Temptation Ridge (Virgin River #6)(109)

He struggled to get in. “Can’t you do this arm?” he asked. “All you have to do is—”

“We’re only a couple of minutes from town, just hang on and let a doctor do it. You can make it. Work with me here,” she said. Through some slipping and sliding, she got them into the Jeep. She punched the odometer to zero to record the exact distance to the scene. As she headed the rest of the way to town, she asked a couple of questions. “You have any idea how many kids are on the bus?”

“I don’t know exactly. Some didn’t go today because of weather,” he said. “About twenty. Mostly the little ones.”

“Do you know how it happened?”

“Ice,” he said simply. “We fishtailed. I thought she had it, but then the back end of the bus slid down the hill. Lucky we weren’t crushed, me and Mindy. We were coming out the back.”

“Do you know if anyone else is hurt in the bus?”

“I didn’t see anything after it started down the hill.”

“Mindy? You okay, honey? Anything hurt?”

“My knees,” she cried. “I want my mommy!” Tears ran down her chafed cheeks.

“How long ago?” Shelby asked the boy.

“Not too long. You came along right away.”

“Sheer luck,” she said. “I’m so glad I did.” As she neared town, there was sand sprinkled on the road. But what she saw panicked her—parents waiting inside their cars for the bus to bring their children. At least they were inside the cars and might assume the bus was running late because of weather. She hoped they’d take no notice of her hauling kids into the clinic at the other end of the block. She pulled up in front. “Stay right here while I get the doctor. You have to give me sixty seconds. Can you do that?”

“Yeah,” the boy said. “Hurry.”

Shelby ran into the clinic. As she entered, Cameron came out of the office and Mel came from the kitchen. Shelby tried to keep her voice calm. “I’ve got two kids in my Jeep. A little girl about six, scratched up, a boy about sixteen, gash on his head and dislocated shoulder. The school bus went off the road. Four point six miles west of town. Twenty kids are trapped in a bus that’s balanced against a tree and could slip down the mountain any second.”

“Jesus,” Mel said. “Let’s get the kids in here,” she said, heading for the door.

Shelby grabbed the sleeve of her sweater. “Listen, there are parents waiting at the bus stop. If they figure out there’s an accident, they’re going to rush out there, maybe attempt a rescue, maybe cause that bus to dislodge and crash down the hill.”

Mel looked at Shelby calmly. “Call 911. Then call Jack and tell him about the accident and where to go—tell him about the parents. He’ll know what to do. Then call Connie at the corner store and tell her we have an emergency. Ask her to walk down here, calmly, as if nothing’s wrong. We’ll take care of the kids in your Jeep and the minute they’re stable, we’ll have Connie stay here and head out to the scene. Got that?”

“Got it,” Shelby said, heading for the phone.

She was already on the phone to Jack when Mel and Cameron were bringing the kids into the clinic. She watched Cam take the boy into the treatment room as Mel took the little girl into the exam room. Shelby was on the phone to Connie when she heard a loud cry from the treatment room—Cameron had likely yanked that shoulder to pop it back into the joint.

Shelby paced for a couple of seconds, waiting. Then she picked up the phone and called Walt, sending him out to help. Then thinking that if anyone had heavy equipment that could be useful, it would be Paul; she asked her uncle to find him in case he could help. And then, thankfully, Connie came in the door. Right at that moment, Mel came out of the exam room and faced her.

“We have a school-bus accident,” she said, reaching for her coat. “First aid will probably be necessary. Maybe triage. We have to go out there right away. There’s a small child in the exam room—her name is Mindy. She appears to be all right, just some scrapes, but you have to get her help to contact her mother. Cam’s treating an older boy. Someone has to stay here in the clinic, Connie. My kids are sleeping in the kitchen, due to wake up. Call for help if you need to, but I need to have Shelby with me. Can you manage this?”

“Sure,” she said, shrugging. “I’ll give Joy a call right away. She’ll come.”

Cameron came out of the treatment room. “Connie, sixteen-year-old boy in the treatment room. He has shoulder pain from a dislocation, repaired, and bandage on his head. I gave him pain medication and told him to stay right where he is, resting. You can call his parents, but I don’t want him to leave until someone can look at him a little later. Tell him to be patient—it’ll either be one of us or paramedics.” He reached for his coat and medical bag. “Let’s go.”

Jack was the first to arrive at the scene of the accident, Preacher not far behind him. He got ropes and pulleys out of his truck bed, rapidly secured it to a tree and rappelled down the hill to the stranded bus. The hillside was slick with ice and snow and he slid around, landing on his knees more than once. He was almost there when he glanced up and saw Preacher standing at the top of the hill, looking down at him.

The ignition on the bus was off. It just sat there, its back end up against a big tree trunk. There was no movement. He got as close to the driver’s window as he could. “Molly?”