“He had a significant laceration on his shoulder, but he’ll live if the fire chief can talk him into getting it taken care of. He was hell-bent on finding his, um … how did he put it? Epically beautiful girlfriend.” Landers paused and then leaned down. “America?”
My eyes widened, and my mouth fell open into a gaping smile. “Yes! That’s my name! He was here? Looking for me? Do you know where he went?”
“To the hospital … to look for you,” Landers said, tipping his hat. “Good luck, ma’am.”
“Reyes!” I said, grabbing his arm.
He nodded once as he flipped on his lights, and then he threw the gear into drive. We bounced as the cruiser crossed the median, and then Reyes pressed a heavy foot on the gas, barreling down the turnpike toward Emporia … and Shepley.
Shepley
The nurse shook her head, dabbing a cut on my ear with a cotton ball. “You’re lucky.” She blinked her long eyelashes and then reached behind her for something sitting on the silver tray next to my stretcher.
The ER was full. The rooms were only available for the more urgent cases. Triage had been set up in the waiting room, and I’d waited for over an hour before a nurse finally called my name and escorted me to a stretcher in the hall where I’d waited for another hour.
“I can’t believe you were going to walk out of here.”
“It’s getting late. I have to find America before dark.”
The nurse smiled. She was a tiny little thing. I’d thought she was fresh out of nursing school until she opened her mouth. She reminded me a lot of America—tough, confident, and would accept zero percent of shit anyone might give her.
“I told you. I looked,” she said. “America is in the system, which means she’s been seen here. She’s probably out looking for you. Stay put. She’ll come back.”
I frowned. “That doesn’t make me feel better”—I looked down at her badge—“Brandi.”
She smirked. “No, but getting these wounds flushed will. Keep this clean and dry. You’ll have a small nip gone from your ear.”
“Fabulous,” I murmured.
“You’re the one who took shelter under an overpass. Don’t you know anything? That’s worse than standing in an open field. When a tornado goes over a bridge, it increases the wind velocity.”
“Did they teach you that in nursing school?” I asked.
“This is Tornado Alley. If you don’t know the rules already, you’ll be eager to learn after the first tornado season.”
“I can see why.”
She breathed out a laugh. “Consider the ear bragging rights. Not many people can say they’ve taken a trip in a tornado and lived to tell about it.”
“I don’t think they’ll be impressed by a chipped ear.”
“If you’re wishing for a gnarly scar, you’ll have one,” she said, pointing to my shoulder.
I looked down at the white bandage and tape on my shoulder and then behind me toward the door. “If she’s not here in fifteen minutes, I’m going back out to look for her.”
“I can’t get your discharge papers ready in—”
“Fifteen minutes,” I said.
She was unimpressed with my demand. “Listen, princess, if you haven’t noticed, I’m busy. She’ll be here. We’ve got another storm coming in anyway, and—”
I stiffened. “What? When?”
She shrugged, looking to the mounted television in the waiting room. People of all ages—all soaked with rainwater, filthy, and scared—stood, wrapped in hospital-issued wool blankets. They began to crowd around the screen. A meteorologist was standing in front of a radar moving a few inches at a time. A large red blob surrounded by yellows and greens crept up to Emporia’s city limits, and then it started over, stuck in a loop.
“It’s going to swallow us up and spit us out,” Brandi said.
My eyebrows pulled in as the panic swelled in my chest. “She’s still out there. I don’t even know where to look.”