You can’t go home
again. Andi Sherman repeated the
words she’d heard often. But she was returning to
Her stomach roiled. Her hands clenched the steering wheel
as she sped along the highway leading to
She saw the sign for County Roam 178. On an impulse she
turned. Fifteen or twenty minutes instead of five would see her in
The July sun shone bright in the near cloudless sky. A few
wisps called “mares’ tails” streaked the brilliant blue overhead. She rolled
down the window and inhaled the scent of growing things. A faint aroma rose
from the wild roses along the road. The winding path would take her past the
house where she’d spent her childhood. The property lost to greed, slovenliness
and criminal behavior, had been sold to pay back taxes. Her escape from the
taint of her family had taken guts and determination.
Dead. All but one younger brother had died when the meth
lab had burned like an inferno. Dan Sherman, two years her junior and the
baddest of her brothers hadn’t’ been home on the day of the disaster. Neither
had she but she’d seen pictures of the fire on television.
Andi sighed. The day she’d graduated from high school
she’d left
Pressing her foot to the gas, she sped past haunted
memories and focused on the future. Now a nurse practitioner in Pediatrics, she
was on her way to join two doctors who had offered her a spot in their
practice.
Her thoughts drifted to Josh and Grace, her new partners.
Josh had been in
What about you? She shook her head. She had a new career
to explore. Eleven years ago she hadn’t dreamed of returning to
Those buys days had kept memories of the boy who’d hurt
and rejected her. Only after hearing Rob Grantley planned to sell the nursing home/rehab
center his father had built for him had she considered returning. The news he’d
decided to quit his medical practice had allowed her to accept her friends’
offer.
As she struggled to vanquish thoughts of him her knuckles
whitened. Her chest ached. A rush of tears blurred her vision. She had no
reason to remember lost dreams and how they had been shattered like crystal
spheres. She wanted no memories of the day she’d realized he had never lowed
had and hand only used her for his pleasure.
And hers. She had to admit the sex had been exciting. Her
teeth clamped on her lower lip. She slowed the car and stopped to wipe tears
away.
After sucking a series of deep breaths, she hit the gas.
The car reached the snake-like section of the road where trees lines the sides.
She slowed. This was no place for speed. A loud noise startled her. She pushed
the car around the final bend. A car had slammed into a huge oak. A plume of smoke
shot from the car. Andi slammed on the brakes and pulled onto the berm of the
narrow two lane road across from the wreck. She grabbed her phone and dialed
911 as she ran to the wrecked sedan.
The crumpled front end curved around the tree trunk. The
rear door on the passenger’s side hung open.
An operator spoke. “This is 911. What is your emergency?”
“An accident. County road 178 about two miles from town.”
She peered into the front. The driver slumped against the inflated air bag.
“Woman driver.” She slid her hand over the jagged glass of the side window.
“She has a faint pulse.”
"Help is on the way. Is the car about to catch fire?”
Andi stared at the smashed hood. “The steam has
subsided."
A whimpering sound caused Andi to turn her head.” There’s
a baby.” For a moment she froze. The mewling became an incessant series of
screams. The injured woman never stirred. Andi leaned into the car and
unfastened the infant seat and snagged a diaper bag. She carried the seat and
bag to her car. Had the baby been injured? She needed to act as a triage nurse.
She could do nothing for the woman until someone arrived to extract her. Care
for the less injured first.
My Places
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Mark My Places
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