Free Hope Smolders by Jaci Burton Page A

her stiffen, sawher chin lift, and knew she was going to tough it out on behalf of her daughter, but she looked like she was about to pass out.
    Jane was squeamish about blood or gaping wounds. Tough thing for a mom to deal with.
    “Guess what I have in my car?” Will said to Tabitha.
    “What?”
    “A siren. We can use it on the way to the hospital.”
    That caused her shaking sniffles to stop. “Really?”
    “Can you do that—I mean legally?” Sarah, Jane’s mom, asked.
    “Only for the most important of people that we take to the hospital,” Will said, looking at Tabitha as he responded to Sarah. “And we all know how important Tabitha is.”
    Tabitha sat straighter in the chair, grinning as Jane came back in the room. “Did you hear that, Mommy? I’m ’portant.”
    “I heard. I guess we should get going then.”
    “Thank you for the transport, Will,” Greg, Jane’s father, said. “I was all prepared to take her myself.”
    “It’s no problem,” Will said. “I can get her through the paperwork a lot faster, so we can get Tabitha back home and in her bed as soon as possible.”
    “Since Ryan has slept through the whole thing, we’ll bring him home tomorrow,” Sarah said.
    “Thanks, Mom. I’ll call you and let you know how it goes.”
    “You do that. Otherwise I’ll be up all night worrying.”
    Jane hugged her. “I know.”
    “Mind if I carry you?” Will asked Tabitha.
    “That’s okay with me.” She held out her arms and his heart clenched at her trust in him.
    He picked her up and they headed out the door. Once in the car, Will grabbed his first-aid kit, removed the bloody towel, and applied a loose bandage to the wound. The bleeding had stopped so he discarded the towel in a plastic bag and tossed it in the trunk. Maybe covering up the woundwould save Jane from wanting to either pass out or throw up in his car.
    She climbed in the backseat and buckled up next to Tabitha. Will came around to her side of the car and leaned in. “Are you all right?”
    She looked a little less pale. “Yes, I’m fine.”
    He gave her arm a squeeze, shut the door, and got into the driver’s seat. It was a short drive to the local hospital. Hope Community Hospital had a decent ER, and he knew the staff there. They weren’t a huge trauma center—most of the tougher cases had to be transferred to the bigger hospitals in Tulsa. But for a simple stitch-up like Tabitha needed, the hospital in Hope would do the trick.
    And as promised, he threw on his siren—though only off and on.
    Tabitha giggled. “Cool.”
    He pulled up in front of the ER to let Jane and Tabitha out.
    “I’m going to go park. I’ll be right back,” he said to her.
    “I’ve got this,” Jane said with a wan smile. “Unfortunately, I’ve been here before.”
    Having kids, he’d just bet she had. Probably had to do it with Vic, too. “I’ll just be a few minutes.”
    He watched her help Tabitha inside, then he went to the parking lot. Fortunately with this being a small hospital, it wasn’t too crowded, so he grabbed a parking space and headed inside. Jane was still at the front desk filling out paperwork.
    “Hey, Felicia,” he said to the intake coordinator as he moved up beside Jane.
    Felicia looked up and smiled at him. “Hey, Will. I didn’t know you were working tonight.”
    “I’m not. I was out with Jane and her daughter, Tabitha, had a slip and fall. She has a cut on her head.” He looked over in the seating area. There were about ten people in there. “How’s the wait?”
    Felicia looked over the counter at Tabitha, who was leaning against Jane’s leg.
    “Poor baby.” Then she looked up at Jane. “I’ve got a couple kids myself. It’s never easy when they get hurt, is it?”
    Jane shook her head. “No, it’s not.”
    “We’ll get you into a room and have a doctor look at your daughter’s head as soon as possible.”
    She gave Will a nod and he smiled in thanks.
    Jane handed Felicia the clipboard along