Passing several other teams of firefighters along the way, they stood close to the wall, allowing Rory plenty of room to maneuver the stretcher without jostling her too much. Finally, they came out the doorway into the Partridge Tower’s well-lit lobby, and he looked over to see Shania and Bobby with the ambulance stretcher.
“We’re ready,” she called, reaching her hands out to assist the board directly onto the stretcher, strapping Sandy in as Rory jerked off his helmet, hood, and outer coat. Not missing a step, he called to the firefighter to get his equipment and ran out with his crew, rolling her toward the ambulance.
“Sandy!”
Rory looked up to see Ted attempting to get to them, being held back by a police officer. “That’s her father. It’s okay.”
The officer dropped his arms, and Ted ran toward them. Rory never broke stride as he called out, “We’re taking her to Hope City General. You want to ride?”
“Yes!”
Without needing to be asked, Shania slid behind the wheel and started the engine as Bobby and Rory secured the stretcher inside the ambulance. Ted sat to the side, staying out of their way. With his hands shaking, Rory was glad Bobby took charge, getting an IV into Sandy as Rory wrapped the blood pressure cuff onto her arm and oximeter to her finger. As soon as the measurements came in, he relayed them to the ER.
Her eyes had blinked open again sometime during the process and now stayed open, locked on his. She lifted a hand and tried to pull the oxygen mask off. He leaned over, his hand gently brushing her hair away from her laceration. “Leave it on, sweetheart.”
She managed to offer a nod, and he lifted it slightly from her face to see what she wanted to say.
“I love you.”
The words were barely above a whisper, but he heard them as loudly as if she’d shouted. Grinning, his nose skimmed hers as he leaned close to her ear. “I love you, too.” She smiled and he replaced the oxygen mask. Hearing a chuckle, he glanced into the cab, seeing Shania wink as she peered into the rearview mirror. Remembering her father was scrunched into the corner of the ambulance, he looked over his shoulder. Ted held his gaze for just a moment, then a wide, crooked smile curved his lips.
27
“No one hit me!”
Sandy sat on the bed in the ER bay sounding like a broken record. She had told Rory that while the man arguing with Anthony had grabbed her arm and jerked her back as he rushed through the door first, he hadn’t hit her. Her words did not have the calming effect on him she thought they would considering his level of fury seemed to increase. She told her father the same thing, noting his reaction mirrored Rory’s.
Then she’d explained the situation to one police officer and two detectives. While their reactions didn’t contain fury, their disgust was evident by the tight jaws and pinched lips.
It had only taken two stitches to close the laceration on her forehead, the ER doctor assuring her there would be virtually no scar. At those words, she’d shot him an incredulous look, wondering why he thought a tiny scar would bother her. But right now, her head was aching, and the adrenaline had left her body, leaving her exhausted. Staring at Rory who was sitting on the edge of her bed, she reached out and ran her fingers over his face, her thumb lightly touching his lips.
His gaze landed on her, and he drew a ragged breath. “I hear you say the words, Sandy, but I can still see you lying on the floor, not being able to see through the smoke well enough at first to know if you were breathing.”
Leaning closer, she replaced her thumb with her mouth, kissing him lightly. “I’m sorry.”
He snorted. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. You did everything you could. You saw something that didn’t seem right and you alerted the people that should have taken care of it. And when you weren’t sure that they were doing it, you made a call to an inspector, which should’ve been the right thing to do.”
“Who was the man who was arguing with Anthony?”
“I don’t know, babe. I haven’t heard—”
“I can answer that.”
They swung their heads around to see Dave walking into the room, followed by Sean and Colm.
“Dave?” She glanced between the three men, not understanding why they were there.
Rory stood and pulled first his dad and then his brother in for a hug. Separating, Sean moved directly to the bed and leaned over, kissing Sandy on top of her head. “I’ll go ahead and warn you that Mom and Dad were in the waiting room with your parents.”
“And loved meeting them, I might add,” Colm threw out, his eyes warm as he moved over to take her hand.
Her eyes jerked open wide, followed immediately by a wince. “Ow,” she mumbled, lifting her hand to the small bandage.
“Your head is really bruised, sweetheart.” Rory sat back down on the bed, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her in tightly before looking up at their visitors. “What did you find out?”
“I’ll leave this to Agent Anderson.”
“Agent?” she exclaimed then immediately winced again.
“I don’t know what the hell is going on, but will you three stop surprising her?” Rory kissed the side of her head after shooting a glare at the other men in the room.
Dave stepped forward and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Sandy. I’m an agent for the local FBI office. My specialty is organized crime. I’ve had Kovski from Hope City building inspections and Perkins on my scope for a while. When Perkins Electrical Company managed to snag working on Partridge Towers through Anthony Partridge, that put him on my radar as well.” A self-deprecating shrug followed, and he added, “My father was a general contractor, and I knew enough from working with him as I was growing up and
