Free Turbulence by Jessica Matthews

offense. He was anxious to get them on their way, and rightfully so. Unfortunately, hurricane or not, if she acted outside of her legal limits, the law wouldn’t let her close to a drug box ever again.
    “Can’t you bend the rules this time?” he asked. “Extenuating circumstances, and all that?”
    She edged closer to him and spoke softly. “I wish I could. I don’t like this any better than you do, but if I give him anything stronger without a doctor’s okay, I won’t be bending the rules, I’ll be breaking them. I don’t know what happens when pilots break rules, but I won’t get a minor slap on my wrist. I lose my license. Period. No exceptions, no matter the outcome.”
    “Okay. I’m sorry. You’re in charge.” He glanced through the window toward the sky before he ran his hands through his hair.
    “It’s just that if we don’t get out of here soon, we’ll be stuck. I don’t have to tell you that neither my plane nor this van will give us much protection.”
    “I know. The thought of weathering the storm here gives me the willies, too. So try calling again.”
    He punched in a number and this time, to Dana’s relief, made contact. “Ruth? Is Dr. Sherwood there?” He covered one ear as if to hear better. “Then can you give me the number for the hospital in Alice?”
    He started repeating the numbers, then stopped. “Say again,” he urged.
    Dana waited impatiently for him to place the second call. The next few seconds lasted forever, but soon he was speaking to someone. “Here—” he handed her the phone “—it’s the E.R.”
    Dana gratefully took the unit. After identifying herself, she explained the situation and hoped the physician at the other end caught enough of her conversation to help her.
    His reply came, although she had to listen carefully over the static.
    “Please repeat,” she said, wanting to verify the dosage she thought she’d heard.
    A crackle sounded, nearly blasting out her ear drum. She winced, then recited what she thought were his instructions, and waited for his response.
    “Affirmative,” came through loud and clear.
    She glanced at Micky. “What’s our ETA?”
    “Thirty minutes. Give or take.”
    Dana passed along the information, not certain if they’d heard her transmission, but at least she’d received her required authorization. After snapping the phone closed, she passed it back to Micky and carefully inched her way to Will’s side.
    “I’m going to give you something to take the edge off the pain. It won’t completely disappear,” she warned, “but it should drop to a level you can handle.”
    Relief spread across his face as he nodded. “I was worried about that,” he confessed.
    “Don’t,” she said kindly as she slid the needle home in his arm. “Between the medicine and a splint, you’ll do just fine.”
    She leaned away to discard the sharps, only to find Micky had moved in close. “You’re blocking my space.”
    “You’d really lose your license? Even under extenuating conditions?” A wrinkle appeared on his forehead, as if he were trying to believe her but had a hard time doing so.
    “In a heartbeat,” she assured him. “It happened to a fellow at our station. Oh, he’s still a firefighter, but he can’t work as an EMT. It’s all part of protecting the public.”
    She pointed to the splints and neck brace lying nearby. “If you’ll hand those to me, I’ll package our patient so we can get out of here.”
    While he passed her the supplies, she shifted positions to alleviate the ache in her thigh. Suddenly, he frowned.
    “What did you do to yourself?” he asked.
    He’d obviously noticed the blood on her pant leg. “It’s just a scratch.”
    “Scratches don’t bleed that much.”
    “It’s fine,” she insisted.
    “You have to take care of it.”
    “I will. Later.” She grabbed the splints out of his hand and inched closer to Will. Ignoring Micky for the moment, she immobilized the teen’s shoulder, taking