Free Wreck Me: Steel Talons MC by Evelyn Glass Page A

already four other teams there and two more buses on the way. Most of the injuries weren’t serious. There were only three or four that needed this kind of attention. We’re good for now.” He looked at her, worried. “Are you alright?”
     
    She shook her head and bit her lip. “I don’t think she’s going to make it, and I’ve never lost a patient. I’m not handling this well at all right now.”
     
    He put a hand on her shoulder. “She can still pull through, you know. This is a great trauma center, and if that laceration didn’t hit her spleen, she’s probably going to recover.”
     
    But Susan was almost certain it was more serious than that. She appreciated Eric’s attempt to soothe her, but it wasn’t working. She wasn’t sure if she should be happy or concerned that she hadn’t had the opportunity to work on something so serious before. After all, it was traumatic to know that you couldn’t save someone. But at the same time, experience went a long way in dealing with it.
     
    “I’m going to wait around here and see if I hear anything,” he told her. “Why don’t you step outside and get some air?”
     
    She nodded, not knowing what else to do. Once she was out there, she felt alone and useless, and she started to head back in and find a seat somewhere, maybe the cafeteria. But she found herself taking out her phone, which she didn’t usually carry but had snuck into her pocket today. She checked it, finding four messages and even a call from her mother. She decided to give in and check the messages. Her day had already soured. How much worse could it be?
     

CHAPTER TWENTY
     
    The first two only mentioned an urgent need to talk, and Susan rolled her eyes. Her mother had probably just discovered a mole on the back of her arm that she thought was skin cancer and panicked. Medical advice for her hypochondria was the only reason her mother ever bothered to contact her anymore.
     
    Susan looked at the last two texts, and the color drained from her face. The first one said that her father was ill, and that he refused to go to the doctor because he thought it was just the flu. That was a little odd; she couldn’t remember her father having the flu a day in his life, probably because he was so well-preserved from all the alcohol in his bloodstream.
     
    But the last text truly made her nervous. I know you hate us. I wouldn’t ask you to come check on your father if it wasn’t critical. Please. Her mother never said please, and she never made reference to their relationship. She tended to pretend everything was fine between them when she wanted something. Clearly, there really was something very wrong with her father, and as much as she hated it, Susan knew she would go over there tomorrow and check him out. She wasn’t a doctor or surgeon yet, but she’d been through enough medical courses beyond her EMT training to make a diagnosis of something simple.
     
    She quickly sent a text back to her mother. Sorry, was working. Will stop by tomorrow morning before school. Be ready early. As she clicked the ‘send’ button, she jumped at the sound of the door behind her opening. It was Eric, and his face was grim. Pressing her lips together in a thin, tight line, Susan nodded. “She’s gone.” It was a statement, not a question.
     
    He turned away from her and shoved his hands in his pockets. “They got her stable for a few minutes, and they were going to wheel her into the OR for emergency surgery to repair a ruptured spleen. But she coded again in the hallway, and they couldn’t get her back.” He came quickly toward her. “You did everything you could, Susan, and so did I. This shit happens now and then. We’re creatures of emotion, but you can’t let losing one patient out of thousands get to you for long.”
     
    But Susan had a bad feeling this was just the beginning. What were the odds that she’d lose her first patient the same day her mother expressed true concern about her