“Her breathing seems fine. Pulse is a little fast.” He was listening. Her body felt like it was floating on air in her dark, little world. “Ally, get me a shirt, would you, honey and call your grandparents, Heath and Kai and let them know what’s going on?”
“I will, Dad.”
“I’ll open the front door for them,” he said into the phone. “Thank you.”
She heard him walking away from her. She couldn’t reassure him that she was all right. She was, wasn’t she? She felt like she was lost inside herself. Unable to break out of the darkness.
Josh’s touch on her face made her twitch. “That’s it, baby. Come back to me. Wake up, please baby, wake up for me.” She heard the catch in his voice and Sophie moaned but she couldn’t shake the heavy fog holding her down.
“Dad, here’s your shirt.”
“Thanks, Ally. It’s going to be okay honey. Mom is most likely dehydrated. Her electrolytes are probably low. The paramedics will be here shortly.”
“Can I come to the hospital with you?”
“Why don’t you stay here with the puppies? Ask Heath and Hannah to come here so you aren’t alone,” Josh suggested.
Sophie moaned distracting Josh from Ally. He knelt by her side. “Sophie,” he called her name.
Then the paramedics knocked on the door. Josh looked over his shoulder. “Ally, honey, could you let them in.”
He was holding her hand. His warmth penetrating her, but she still couldn’t seem to come out of the black hole she was in. The heaviness weighing her down keeping her in this state of darkness.
“Josh,” she heard his name being said by a familiar voice.
“Dale.”
“Let us take care of her.” Josh released her. Her hand, he laid gently on the hardwood floor. “She’ll be okay, Josh. I promise.”
**
Josh
Dale Hart. They went to school together. The Fire Department’s Captain. Josh stepped back beside Ally. He watched them work on his wife, his heart slamming against his ribs.
“Heartbeat is irregular,” the man bending over Sophie said to his partner who was taking her blood pressure. He then checked her oxygen. A few seconds later, he reported her oxygen levels were good.
“Start an IV, Mac. BP is 60 over 30.” He glanced up at Dale. “We’ll need to transport her to emergency. Would you have one of your guys get our gurney?”
“Sure, Tommy.”
They continued to work on Sophie who started coming around after a few minutes of having fluids pumped into her. She was still woozy and out of it. She looked around for Josh. “I’m right here, Sophie,” he told her.
“Ally, call your brother and ask him to come here.” He could see how terrified his daughter was. “What did your grandparents say?”
“Grandpa Russack said to let him know where they were taking her, and he would pick up the others and take them to meet you.”
“Where are you taking her, Mac?” Josh knew most of the crew. Cooper was a small town.
“We’ll take her to East. It’s the closest. We’ve got her pretty stable right now. BP is already coming up. You might want to notify her oncologist, though about this episode. Do they go to East?”
Josh nodded.
“Could you let Grandpa know, Ally?”
She stepped away from Josh. He watched her go to the dining room table and sit down hard on one of the chairs. She called her brother first then her grandparents. Then she surprised Josh by calling Kai.
“Bring Alexander here, Kai. I’ll watch him. Heath and Hannah are coming to stay with me while Dad goes to the hospital then you and Roman can go with Dad.” Their eyes met. “He might need you to drive him.”