Page 60 of Cupcake

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“Yes!” I exclaimed, “yes, it’s me, Brady Pearson.”

“This is Lynn Fleming. I’ve got a rig dispatched. Who is the victim, and what are her injuries?”

“It’s Haylee!” I exclaimed, my throat closing in on the words. My hand was wet when I pulled it away from her neck, and the red stain made my heart pound in my chest. “Oh God, she’s bleeding and unconscious,” I said, my tone of voice telling her more than my words. I was scared that I was watching the woman I love die. “I don’t know what happened.”

“Hang on, Brady,” she said as she typed. “I need to let the EMTs know the specifics.”

“Should I check her for injuries?”

“No!” she exclaimed. “Don’t move her if you don’t have to. She could have hurt her neck if she fell.”

I held the phone under my chin and rubbed Haylee’s face tenderly with my thumbs, whispering to her without moving her head. She moaned, and her lids fluttered.

“She’s coming around,” I said to the operator.

“Do you hear the sirens?”

“Yes,” I said, letting out the breath I’d been holding.

“Good. Don’t move her. Keep her still until they arrive.”

“I will. Thank you!” I exclaimed, hitting the off button and sticking it in my pocket.

I held her face gently, so she didn’t move her neck as she started to come around. “Hey, sweetheart,” I said tenderly. “The ambulance is almost here. They’re going to take you to the hospital and check you out.”

“Brady?” she asked, her voice low and whispery.

“Yes, it’s me. I found you here at the bottom of the stairs. You’re okay now,” I promised, even though I was worried she was far from okay. I didn’t want to check her over and risk her moving her head. “What happened, cupcake?”

She blinked a couple of times and swallowed, grimacing when I wouldn’t let her move. “Let me sit up.”

I shook my head as the sirens screamed closer. “No can do, pretty lady. The 911 operator said to keep you still until the EMTs arrive. They’re almost here. Did you fall?”

“Pushed,” she said, coughing once and then grimacing again.

“You were pushed down the stairs?” I asked, stymied by what she was saying. Who would push her down the stairs?

“Halfway down,” she said, swallowing around the dryness in her throat to answer me. “She was waiting for me.”

“She who?” I asked as the ambulance pulled to the curb, and the flashing lights lit up the scene better.

“Darla,” she croaked. “Weapon.”

The EMTs ran up to us and dropped their bags. “Thank God, she’s awake,” the woman said as she knelt next to Haylee. “It’s me, Haylee,” she said, sliding a neck brace around her neck so I could stand back.

“Kanee?” Haylee asked as the other EMT readied an I.V.

“Yup, and I’m with that loser that you know as Liam.”

Haylee chuckled but then grimaced as I knelt by her forehead, stroking her long hair back out of her face. “Do you know them?”

“Went to school with them,” she croaked. “Kanee loves black forest, and Liam is a straight-up vanilla kind of guy.”

“Hey,” he said, chuckling as he checked her for injuries. “I’m not that vanilla. I’ll h—” He stopped short and glanced up at Kanee. “We need to move her. Now.”

“What’s the matter?” I asked, glancing between them.

“Knife wound,” he said, pointing at the spot near her shoulder that had now bled through her white chef coat, turning it a crimson red. I hadn’t seen it until the ambulance lights illuminated her better.