Free Seduced in September (Spring River Valley Book 9) by Clarice Wynter

everybody,” Tanner called from up front. Once again the ambulance skidded to a halt.
    Quinn anchored the stretcher as best he could to keep the sudden change of direction from affecting his patient. “What now?”
    “The street is flooding, and the water is getting too deep to ride through. I’ve got to back up.” Tanner put the vehicle in reverse, but barely a second later it lurched to another stop with a loud grinding noise.
    “What was that?” Lily asked, her face as pale as her aunt’s. “It sounds like we hit something.”
    “I’ll go take a look.” Quinn rose unsteadily, stunned when he saw the depth of the water rushing across the street ahead. A nearby car sat partially submerged. There was no way Tanner could maneuver the rig to the hospital entrance through water that deep. They’d have to back track again and go around to the back of the building, assuming they weren’t blocked from behind.
    Tanner glanced back at him. “We might have to stay here and call for back up.”
    Quinn leaned over and whispered to his partner. “They’ll have to take Mrs. M out of here in a boat. That’s going to be hard on her.”
    “Go see what’s behind us. If I can’t back up, we’re stuck.”
    Quinn pulled up his hood and turned on his flashlight. He sidled through the narrow aisle in the back of the rig and reached for the rear doors. “Watch out,” he told Lily. “It might get wet in here.”
    He pushed one of the doors open, letting in a barrage of rain, and jumped out into the wet street. The problem with the rig became immediately clear. A shopping cart, probably from the small market down the street, had been deposited in the middle of the road by the wind and water. It had fallen over and was stuck against the ambulance’s back wheels.
    Quinn reached for the cart’s handle and pulled, but it didn’t budge. Dirty water splashed up as he bent lower to yank on the flimsy plastic chassis of the cart. Still nothing. He stuck his head back inside. “Tell Tanner he’s got to go forward. There’s a cart caught under the back wheel, and I can’t move it.”
    Lily relayed the message to Tanner, and the rig slowly inched forward, dragging the trapped cart with it. Quinn tugged on the handle but couldn’t free it. Water washed up his sleeves, seeping into his clothes beneath his jacket. The rain nearly blinded him, and a flash of lightning, which illuminated the scene in bright white light, seemed awfully close for comfort.
    He cursed and looked up to see Lily crouched by the door of the rig. “You shouldn’t be out here. Let Tanner call for help.”
    “If we have to carry the stretcher through this water to another rig, it’s going to be very painful for her. Get back inside. Tell Tanner to keep moving, I’m going to try this again.”
    She yelled instructions to Tanner, and the ambulance surged forward again while Quinn worked at the plastic bars of the cart. “We can’t keep going forward,” his partner called.
    “A little more!” Quinn pulled on the cart handle, but the momentum of the vehicle dragged it forward, and he lost his balance. Icy water lapped over his face and swirled around his body as he went down. Struggling to get his legs back under him, he couldn’t yell to Tanner to stop.
    A pair of hands found his on the slippery cart handle, and a second later the debris came free of the ambulance’s bumper on which it had been caught. Lily wrapped an arm around him so he could get back to his feet, and together they pushed the obstacle out of the way.
    “Are you okay?” she yelled over the vicious wind.
    He nodded, and together they waded through the receding water and climbed back into the rig. He signaled Tanner to back up, and this time they were able to clear the flooded street. Within minutes they were pulling up to the back entrance of the hospital. This one wasn’t near the ER, but there were already people standing by to help unload Mrs. M and get her safely