When she heard the ambulance in the distance, she felt a small amount of relief. It felt like it had taken them hours to reach her location but it was probably only minutes. Finally, the paramedics were jumping out of the vehicle with their stretchers and equipment, urging her to step away from the man so they could help him. She didn’t want to let go of his head, afraid of letting it rest on the gravel for even a moment. She’d been cradling the man’s head in her lap, praying to God that he would save this man from an undeserved death. She had no idea what had gone on in her father’s office, but she was sure, with an instinct born of desperation and experience, that this man was innocent. From looking at the condition of the man, he’d probably insulted her father in some way and this was his punishment.
It wasn’t fair. No matter what the insult, no one should have to deal with this kind of torture.
The paramedics were loading the man into the ambulance, telling her to drive to the hospital so she could help her “brother”. She didn’t understand that part of their comments, but she jumped back into her car and raced behind the ambulance. It took precious moments to find a parking space, but she was racing through the doors of the emergency room entrance just as the stranger was being pushed behind a pair of swinging doors.
“You’ll have to wait out here for your brother, ma’am,” one of the nurses was telling her, grabbing her arms gently and leading her towards a plastic chair. “He’s going to be fine,” the woman was assuring her.
“Promise?” Sierra whispered, unaware and uncaring that the tears were falling once again, unconcerned that she had mascara streaks on her cheeks and her brown, curly hair was sticking out in different directions. She even had some of the man’s blood on her own shirt which would ruin the blouse, but that was inconsequential compared to the man’s pain and anguish. She just wanted that man to live.
“The doctors at this facility are excellent,” the woman assured Sierra, resting a firm hand on her shoulder. “They will do everything to help him. You can be sure of that.”
Sierra didn’t like that statement. It wasn’t the absolute reassurance that she was looking for, but more of an anemic comment that nurses all around the world made to people who were panicking about their loved one.
She had no idea how long she sat in the painful, plastic chair, staring at the double doors, watching people rush in and out, doctors going in but not coming out. She lost count of how many doctors were trying to heal the man. On one level, she should be reassured that so much expertise was being expended. On the other hand, she didn’t like the possibility that he was so hurt that he needed that much care.
It might have been an hour or ten, she wasn’t really sure. There weren’t any windows where she was sitting so she wouldn’t have been able to gauge the time even if her mind were functioning enough to make the connection between the daylight and nighttime. In fact, she must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew, a gentle hand was touching her shoulder and Sierra jerked awake with a start. It took her only seconds to realize where she was and she jumped up, ignoring the shooting pain in her legs that had been curled up in the tiny, uncomfortable, plastic chair for what might have been several hours.
“Yes?” Sierra felt the shivering start even before the doctor had a chance to explain. “Is he okay? Is he in pain?”
The doctor smiled into her soft, blue eyes, relieved that he could convey good news this time. “Your brother is going to be okay,” he said to reassure her.
Sierra felt as if she were going to faint with that news but she gripped the back of the chair and forced her mind to function properly. As the news sunk in, she was so relieved, she started crying again, grabbing the doctor’s hand and gripping it between both of hers. “Thank you!” she whispered with vehemence.
“Not so fast,” the doctor cautioned gently, clearing his throat at the stunningly beautiful woman standing before him. Even with her mascara running down her face, he could see her porcelain complexion and her big, blue eyes made him forget his wife while she looked up at him. They actually made him forget to breathe for a moment. This young girl was exquisitely gorgeous and the deep compassion shining through her lovely eyes only added to her beauty.
He felt bad when her exquisite blue eyes filled up with anxiety. He shook his head and focused on her words, trying to explain the whole situation. He had to stop thinking of her loveliness and focus on explaining her brother’s condition.
Clearing his throat, he took her hand and guided her back to the chairs so they were both sitting down. “He’s going to need a great deal of care. Right now, he’s in a coma so that,” he heard her gasp but put a reassuring hand to her shoulder and guided her back to focus on his words, “ so we could operate more safely. He has several broken ribs, one of which punctured a lung. His right collar bone is broken, his left leg is broken in two places and there are several contusions which bruised his internal organs. Thankfully, nothing was punctured or things would have been much worse. But it was a good thing you were right there and able to call when you did. He wouldn’t have made it if you’d been any later.” The doctor chuckled at the young beauty’s worried expression. “That was some bar fight he was in.”
Sierra absorbed all of this information with a painful heart. The doctor thought the man had been in a bar fight? Should she tell him the truth? What would happen if she said that her father’s men had done this? Surely there would still be blood in her father’s office. Maybe the police could seize the car and have it tested. But would that get back to his father? He hadn’t been driving the car, she hadn’t seen him beat up this stranger and she hadn’t even heard him order the beating.
Or was her father smart enough to clean up all the evidence? He wasn’t a stupid man. No one could create the enormous criminal empire Joe Berutelli commanded and be unintelligent. He’d gone this long without any problems with the law, or at least no problems that she knew about, so it was probably a good bet that he’d already cleaned up any evidence that might incriminate him.
Besides, if she told this doctor that it hadn’t been a bar fight, the police would get involved and they might start asking questions. If they asked anything of her father, he would know that the stranger was still alive.
Wasn’t it better to let the man heal before she took on gaining justice for the stranger?