“Hopefully we’re a little better off than that,” Tory muttered, but she wasn’t entirely certain that was true. Her worst fear was that they’d have serious injuries they wouldn’t be able to handle with their limited resources. She met KT’s gaze. “We could be in trouble here.”

KT swept a hand down Tory’s arm and squeezed her fi ngers.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got your back.”

“Thanks.”

“I’d better get Pia and set up.”

Tory watched KT amble away as if she had all the time in the world. She knew that blasé manner was a practiced disguise perpetrated to instill calm in others. KT was already mentally planning, organizing, and executing any number of potential emergency scenarios in her head, and as soon as she saw her patient, every action would be choreographed with deliberation and certainty. Tory trusted Nita’s competence, but she depended on KT in a far more personal way.

“Nita,” Tory said, refocusing. “You triage—your ER training’s more recent than mine.”

“Got it,” Nita said, grabbing several packs of sterile gloves and tucking them into the waistband of her jeans.

“Let’s hope we don’t need blood,” Tory said. “We’ll have to make do with—”

“Here they come,” Nita announced as the loud thud of the heavy

• 250 •

Winds of Fortune

front doors banging open followed by a rising jumble of voices signaled the arrival of the paramedics with their casualties.

Nita leaned over the balcony and tracked the progression of the emergency teams across the lobby and up the stairs. Three grimy fi refi ghters and a paramedic maneuvered a stretcher up the stairs with surprising speed. Behind them, paramedics and police offi cers guided several more walking wounded. At the top of the stairs, Tory directed the stretcher bearers toward KT. Nita focused on the other injured still slowly making their way up. Her stomach sank when she recognized Joey Torres leaning on Bri Parker for support. His face was streaked with soot and blood, and his clothes were soaked. Then she picked out the brunette offi cer, Allie, with another injured fi reman.

Why wasn’t Deo with Joey? Anxiously, Nita scanned the crowd again. Deo wasn’t there. Deo wasn’t anywhere she searched.

Fighting a wave of dizziness, Nita pushed her way to the stretcher.

“Oh no,” she whispered.

Blood seeped down Deo’s forehead and angry red blisters covered the left side of her neck. Burns. Sandbags cushioned Deo’s head. Head injury?

“What happened?” Nita demanded, struggling for calm. She wanted to shove everyone out of the way so she could touch Deo, just touch her. “Where else is she hurt?”

“Put her over here, guys,” KT directed. “Let’s have a look.”

“Deo,” Nita said, as if expecting Deo to answer. “Deo, sweetheart?”

Pia pushed into the crowd. “Deo? Oh my God.”

“Baby,” KT said to Pia, blocking her view of her cousin on the stretcher, “let me take care of her. You go help the others.”

Nita tried to edge around KT to get to Deo, but a hand on her arm held her back.

“Let KT work, Nita,” Tory said. “She’ll take care of her.”

Nita spun away. “I won’t get in the way. I just need to—”

Pia caught Nita’s arm. “Tory’s right, honey. Come on. Joey’s over here. He needs your help.”

“Joey.” Nita took a breath and the part of her that functioned despite her own anguish and fear clicked on. Her mind cleared. “Yes.

• 251 •

RADCLY fFE

Of course.” She looked to Tory. “You’ll let me know as soon as I can see her?”

“I’ll make sure you’re notifi ed as soon as KT gives the word,”

Tory said.

Squaring her shoulders, Nita forced herself to turn her back on the scene of KT working on Deo’s still form. It was the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life. She fi sted her hands, hoping to stop the trembling before she reached Joey. Pia was already with him, kneeling in front of the chair where he slumped, a bloody gauze pressed to his cheek.

“What happened?” Nita asked as she pulled on gloves. She glanced at the clipboard by his feet. His blood pressure was a little bit low, but Sally hadn’t noted anything urgent.

Joey shivered and his eyes glistened with tears. “Oh man, I fucked up. How’s Deo? Is she hurt bad?”

“KT is looking after her right now,” Nita replied, her voice sounding strangely fl at to her own ears. Funny, her whole body was numb, but she knew exactly what she had to do for Joey. “Let’s take care of you. Tell me how you got hurt.”

“The building…part of the roof…it was on fi re and it fell.”

Nita placed her index fi nger on the radial side of his wrist. His pulse was thready and fast. If he wasn’t young and healthy, he’d probably be in shock. “Pia, would you get him a blanket. He’s wet and cold.”

“I’ll be right back, Joey, sweetie,” Pia said, rising quickly.

“Deo pushed me out of the way,” Joey continued miserably. “I didn’t see it falling, and she pushed me out of the way.” Tears ran down his face. “Something hit her and she fell and I…oh, fuck, it’s all my fault.”

“It’s okay. Let me see your face,” Nita requested abruptly. She couldn’t hear any more about Deo if she hoped to be able to work.

The laceration on his cheek was long, but not too deep.

“Are you hurt anywhere else? What about your hand? Did you re-injure it?”

Joey stared down into his lap. His splint was wet and sandy but intact.

“It’s okay. I didn’t fall on it.” He turned anguished eyes to Nita.

“Can I see her? Can I please see her?”

“In a little while.” Nita straightened and her vision dimmed. For a

• 252 •

Winds of Fortune

second, she thought she might faint, and then she felt a steadying hand on her elbow.

“Hey,” Reese said gently. “Nita, are you all right?”

“Yes. Yes, thanks.” Nita took in the white bandage wrapped around Reese’s left hand. “You’d better let me look at that.”

Reese followed her gaze, then shrugged. “It’s nothing much. A few burns.”

“She pulled Deo out from under the stuff that was on fi re,” Joey announced. “She saved her.”

“Then I owe you thanks,” Nita said. “More than I can say.”

“No you don’t,” Reese said. She scanned the area, her gaze landing on the activity around the stretcher. “How is she?”

“I don’t know yet.” Nita couldn’t think about what was happening behind her. She couldn’t think about Deo lying so still, blood on her face. She couldn’t. “Is there anyone else injured?”

Reese shook her head. “Just bumps and bruises. Nothing major.”

“You need that hand looked at,” Nita repeated.

“I’ll have Tory do it,” Reese said. “I want to let her know I’m okay.”

“Yes. Yes, you should do that. Go fi nd her.”

“Nita, you okay?” Reese peered at her with concern.

“Yes. Fine. Go ahead. Tory needs to see you.”

Reese hesitated, then stepped away as Pia returned with a blanket and wrapped it around Joey’s shoulders.

“Can you irrigate out that laceration on his cheek,” Nita asked,

“and steri-strip it closed. I don’t think he’ll need sutures.”

“Sure. I’ll change that splint too.” Pia gripped Nita’s arm. “Why don’t you go see what’s happening with Deo. Maybe KT can give you an update now.”

“Thank you. I’ll do that.”

Nita didn’t recognize herself. She’d been in the midst of more medical emergencies than she could count. She’d taken care of the young and the old, victims of horrifying car crashes and brutal assaults and senseless accidents. She’d handled it all, calmly, even remotely.

And now, she was terrifi ed. The very thought of Deo being hurt left her disoriented, as if she were cast out to sea, far from land with no idea which direction led to safety.

• 253 •

RADCLY fFE

She had to get to her.

The chaos around Deo had settled down to a controlled fl urry of activity, and Nita was able to get close enough to see her. She wasn’t awake, but her eyes moved restlessly beneath closed lids. A white sterile cloth with a hole in the middle covered her stomach, and just as Nita looked down, KT made a two-inch vertical incision below Deo’s belly button.

“Is she bleeding internally?” Nita felt an icy hand grip her heart.

“Don’t know,” KT responded without looking away from what she was doing. “Her blood pressure’s been a little bit up and down, and I want to make sure nothing is going on inside. We can’t rely on X-rays or CT, since we don’t have any.” She tossed Nita a grin. “So we’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way and look.”

“What about her head?” Nita asked.

“She’s got a good bump on her temple.”

As KT talked, she slid a clear plastic IV tube into Deo’s abdomen through the incision she’d made, and Sally hooked up an IV bag to the other end. The clear fl uid ran into Deo’s abdomen. Nita knew that in a few minutes, they would lower the IV bag and let the fl uid run out.

If it was clear, there was a good chance there was no internal injury. If Deo was bleeding inside, it would be pink or red. If that happened, Deo might very well die there, because as good as KT was, she couldn’t operate in the middle of Town Hall.

“The scalp laceration’s no big deal,” KT went on. “Her pupils look fi ne. With luck, it’s just a concussion. Refl exes are normal, so I think her neck’s okay, too.”

“Thank God.”

“You want to assist here?” KT asked.

“I’ll get Tory if you need help,” Nita said, her legs suddenly weak.

“I can’t. I…she’s…we’re lovers.”

“Hell, Nita, why didn’t you say something.” KT shook her head.

“I’m okay here. You should go sit down until I can fi ll you in the right way.”

“I’d rather stay.”

“Okay, then pull up a chair and hold her hand.”

“What?”