Page 10 of Made For Me

Her face winces when she is moved, but her eyes fly open as she whines right before she starts to cry. The relief of her cry fills me as she looks around and pushes the hands away from her, and then I lean in. “It’s okay, baby,” I say, blinking away my own tears now. “They are going to fix the boo-boo.”

She moves away from the paramedic, and I jump in. “I’ll hold her,” I tell them as they look at me. “She knows me. Just tell me what to do.”

They share a look, and then one just shrugs. “Try not to move her too much,” they urge. I put my hands under her arms, and she screams out in pain. I stop moving her, afraid I’m hurting her, but the paramedic tells me to take her out.

“She might have a laceration on her back,” one of them says, and I take her out slowly as she whimpers. The glass falls from her to her seat, and you hear the clinking as some of it hits the metal floor.

“It’s okay, baby,” I soothe her and bring her to me, turning her to sit on me. Her head falls to my chest as I look at the paramedic to see if she is bleeding.

“No blood,” he says as he takes the seat and puts it in the corner of the cab right before he gets out and shuts the doors before jumping in the front.

“You have to place her on the gurney,” the woman says, and I nod and lean over to place her back on the gurney. She fights me for a couple of seconds before I kiss her bloody forehead.

“It’s okay, baby. I’m right here,” I comfort her and hold her hand. She looks at me, and her eyes flutter closed.

The ambulance moves, and the only thing I can do is keep my eyes on Penelope while the question runs in my head over and over again.What did I do?

CHAPTER6

Chase

“Dr. Grant.” Jackie, one of the nurses, calls my name as I walk from an exam room. “We have incoming. Child, two years old. Not sure what injuries she has. Car accident.” I listen to her as I put the chart away and then walk toward the glass door where we wait for the ambulance.

“Is she the only one coming in?” I ask her as I look around to see if I can see the blaring lights. “Or is it multiples?”

“They just said one so far,” Jackie replies. “Not sure if there will be more.”

I see the flashing lights coming in the distance, and I start to almost bounce on my feet. I can’t explain how it feels when you know that you get to work on a new person in a couple of minutes. As they get closer, I can hear the sirens, and I clap my hands together. “Game time.” I look at Jackie, who just smirks at me.

“I don’t know anyone who gets so excited about working this shift like you do,” Jackie says as the ambulance turns into the long winding parking lot. When the ambulance stops moving, I walk over to the back and wait for them to open the door.

Nothing can prepare me for the scene when the ambulance door opens. My whole body feels like it stops when my eyes land on Julia. Her face is white like a ghost, and her eyes are filled with tears. She wears a worried expression as she looks at me, and for a second, it looks like she doesn’t recognize me. “Julia,” I whisper, but then I hear Jackie from beside me.

“What are her vitals?” Jackie asks, and my eyes go to the stretcher. For a split second, I’m relieved it’s no one I know. The other paramedic jumps into the cab to help bring down the stretcher.

“Two-year-old.” I listen as they start to move and wait to hold my hand out to Julia, who grips my hand harder than she ever has. “Blood pressure is…” He starts to say numbers, but all I can do is look at Julia.

“Are you hurt?” I ask, looking down at the bloodstained shirt.

“I’m fine. Take care of her.” She lets go of my hand as her eyes fly to the stretcher. I can see her hands are shaking, and I’ve never, ever seen her so unhinged before.

“How long has she been unconscious?” I ask, turning and jumping back into action.

“She came to for a bit,” they say, while we rush through the glass doors, “then drifted back.”

We wheel the gurney into one of the rooms off the emergency desk. “On my count,” I order, grabbing the right side of the sheet. “One, two, three,” I count out, and we transfer her from the gurney to the hospital bed. “What’s her name?” I look over at the paramedics.

“Her name is Penelope,” Julia says softly, standing in the doorway. Her hands are in front of her as she tries to keep me from seeing that they are shaking. “She turned two three weeks ago. She is up to date on all vaccines.”

I look back at the girl as Jackie cuts her pants off. “Any allergies?” I ask Julia as I take my stethoscope from around my neck and check her chest.

“None that I’m aware of,” she says, and Jackie just gives her a look I want to snap at her for, but I don’t have the chance to because Julia does.

“I’m her caseworker, not her mother,” she explains, and Jackie just nods her head.

“Who’s on call for pediatrics?” I ask after I look down and see her leg is definitely broken. I don’t even want to touch it.

“Jenny,” Jackie informs me, and I nod at her as she cuts off Penelope’s top while I grab my little flashlight. I open her eyes to see if her pupils respond.

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