Page 23 of Barbed Wire and Burglary
“I, er…” A wail of sirens outside the sunroom windows made Aurora jolt. “No, that’s okay. I can already hear the ambulance.”
“It’s one of the perks of living in a small town.” The 9-1-1 operator sounded pleased.
The next minute or so passed in a blur of screaming sirens and flashing lights that flickered around the walls and ceiling. Then a fist pounded on the front door.
She carefully set her brother’s head on the floor, then jogged to the entrance of the lake home. Or tried to. Her feet felt like lead, so it was more of a sluggish shuffle.
She opened the door and beckoned the EMTs forward with their stretcher, then escorted them to her brother at the same sluggish pace.
He remained pale and unconscious on the floor.
“I’m Jake, this is Pete, and we’re going to take care of your brother,” one of the EMTs assured her calmly. He and his partner were bundled up in insulated jumpsuits, hats, and rubber gloves. They hovered over Aaron, checking his vitals. “What’s your name, ma’am?”
“Aurora.” Her voice came out slurred. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Aurora Cannon.”
“Can you describe what happened to your brother, Aurora?”
“We were talking,” she choked, pointing at the windows. “Over there, and he just…fell.” Talking about it brought on another round of dizziness and nausea.
Jake gave a countdown. Then he and Pete lifted in unison to hoist her brother onto the stretcher. “Do you know if he hit his head on the way down?” He looked young, barely old enough to be out of high school. Either that, or Aurora was feeling all of her twenty-nine years extra heavily this evening.
“No, I caught him. Sort of.” Her knees were going to be black and blue by tomorrow. “Enough to break his fall.” Everything that was happening felt surreal, like she was wandering around in a very bad dream. If that was the case, she hoped she would wake up soon. She and her brother had shouldered their fair share of heartache already. They didn’t deserve this, whatever this was.
She followed the stretcher as they wheeled her brother across the living room. “Can I ride along?” She mechanically reached for her coat and pulled it on, wondering where Bandit was. He was normally super friendly to strangers, acting like everyone who came to the house came to see him. Then again, maybe the sirens had scared him.
“Of course.” Jake gave her a boyish smile. “The more, the merrier.”
“Or I can drive you.” A.J.’s voice boomed through the open front door. For a moment, his shoulders filled the doorway. Then he stepped aside to make room for the stretcher to exit the house.
“Thanks, buddy,” Jake said cheerfully.
Aurora stumbled as she approached A.J.
He quickly reached for her. “What happened?” Concern lined his forehead.
“We’re still trying to figure that out.” She shuddered as she recounted the moments leading up to Aaron’s collapse. “He’s running a fever. I’m not sure if it’s from his bullet wound or the cut on his wrist.” She bit her lower lip, realizing what she’d let slip. She just as quickly released her lip, reminding herself that A.J. could be trusted. He’d never given her the negative vibes her brother had described.
His arm curled around her shoulders, hugging her against his side as he led her outside. “Where’s your key?”
“In my purse.” She felt like a dummy for needing to be reminded to lock up.
Her hands shook so badly while she fished out her key that he took over the task, locking the front door and dropping the key back into her purse. “Would you like me to take you to the medical center?”
She cast an anxious glance in Aaron’s direction. “Thanks for offering, but I should stay with my brother.”
He nodded in approval. “Want me to follow behind the ambulance?”
She nodded shakily. “Yes, please.”
“All right then.” He kissed her cheek before lifting her into the back of the ambulance. “I’ll meet you there.”
Jake helped tug her the rest of the way aboard andnudged her toward a bench against the wall. “Buckle up,” he ordered briskly.
It took her a few tries to get the buckle clasped.What’s wrong with me?Her shivering was getting worse, probably because the doors of the ambulance were still open.
The world started to spin, making her gasp. She wasn’t simply cold. Something was wrong. Her head suddenly felt too heavy, dipping forward until her chin touched her chest.
Jake called her name frantically.
