Page 1 of Tangled Up

PROLOGUE

BECK

6:30 a.m., Bayside Regional

“Acar wreck.” The skin at the back of my neck tightens, and I rub my hand over it. “Why does it have to be a car wreck?”

“Not just any car wreck, a twenty-nine-car pileup at the I-4 split.” Rick the orderly balances a phone on his shoulder. “Dense fog, Code T. They’re asking for anybody we can spare to head down to trauma.”

“Which would include me.” Picking up my stethoscope, I loop it around my neck as I head for the elevator.

When the metal doors open on the large, first-floor facility, it’s already chaotic, with EMS workers wheeling bloody patients through the double doors, doctors in green and nurses in light blue or pink moving fast and shouting directions.

A rainbow of emergency lights blasts through the gray morning, and a gurney transporting an injured patient flies past me, along with an intake nurse doing her best to get a name, address, and next of kin, while tapping on an iPad.

The next patient is unconscious. I can’t tell if it’s a man or a woman, but blood covers their forehead, and a bone is protruding from the lower leg.

“Open fracture, left lower leg, good pulses.” Asher Moore, our best EMT and a close friend of mine is at the head of the gurney. “I’ve administered two milligrams of Dilaudid.”

Dr. Mains quickly steps up to take over guiding the bed. “I’ve got him. Take him to trauma room two.”

Like clockwork, the next bed slams through the double doors, and Tessa, the ER head nurse takes over for the EMS worker. “Beck, we have a seventy-five-year-old male here!”

I join her at the side of the metal bed, moving fast down the hall as she takes the info from EMS. “Trauma room five is open.”

The older man’s eyes are squeezed shut, and a plastic oxygen mask is over his nose and mouth. He clutches his chest, and his face is pale and distorted with pain.

“Jeb Callahan, trapped in his car, complaining of chest pains, could be a fractured rib or two.” Tessa’s all business as she reads the notes. “He’s had baby aspirin and nitro. EKG readings elevated.”

“Jeb Callahan?” My brow lowers, and I take a step back as if I’ve been shocked.

“You okay?” The nurse studies me.

We don’t have time to waste.

“Yes, let’s go.” Grasping the side of the bed again, I guide us into the treatment room. “Start him on 500 cc’s saline. His numbers are in the good range. I’m going with ribs.”

The ER nurses quickly set an IV, and I get closer to the man’s face. “Mr. Callahan? Do you know where you are?”

Pale blue eyes flutter open briefly, and his head rocks side to side. “Colby General?”

“You’re at Bayside Regional. You’re in Tampa. Do you remember being in Tampa?”

“Yes…” His voice is papery. “I was on my way to my nephew’s house.”

Placing my hands carefully on his side, I hold my palm against his ribcage. “Can you take a deep breath for me, please?”

His eyes flutter, and he takes a shallow breath as the nurse attaches monitors to his chest. Fast beeping fills the room as I slowly move my hands in a circular motion.

“Any pain here?”

He shakes his head no.

“Good. How about here?” My hands move closer to the center and he jerks, crying out sharply.

“Okay, that’s good.” I turn away, grabbing the iPad and speaking to Tessa. “We need to cue up some pain medication, and—”

I glance up in time to see Tessa’s eyes widen. “Dr. Munroe—”

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