Love in the Light (Hearts in Darkness, #2)(52)

From the engine truck, Joe gave him a salute.

“Catch me up,” Caden said to Brian Larksen, driving the rig beside him. They’d run many an incident together over the years.

“Multiple vehicles. Possibly as many as ten. Two overturned. One, Two, and Three are on the scene or en route,” Larksen said, referring to the county’s other fire stations. “Four and Ten were called out with us.”

“Christ, what a mess.” Caden said. “Well, one patient at a time.”

“Just like we do,” Larksen said, hauling ass onto Interstate 395 behind the engine truck.

Even with Friday night traffic and the snow, they made it to the scene in just under fifteen minutes. Not bad for being outside their usual area of operation.

And, Jesus, the scene was a f*cking disaster.

Even from a distance, Caden could see the responders struggling to access vehicles smashed one against the next. A delivery truck was on its side half in the grass, where the road sloped down toward the exit ramp for Westmoreland Street.

They caught up with their guys at the engine, awaiting orders from the chief running the incident. Orders came quickly, and Caden and Larksen were tasked with attending the driver of the delivery truck. They got their gear and booked it to the truck. The crash had blown out the windshield, making access to the passenger cab easier than it otherwise would’ve been.

“Sir, my name’s Caden Grayson. I’m with Arlington E.M.S. and I’m going to help you,” Caden said, leaning in through the jagged edges of the busted window. The male driver was laying against the passenger door, which was road-side down, likely revealing he hadn’t been wearing his seat belt. The man looked up, and the side of his face was like hamburger. “Just lay real still for me. We’re gonna get you out of there. What’s your name?”

“Jared,” the man rasped.

“Getting him out of there is going to be a bear,” Larksen said quietly, handing Caden a flashlight. Caden nodded, his brain already working through the logistics on this one. They might need an assist. Caden knocked out the rest of the glass along one edge so he could lean over without cutting himself.

“Jared,” Caden said, leaning in further. “I’m going to take your vitals. Can you tell me what hurts?”

“My face and my arm,” the man said. “I got dragged against the road here.”

“Do you think anything’s broken?” Caden asked, getting the man’s pulse and heart rate, and checking the dilation of his eyes.

“No. I don’t think so,” Jared said.

“Okay, buddy, just hang in there. I’ll be right back,” Caden said, unfolding himself from around the window. He was updating Larksen and gathering supplies when Jared’s voice sounded from behind him.

The man was trying to climb out.

“Whoa, whoa,” Caden said, turning to support the man’s shoulders as he leaned out the window, blood streaming down his face and onto Caden’s jacket.

Larksen was right there, and together they lifted him out and laid him down on the road.

“Grayson!” a voice called.

Caden looked around until he saw Bear jogging toward him, but he ignored the other man because they had to get these wounds treated, particularly the one on Jared’s face. White bone glinted through the gore, and now Jared was struggling to maintain consciousness.

“Grayson,” Bear said, running up beside him.

“What?” Caden said, laser-focused on his patient.

“I need you to come with me,” Bear said.

He held out his bloody gloves. “Little busy here.”

“Shit, Caden. I need you to come with me now.” Something about Bear’s tone slid ice into Caden’s veins.

“I got this,” Larksen said. “Deal with whatever it is and come back.”

Caden rose, rolling off his gloves and dropping them to the ground. “What’s the problem?”

Bear took him by the arm and led him away from the truck and further onto the grass that divided the highway from the exit ramp that curved off down a little hill. “She’s conscious, but she’s trapped, and she’s—”

“What the hell are you talking about, Bear?” Caden asked, agitated at having been pulled away.

“Makenna,” Bear said, pointing down the slope, where a little car sat upside down and propped at an angle against the hillside.

The world sucked in on Caden until he couldn’t see anything else. He took off like a shot, sprinting his way down the slippery embankment, his heart in his throat, his gut a sick knot, his brain paralyzed with fear.

No, no, no, not Makenna!

Firefighters were working on opening the badly mangled driver’s door so they could extricate, so Caden slid around to the passenger side where a team of paramedics was working.

“Makenna!” he called. “Makenna?”

“Caden?” she cried, her voice warped and wobbly.

A gray-haired EMT from Station Four named Max Bryson peered awkwardly out of the door. “Caden, she’s been asking for you.” Caden swallowed hard as the man climbed out of the crumpled, upside-down front passenger seat. “She’s stable for now. I can’t tell about the baby though, I’m sorry. They’ll have her out in just a few. Car’s stable if you want to get in with her.”