparking between them. “Mom, this could be a long wait, and you said you didn’t sleep well last night. Dev can help me out.”
Maura looked between the two of them, then her gaze locked on Devlin. She gave a reluctant nod.
With rhythmic precision, the EMTs positioned the gurney next to Janet, transferred her, then raised it with a clang. After looping thin, clear oxygen tubing over her head and adjusting the nasal cannulas beneath her nose, they pushed her out the door.
“Gracious,” Frank murmured as he watched the ambulance pull away from the curb. “You just never know.”
Dev nodded, feeling a twinge of guilt at his relief over the fact that it wasn’t Beth lying prone on that gurney. “Janet must be in her early forties, but she looks healthy enough. She’ll probably be home in no time.”
“Maybe.” But the hint of sadness in Frank’s voice belied his words.
“Is she a good friend?”
“No, I just see her at church. Nice gal.”
Dev frowned at Frank’s grim expression. “Then what is it?”
“Just...remembering.” Frank’s shoulders sagged. “I think I’ll finish my walk, if it’s all the same to you. If you see Janet at the hospital, tell her I’ll be praying for her.”
Dev jingled the keys in his pocket as he watched Frank start down the sidewalk with a heavy step, all evidence of his upbeat mood over his new job gone.
At Frank’s age, he’d probably experienced plenty of loss...parents, friends, maybe siblings. Accepting the cycle of life for all its joys and sorrows didn’t make it any easier.
And without a wife, facing the inevitable, inexorable increase in losses as one grew older had to be a lonely business.
