Seduced in September (Spring River Valley Book 9) (8 page)

“Later.” There was a finality to her response that worried him, but there wasn’t time to question her inflection. He ushered her toward the rig and helped her climb inside where the interior heat and lights provided a welcome change from the wet, frigid storm.

“We’re secure,” he told Tanner after Lily had buckled her seat belt and took her aunt’s thin hand in her own. A second later the ambulance pulled away from the curb and began the long, slow ride to the hospital.

“Did you let Ricki out of the bathroom?” Mrs. Moriarty asked.

“Yes, he’s fine. I locked the house up, too, so there’s nothing to worry about. Just relax. You’re in very good hands.” Lily didn’t look at Quinn when she spoke. He had to fight not to grin at the reluctant compliment, though he supposed Lily might have said that about any team that had come out in the storm to rescue her aunt.

“Oh, I’m not worried. I know Quinn and his partner will get us there in one piece. He’s a bit of a hero, you know, Lily. Quinn’s been in the paper a number of times for daring rescues.”

Lily’s eyelashes fluttered. “Yes, I know. He’s got quite a reputation, Aunt Maddie.” This time she made eye contact, and her brief glance spoke volumes.

“Please, ladies, settle down,” he said with mock seriousness. “I’m just doing my job.”

“You’re too modest,” Mrs. Moriarty said. “Do you see that scar above his eye? He got that rescuing someone from a car wreck.”

“I know,” Lily repeated. “I was on duty when he came into the ER.”

“He’s a black belt in karate also.”

“That’s impressive.”

“And he doesn’t have a girlfriend.”

Quinn’s gaze met Lily’s once again, and he felt that familiar twinge in the middle of his chest.

“Where are you going with this, Aunt Maddie?”

Despite her discomfort, the woman smiled and shook her finger at her niece. “I’m just saying, Quinn has a lot of nice qualities. And Quinn, did you know Lily is an excellent cook? And she used to be quite the ballerina when she was young.”

“Like when I was five. Aunt Maddie, are you delirious? Maybe you need some medication to keep you calm.”

“I’m very calm, dear. I’m in pain, but I’m not out of my mind. I just think two nice young people like you and Quinn should get to know one another. That’s all.”

Quinn turned a knowing look at Lily. “I agree. Mrs. M, why don’t you tell me more about Lily’s ballerina years?”

“Could
I
have some sedation, then?” Lily asked. “Anything you’ve got to ease the pain of hearing about how I looked in a tutu.”

* * * *

“Shouldn’t we be there by now?” Circles of fatigue darkened the areas under Mrs. Moriarty’s eyes. It was clear to Quinn that the pain of her injury was weighing on her, though she had tried, for almost half an hour to maintain good spirits. He wasn’t able to give her any pain medication without a doctor’s authorization, so they’d been trying to keep her mind off of her discomfort by talking about Lily’s unfortunate adventures in classical dance. He had to admit, despite the dire situation, he’d been enjoying watching Lily blush.

Lily squeezed her hand. “We’re almost there, aren’t we?” She looked at Quinn for reassurance.

He wanted to tell her everything would be fine, but Tanner was far too quiet up front. He’d been on the radio with dispatch getting an alternate route for the trip across town which should have taken less than ten minutes on a typical day, including evening traffic. Tonight, even with no other cars around, they’d already been on the road three times as long as normal. “I’m going to check. Hang on back here.” With a skill borne of years of practice, he maneuvered from the back of the rig to the passenger seat, his presence signaling his concern to his partner.

Tanner’s expression was grim. “How’s the patient?”

“Uncomfortable but okay. Where are we?”

“I took a detour on Baxter. There are power lines down on Commerce Street. We should be coming up on the dry end of Lakeside in about—”

“Tanner, look out!” Instinctively Quinn braced for impact when a tangle of broken tree branches tumbled across the power lines near the next intersection. Tanner hit the brakes, and the rig swerved while sparks rained down into the deepening puddles on the debris-strewn road ahead. All along the south side of the street, lights in homes winked out. Quinn imagined he could hear the collective groan of the residents who probably thought they’d been spared the worst of the storm.

He let out a low whistle, and Tanner threw the vehicle into reverse. “That was close.”

“I’m going to cut over on to Wilson. There aren’t as many trees there.”

“Quinn!” Lily’s voice rose in concern, and he darted into the back, swinging himself into the seat across from her just as the rig changed direction again.

Mrs. Moriarty was grimacing in pain, and beads of sweat had broken out on her forehead.

“What happened?”

“The sudden stop. She shifted her position, and she gasped. She hasn’t been able to say anything since then.”

“I’m sorry about that bump back there. We have some turbulence…don’t worry. Tanner’s got it under control. What I want to do is try to shift you back into a better position. Do you want to try that?” She only nodded, her features drawn.

He glanced at Lily. “Can you help me? I’ll tell you what to do.”

“Okay.”

Lily obeyed Quinn’s instructions and together they were able to shift Mrs. Moriarty’s lower body just enough to ease her discomfort. Once they settled her, the older woman sighed heavily and smiled at Quinn. “Thank you. I thought I was going to faint.”

“I’m going to tighten up these straps so it won’t happen again.”

“Thank you,” Lily said. “I don’t know if she could have made it the rest of the way like that.”

“We’ll be there soon.”

“Hang on everybody,” Tanner called from up front. Once again the ambulance skidded to a halt.

Quinn anchored the stretcher as best he could to keep the sudden change of direction from affecting his patient. “What now?”

“The street is flooding, and the water is getting too deep to ride through. I’ve got to back up.” Tanner put the vehicle in reverse, but barely a second later it lurched to another stop with a loud grinding noise.

“What was that?” Lily asked, her face as pale as her aunt’s. “It sounds like we hit something.”

“I’ll go take a look.” Quinn rose unsteadily, stunned when he saw the depth of the water rushing across the street ahead. A nearby car sat partially submerged. There was no way Tanner could maneuver the rig to the hospital entrance through water that deep. They’d have to back track again and go around to the back of the building, assuming they weren’t blocked from behind.

Tanner glanced back at him. “We might have to stay here and call for back up.”

Quinn leaned over and whispered to his partner. “They’ll have to take Mrs. M out of here in a boat. That’s going to be hard on her.”

“Go see what’s behind us. If I can’t back up, we’re stuck.”

Quinn pulled up his hood and turned on his flashlight. He sidled through the narrow aisle in the back of the rig and reached for the rear doors. “Watch out,” he told Lily. “It might get wet in here.”

He pushed one of the doors open, letting in a barrage of rain, and jumped out into the wet street. The problem with the rig became immediately clear. A shopping cart, probably from the small market down the street, had been deposited in the middle of the road by the wind and water. It had fallen over and was stuck against the ambulance’s back wheels.

Quinn reached for the cart’s handle and pulled, but it didn’t budge. Dirty water splashed up as he bent lower to yank on the flimsy plastic chassis of the cart. Still nothing. He stuck his head back inside. “Tell Tanner he’s got to go forward. There’s a cart caught under the back wheel, and I can’t move it.”

Lily relayed the message to Tanner, and the rig slowly inched forward, dragging the trapped cart with it. Quinn tugged on the handle but couldn’t free it. Water washed up his sleeves, seeping into his clothes beneath his jacket. The rain nearly blinded him, and a flash of lightning, which illuminated the scene in bright white light, seemed awfully close for comfort.

He cursed and looked up to see Lily crouched by the door of the rig. “You shouldn’t be out here. Let Tanner call for help.”

“If we have to carry the stretcher through this water to another rig, it’s going to be very painful for her. Get back inside. Tell Tanner to keep moving, I’m going to try this again.”

She yelled instructions to Tanner, and the ambulance surged forward again while Quinn worked at the plastic bars of the cart. “We can’t keep going forward,” his partner called.

“A little more!” Quinn pulled on the cart handle, but the momentum of the vehicle dragged it forward, and he lost his balance. Icy water lapped over his face and swirled around his body as he went down. Struggling to get his legs back under him, he couldn’t yell to Tanner to stop.

A pair of hands found his on the slippery cart handle, and a second later the debris came free of the ambulance’s bumper on which it had been caught. Lily wrapped an arm around him so he could get back to his feet, and together they pushed the obstacle out of the way.

“Are you okay?” she yelled over the vicious wind.

He nodded, and together they waded through the receding water and climbed back into the rig. He signaled Tanner to back up, and this time they were able to clear the flooded street. Within minutes they were pulling up to the back entrance of the hospital. This one wasn’t near the ER, but there were already people standing by to help unload Mrs. M and get her safely inside.

Ignoring the discomfort caused by his soaking wet clothes, Quinn reached up to help Lily out of the back of the ambulance. “Thanks,” he whispered when she jumped down from the raised step. “I couldn’t have done that without your help.”

“You had it. I just helped you up,” she said dismissively, but she lingered close to him for a second while the orderlies finished maneuvering the stretcher through door and out of the rain.

“Either way, we make a good team, don’t you think?”

She held his gaze but didn’t answer. A second later her aunt called her, and she moved off down the corridor, following the stretcher toward the ER.

With Aunt Maddie on her way to X-ray, Lily finally allowed herself a deep, calming breath. She wrapped her still shaking hands around her coffee cup to soak up the warmth of the steaming decaf and leaned back into the cushions of the small couch in the waiting area outside her aunt’s room in the ER. What a night.

Her wet jeans clung to her legs, and her shoes sloshed from being submerged while she and Quinn had worked to free the shopping cart from beneath the ambulance. She imagined she looked much the worse for wear, and she felt the same, but the physical discomfort was nothing compared to her roiling emotions. Embarrassment at coming face-to-face with Quinn had turned into something she couldn’t quite describe when she’d watched him in action. Now she wanted to see him again, but she dreaded being unable to find the right words to express herself. Thoughts of him sent butterflies dancing beneath her ribcage when she should have been concentrating on her worry for her aunt.

The only thing that could make it worse would be if the booted feet that strolled into her line of vision belonged to Quinn. Reluctantly, she looked up from the soothing depths of her coffee into eyes as equally dark and hot.

“Hey,” he began, his tone mildly hopeful. He handed her a pair of green cotton scrubs. “I got these from supply, in case you wanted to change out of your wet clothes.”

She accepted the neatly folded pants and top, carefully to make sure her fingers didn’t touch his. “Thanks. What about you?”

“I’ll grab another pair on my way out. Tanner’s waiting for me, but I wanted to see how your aunt was doing before I left.”

“They just took her to X-ray.”

He pulled up a plastic chair from across the corridor and sat down in front of her. Heat crept up the side of her face. When she’d said they could talk later, she hadn’t meant later tonight.

“So…”

“We don’t have to do this now.”

“Do what?”

She set her coffee aside and folded her hands in her lap. “The other night…”

“I’m sorry. I don’t normally do shots in rapid succession, and I honestly don’t normally forget…you know, names and things. It was…”

“A special occasion. I don’t normally pick up strange men in bars and go home with them.”

“So you think I’m strange.”

She eyed him, fighting a smile. “Of course not. I meant, you’re just…we don’t really know each other.”

“We do know each other. Sort of. But that’s not important. We…whatever we had, it was good, right? It was worth repeating.”

Oh God.
“That’s what this is about? You want a repeat performance?”

“No, not at all. I mean, not…” He shook his head and cursed under his breath. “Why is this so hard? I can’t seem to say what I mean with you.”