Not that she had needed to use them before.
“She’s got a pulse and she’s breathing,” Ryan reported. Liv exhaled in relief. “But she’s still not awake.” Ryan’s face was grim.
But a pulse and breathing were good. Awake they could work on. Surely the hospital would figure out what went wrong and fix it, right?
It had taken almost exactly ten minutes when the piercing sirens of the ambulance came into hearing distance. A few minutes later, the paramedics were out and inside the house, carefully moving Gram onto a stretcher. “I can take one of you in the ambulance.” The lead paramedic, a woman, looked between Liv and Ryan.
“She’s going,” Ryan said without hesitation.
“But—”
“I’ll follow in the car.” Ryan shooed her gently.
Liv nodded, gratefulness threatening to burst her heart, and then she headed after the paramedics, climbing up into the ambulance and sitting on one of the side benches.
She had to turn her head as they inserted IVs, but she could hold her Gram’s hand on the side that didn’t have IVs.
“Any idea what happened?” The lead paramedic asked.
Liv shook her head regretfully. “We were in the living room when I heard a huge crash,” she said. “I don’t know if she fell, or something hit her, or —” She closed her eyes, making herself picture the scene. A bowl partially filled with flour had been on the floor. “I think she just fell.” But over what? Did she trip, or was it more nefarious?
“Okay.” The paramedic jotted that down, then quickly wrapped a blood pressure cuff around Gram’s arm.
“Where are we going?” Liv asked, her voice soft. She hadn’t been to the hospital in a long time.
“The local hospital is about ten minutes away,” the paramedic answered, even though she wasn’t looking at Liv. “And we’re almost there.” She spoke something into the radio on her shoulder. “They’re expecting us,” she said.
Liv exhaled in relief. They were going to look after her Gram, and she was going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay.
The ambulance slid to a stop, and the back doors opened, revealing the other two paramedics who helped pull the stretcher out and wheel Gram into the ER.
“You’re going to have to go out to the waiting room for a bit,” the lead paramedic told her.
“What?” Liv’s voice was panicked.
“The doctor will come get you once he knows more, okay?” She put her arm gently around Liv’s shoulder and steered her towards the door. “Find your friend, and she can wait with you.”
Then the paramedic jogged off after the gurney that was quickly disappearing into the bowels of the hospital.
Liv stood there, just outside the waiting room doors. She was starting to shake, her nerves taking over. She forced herself to take a few deep breaths, but almost jumped out of her skin when someone wrapped their arms around her.
She could smell Ryan’s perfume, so she closed her eyes, letting her soak it in.
“Is she okay?” Ryan asked softly, her head near Liv’s ear and her front pressed against Liv’s back.
“I don’t know,” Liv said helplessly. “The doctors took her back to do tests and stuff.”
Ryan exhaled softly, then gently steered Liv towards the waiting room chairs.
They sat next to each other, Liv’s hand in Ryan’s and their fingers twined together. She leaned her head on Ryan’s shoulder, her eyes staring into the distance. “Do you need to go?” Liv looked up at Ryan.
Ryan glanced at the clock. “I have a few more minutes.”
It wasn’t the answer Liv had hoped for, but it was the one she had expected. Not that she thought Ryan was shirking her duties, or anything. Ryan needed to catch a killer.
But she would come back, Liv knew. Last time, she was the one who had run away. She wasn’t going to do that again.
“Miss Evans?” A soft, feminine voice caught Liv off guard. She didn’t know how much time had passed.
She straightened up, Ryan still by her side. “Yes?”
“I’ll take you back to see your grandmother now.” The woman was fair-boned and pretty, with short dark hair and a tired smile.
“Go.” Liv turned to Ryan and drew her into a hug. “I’ll text you when I know anything, okay?”
Ryan hesitated, then nodded and hugged her back. She kissed her briefly on the lips, then left.
Liv turned to follow the woman. Was she a doctor or a nurse? Liv didn’t know.
“I’m Doctor Adams,” the woman said, extending a hand for Liv to shake. “I’m the ER doctor currently in charge of your grandmother’s care.”
“Is she okay?” There was anxiousness in her voice.
“We’re running some tests right now to see if we can figure out why she fell,” Dr Adams said gently. “But I thought you might want to see her before she went for her head scan.”
“Is she awake?”
The doctor shook her head. “She’s not, I’m sorry.”
That was okay. Liv nodded, swallowing over the lump in her throat. Gram would be okay. She had to be.
She winced. Mocha had gotten left all alone at the house, and the poor beagle dealt with separation anxiety as it was. She didn’t want to leave, but she was going to have to make sure that Mocha was okay.
Going into Gram’s hospital room was more of a shock than she had hoped it would be. She was lying on a hospital bed, a blanket pulled up to her chest. Her arms were on top of it, and there were IVs in both – attached to the IV tree thing, with multiple bags.
“She’s stable at the moment,” Dr Adams said, her voice soft. “We’re giving her some fluids because she’s dehydrated.”
“What are the other bags?” Liv wanted to reach out and touch Gram, but was afraid.
“Meds to help her heart, blood pressure, and to keep her comfortable right now.” Dr Adams pointed to each in turn.
Liv nodded, her gaze turning back to the pale elderly woman in the bed.
“You can hold her hand,” Dr Adams said, a faint smile on her face.
Liv hesitated, then moved
