But when twenty minutes passed without any sign of Angela, both Nick and Lauren grew impatient. And when forty five minutes had gone by, they grew concerned. They took turns nagging the race officials, inquiring about Angela’s status, and wondering what could have gone wrong to throw her that far off pace. And when it was a full hour past the time she ought to have shown up, Nick was preparing to head out on the trail in search of her.
Lauren eyed his designer jeans, expensive Italian leather loafers, and white shirt with disdain. “Uh, no offense, but those aren’t exactly ideal hiking duds you’ve got on. Why don’t you let me go out instead? I’m not the runner Angie is but I put in enough miles to get by.”
Nick arched a brow as his gaze scanned over her own tight jeans, cropped tee, and cowboy boots. “You aren’t exactly dressed for a run right now either.”
And then, whatever scathing comment Lauren was about to fire back with froze on her lips as a runner dashed towards the staging area, looking harried and frantic as he completed his loop.
“Runner down on the trail!” he yelled. “Less than a mile from here. Looks like she fell and got knocked unconscious. We need the medics out there pronto!”
Lauren clutched at Nick’s arm for support. “Oh, my God! Do you think that’s Angie?”
Nick fought off the immediate sense of panic that rose up. “I don’t know,” he replied tersely. “Let’s see if we can get more information.”
But the paramedics on site weren’t waiting for clarification, and had already headed out on the hot, rocky trail with a collapsible stretcher and a medic bag. Nick, meanwhile, managed to work his way over to the runner who’d made the discovery and ask the visibly shaken young man more specific questions.
“Look, I’m sure you’re upset about this, but we think the runner you found is our friend,” Nick began. “Can you describe her at all?”
The runner nodded. “I didn’t notice her bib number because she was sprawled face down on the trail. But she’s tall, really tall, with a long black braid. And she was wearing -”
But Nick and Lauren didn’t wait around to hear anymore, since they both knew now that the injured runner was most definitely Angela. They headed out together on the trail, neither one content to wait around for the paramedics to re-emerge. As they strode along at a brisk pace – fear evidently giving both of them an adrenaline surge – Nick cursed softly.
“Why the hell is she even doing something like this anyway?” he asked out loud, though not necessarily addressing his question to anyone in particular. “Why so damned many miles, and on terrain like this? And it’s got to be close to eighty out here already, maybe even hotter. She’s probably passed out from heat stroke, probably didn’t eat enough. Goddammit!”
“Hey, chill out up there, okay?” called Lauren, who was struggling to keep pace with Nick’s much longer-legged stride. “And don’t blame Angie for this. She knows what she’s doing, prepared for this race for months. She’s been doing long distance running for a long time now, ever since – well, a long time. And given how rocky it is out here she probably just tripped or something, maybe sprained an ankle. Don’t jump to conclusions, hmm?”
Nick shook his head as he shouldered on. “I just don’t get why she feels the need to do something this extreme. I mean, a marathon is way more than most people ever attempt. Why did she feel like she had to run this far?”
“Because it was her way of dealing with things,” replied Lauren bluntly. “She’d tell me that when she would go on these really long runs – twenty miles, longer even – that it was easy for her to block stuff out. She’d plug in her iPod and just run for hours and hours. It became a coping mechanism for her, a way to forget how much she was suffering inside. It helped – even for a little while.”
He nodded. “Okay, I get it. So this is my fault, then? The fact that she could be sick, injured now. Because if I hadn’t hurt her so badly, hadn’t broken up with her, then she wouldn’t have felt the need to put herself through this sort of physical challenge. Wouldn’t have had the need to deal with so much pain.”
Lauren scoffed. “Don’t flatter yourself that much, Manning. Angie’s always been an athlete, always played sports. Way before she ever met you she had a bunch of other crap in her life to deal with. She played four different sports during the school year, and joined three leagues in the summer just so she’d have an excuse not to be at home. This ultrarunning stuff – it’s a different sport but the exact same sort of coping mechanism she’s always used.”
Nick felt a bit better at Lauren’s reassurance, but that relief was short-lived as he and Lauren reached the site where Angela had gone down. The paramedics had already lifted her onto the stretcher, and were just about to pick her up when Nick rushed over to her side. She was pale and unresponsive, covered in dirt and blood. Her knees and shins were scraped and bruised, her eyes closed and her breathing shallow. Impatiently, he brushed aside one of the paramedics and took her hand, alarmed at how cold it felt while the rest of her skin was burning up.
“Angel,” he called out to her, touching the side of her cheek carefully. “What’s the matter with her? Did she faint? Is it heat stroke or something else?”
“We’re not sure yet, no way to tell until we get her in the ambulance,” replied one of the paramedics. “It looks like she hit her head hard, given the size of the bruise on her temple. And from the way she was clutching her side a minute ago, she’s probably got a few cracked ribs as well. But, sir, you need to get out of the way so we can get her out of here as quickly as possible. Every minute counts right now, okay?”
Despite the protests of both paramedics, Nick insisted on carrying one end of the stretcher, pointing out that he was a lot taller and stronger than either of them and could bear the weight much easier. Rather grudgingly, the slighter of the two gave in and it quickly became apparent that was the right decision, as Nick’s superior strength proved a godsend in transporting Angela back to the staging area as fast as possible.
Nick was arguing heatedly with the ambulance driver, insisting that he wanted to ride along with them, when Lauren took him firmly by the arm.
“They’ll need room back there to work on her,” she pointed out. “And, well, you’re a big dude, you’ll take up too much space. Besides, Angie’s car is here and you’ll need to drive it back for her. One of the volunteers already brought over her bag from the sweats check, so I’m guessing the car keys are in here somewhere.”
He gave a reluctant nod, and took the bag from Lauren’s outstretched hand. “You’re right. Besides, I’d probably end up pissing these guys off even more than I already have. I’ll get her car and meet you over at the hospital.
After
I get to see her one more time.”
The paramedics had already inserted an IV into one of Angela’s arms, and were getting ready to strap her in for the ambulance ride. She was drifting in and out of consciousness now, her head lolling to one side, and whimpering in pain. But this time, instead of roughly shoving the paramedic out of his way, Nick asked for what he wanted instead.
The paramedic gave a brief, reluctant nod. “Make it quick. We need to get her in ASAP, get a CT scan for that bump on her head.”
Nick stuck his upper body inside the ambulance and took her hand gently in his, wincing when he saw the bits of dirt and drying blood on her scraped palm. He brought her hand to his lips, and gave her a reassuring smile as her eyes fluttered open weakly.
“Nick?” she rasped, her voice barely audible. “What – am I hallucinating? How – why are you here? What – what happened?”
“You fainted, Angel,” he told her gently. “And then you just took a little fall, that’s all. You’re going to the hospital now to get checked out, and Lauren and I will be waiting there for you. Just take it easy now, baby, and let these guys fix you up, hmm? Everything’s going to be all right, I promise.”
She tried to draw a breath to speak, but cried out weakly from the pain in her ribs. “Nick, I’m scared,” she whispered.
But even those three little words proved too much of an effort for her, and she drifted into unconsciousness again. Nick reached over and pressed a kiss to her forehead, murmuring to her even though he knew she couldn’t hear him.
“Don’t be scared, Angel,” he told her. “Because I’m here for you, and this time I won’t leave. Ever again.”
And as the paramedics shooed him out of the ambulance and finished strapping Angela in, Nick could only stand there helplessly, especially when he realized that
he
was the one who was truly scared right now.
“What the
hell
is taking so long? I knew I should have insisted they brought her to University Medical Center instead of this place. We would have had answers half an hour ago if we’d gone there. This place – who the hell knows when we’ll hear anything.”
Lauren sighed, having heard this particular tirade from Nick at least four times already. “I’m going to go out on a limb here, Manning, and guess that patience isn’t one of your better virtues. And do you think you could maybe sit down for a few minutes, hmm? I swear you’re going to grind a hole in the linoleum otherwise.”
Nick glared at the floor. “That actually wouldn’t be very hard to do, given that this crappy stuff has got to be at least thirty years old.”
“Look, I realize this isn’t the fancy-ass private hospital you wanted them to bring Angie to, but it is the best trauma center in northern California. They know what they’re doing here, Nick. Honest. Now sit the hell down or I’ll do it for you.”
“In your dreams,” he grumbled as he reluctantly took a seat next to Lauren. “You got lucky, that’s all, caught me unawares. Now that I know how dirty you fight, you won’t pull that little trick on me again.”
Lauren gave him a cheeky little grin before toasting him with the giant cup of coffee she was sipping. “We’ll see. That’s far from the only trick I know, after all. And sometimes these things happen when you least expect them.”
Her words were far more significant than she realized, thought Nick as he tapped his foot impatiently. The very last thing he’d expected this morning - when he’d made the drive over to Angela’s to invite her to his place in Sausalito- was that they’d wind up in the ER at San Francisco General Hospital instead. And that he’d now be beside himself with worry about what could possibly be wrong with her. The best case scenario was that she was just suffering from heat exhaustion, not to mention some sore ribs, scrapes and bruises, that they would re-hydrate her, check her out, and release her in a few hours. But Nick couldn’t forget the concern the paramedics had voiced – not once, but twice – about some bump or bruise on the side of her head, and the urgency of having a CT scan done.
That
was the part that was leaving him with a very unsettled feeling.
“Are you going to call her parents?” he asked Lauren abruptly. He couldn’t help feeling annoyed that she seemed to be taking all of this in stride, remaining calm and composed as she sipped from that monstrous cup of coffee. While he, on the other hand – the one who was always cool and unemotional – could barely sit still for five minutes at a crack.
Lauren gave a somewhat disinterested shrug. “Not yet. Let’s wait and see what the doctor says about her condition. If it’s nothing major and they’re going to release her today or even tomorrow, I probably won’t call them. I don’t think Angie would want that, and frankly, they probably wouldn’t give a shit anyway. She’s, uh, told you about that whole situation, I assume?”
Nick nodded. “Yeah. They sound like a charming family, especially the mother.”
Lauren gave a short, bitter little laugh at his obvious sarcasm. “You’ve got no idea. Rita is a heartless, selfish bitch, always has been. And while Gino’s a nice enough man, he’s got zero backbone, lets himself be bossed around 24/7 by that bitch he’s married to. He’d have to sneak away to watch Angie’s games in high school, tell Rita he was working when he was really at one of our soccer games. She would have made his life even more of a living hell if she’d known the truth. So, no, I don’t think Angie would want either of them here right now. If it turns out to be something more serious, I’ll call them up. But don’t hold your breath – it would take an awful lot for Rita to come running all the way up here, and there’s no way I want to imagine this situation getting that serious.”
“I agree.”
There was a somewhat uncomfortable silence between them for a few minutes, until Lauren stuck her cup of coffee in his face.
“Sorry, I didn’t think to offer you any. That’s one reason I grabbed such a big cup, figured you might want some. Help yourself.”
Caffeine sounded like an excellent idea, so Nick took the cup from her and tilted it up to his mouth. He shuddered as he swallowed and shoved it back in her direction.
“Jesus Christ, how much sugar did you put in there?” he wheezed. “It barely tastes like coffee.”
Lauren shrugged. “I lost count. Usually I throw about four packets in, plus a bunch of cream, but since this is the jumbo sized cup I might have doubled that.”
Nick shook his head. “Unreal. You must have one of those metabolisms that burns too fast.”
She looked pensive for a moment, then gave a brief nod. “Something like that. I do drink a lot of coffee, probably way too much, but when you travel as much as I do, and as far as I do, caffeine becomes a necessary evil.”