Free Debra Burroughs - Paradise Valley 04.5 - The Color of Lies by Debra Burroughs Page A

as the EMTs worked to get him onto the gurney. After strapping him down, they put him in the first ambulance.
    One of the officers questioned Colin about the accident. He answered the man’s questions as best he could—his Jeep was hit in the side, full force, by the man with alcohol on his breath who had apparently run a red light—but his gaze remained riveted on Emily. The officer yelled to one of the other policemen to go with the paramedics to witness a blood sample being drawn.
    The officer waved his acknowledgement as he sprinted to catch up with them.
    Watching the firemen do their job, Colin’s heart thumped like a jackhammer as anxiety rose in him. “Come on, come on,” he muttered. Before long, they had the door off. The paramedics rushed in and stabilized Emily’s neck with a collar and inserted a board behind her before lifting her onto a gurney, taping her head to the board to immobilize it. Colin stuck with the paramedics as they lifted her into the ambulance.
    He hopped in. “I’m going with you.” No one argued.
    As one of the paramedic monitored Emily’s vitals, hooking her up to IVs to stabilize her, Colin sat on the other side of the gurney, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.
    What was he going to do if he lost her? How could he go through that again? He had already lost one woman he loved when Miranda was killed. It took such a toll on him—physically, mentally, emotionally. His eyes blurred with that emotion now. What would he do if Emily died, too?
    Colin lovingly wrapped his fingers around hers. Her hand felt so delicate, so limp.
    Before long, the ambulance pulled up to the hospital and they raced her into the emergency room. A rush of activity surrounded them—doctors and nurses in a flurry of blue scrubs and white coats swirled around Emily as one of the EMTs briefed them. She was whisked through a set of large double doors at the end of the hall.
    A petite but stern middle-aged nurse stuck out her hand and told him he had to remain outside, pointing to the waiting area. “The doctor will come out when she can.”
    Numb, Colin stood staring at the doors, imagining what was happening on the other side. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t think—he could hardly breathe.
    “Colin?” A deep voice behind him asked, then a large hand rested heavily on Colin’s shoulder.
    He turned toward the touch. It was Ernie Kaufmann, one of his police officers and his good friend. Ernie was tall and burly, and much older than Colin was, a family friend for most of his life.
    “I came as soon as I heard, son.” Ernie looked him in the eye. “What happened?”
    “The truck, it came out of nowhere. The guy had been drinking. I smelled it on his breath. He must have run the red.”
    “Are you okay?”
    “Yeah, just a few cuts and bruises from the airbag and the broken window, nothing much. It’s Emily…” Colin’s voice broke.
    “How is she?”
    Colin cleared his throat. “I don’t know for sure. The nurse said to wait, someone would come out and talk to me. But she was unconscious at the scene and in the ambulance ride here.”
    “Why don’t we take a seat? I’ll wait with you.” Ernie put his hand on Colin’s back and urged him toward the waiting area. “I called Emily’s friend Isabel when I heard. She said she’d call the other gals. I expect they’ll be here shortly.”
    Colin nodded and took a seat.
    “She’s a strong woman, that Emily. I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Ernie said as he sat.
    Emily was a strong woman—tough, resilient, determined—but Colin knew all too well it took more than that. His jaw clenched as he remembered his dead fiancée. Miranda had been a strong woman, too, but that wasn’t enough to save her life.
    As Ernie had predicted, Emily’s friend Isabel, and her husband, Alex, soon arrived, followed not long after by Camille and Maggie. They hugged Colin, offered their encouragement and support, but until he heard from the doctor that