Scared to Death. Debby Giusti

in earlier. Changing the tire had brought Tina into contact with something that had triggered an anaphylactic reaction.

      Ignoring the sheriff, Nolan turned to face the doc as he pushed open the ER doors.

      Short, stocky, with a receding hairline and a small birthmark over his left brow, Mercy’s sole physician stuck out his hand. “Thanks for staying, Nolan.”

      He returned the handshake. “Lloyd.”

      “Good job with the accident victim. Few seconds longer and she’d be in the morgue instead of the treatment room. Keeping her warm did the trick.”

      “Hypothermia’s easy enough to spot.”

      “Yeah, but you reacted.” The doc pointed to the doors he had just stepped through. “That little lady owes you her life.”

      Nolan shrugged off the praise. “Right time, right place.”

      “She tore her ACL. Probably won’t need surgery, but her leg’s too swollen to be sure. She’ll need an MRI once the swelling subsides. Right now, I’ve got her in a knee immobilizer, but she has to stay off her feet for a few days. Problem is her insurance won’t cover keeping her here all night. Closest hotel’s in Summerton. Don’t know if driving over the mountain would be the safest bet.” He looked at the sheriff.

      “Rain turned to sleet about an hour ago,” Turner said. “Highway patrol plans to close the pass to Summerton. The way the temperature’s dropping, we’ll be iced over for the rest of the night.”

      “Would Edith mind if—”

      Turner held up one hand, palm out. “Count me out, Doc. Edith’s spending the night with Ms. Agnes. That handicapped daughter of hers took a turn for the worse. Edith’s helping out.”

      Nolan let out an exasperated breath. Last thing he wanted was a stranger underfoot, but the woman needed a place to stay.

      “Kate Murphy knew Tina. Heather and I can put her up until the storm passes.”

      “Appreciate it,” Lloyd said, slapping Nolan’s arm. “I gave her something for the pain. She’s a little groggy. Check on her occasionally in the night.”

      The doc turned to the chief. “Ms. Murphy asked about her car.”

      Turner whistled. “Boys are still trying to pull that sucker out of the water. Probably late morning before the roads improve so they can tow it over to Mercy Automotive. Mind if I get a little info from the patient, Doc?”

      Lloyd nodded and pointed the sheriff toward the treatment room.

      When Turner was out of earshot, Nolan said, “I talked to the funeral director earlier this evening. Wade said to ask you when Tina’s body would be released.”

      “Already done. Wade picked her up about an hour ago.”

      “Thanks, Lloyd.”

      The doc pointed to the ambulance entrance. “Pull your car around. I’ll have the nurse escort Ms. Murphy out in a few minutes.”

      Nolan parked his Explorer in front of the ER. The sleet had stopped, but ice covered the landscape. Talk about a night to remember.

      He left the engine running and the heater on high. Rounding the vehicle, Nolan waited until the automatic doors opened and the nurse wheeled her patient into the cold night.

      Wrapped in a white thermal blanket with her left leg propped up, Kate Murphy reminded him of a rag doll that had lost part of its stuffing. She was pale skinned and blurry eyed, as if the life had drained from her.

      He opened the back passenger door.

      “Can you lift her?” the nurse asked. “I’ll stabilize her leg.”

      Nolan slipped one arm around Kate’s shoulders, the other under her knees and raised her from the chair. Light, maybe too light.

      She stiffened in his arms and groaned.

      “Sorry,” he mumbled.

      The nurse climbed into the SUV and supported the braced leg as Nolan positioned Kate on the seat.

      He could only imagine how she felt.

      Hurt. Alone. In the arms of a stranger.

      “My daughter’s at home,” he offered as reassurance, though he felt certain Lloyd had explained the situation. “There’s a guest room on the first floor.”

      “Thank you,” she whispered.

      The nurse wrapped a second blanket around Kate’s body, then stepped out of the car, slammed the door and handed Nolan a typed form. “That leg will bother her for a few days. Ice should help. Everything’s in the discharge papers.”

      “Right.”

      Nolan climbed into the driver’s seat and glanced at his passenger huddled in the rear. As soon as possible, he’d send Kate Murphy back to Atlanta.

      He didn’t want to be responsible for another woman with what was happening in Mercy.

      

      Kate wrapped the hospital blanket around her shoulders and tried to settle into the backseat of the SUV. Her leg burned like fire, and her body ached as if she’d done a mega workout and pushed every muscle to the limit.

      She caught Nolan glancing back at her in the rearview mirror. Dark eyes, pensive, brooding.

      “Warm enough?” he asked.

      “I’m fine.”

      She yanked the blanket higher. Her wet clothes were piled in a plastic bag on the floor along with a very soggy wallet someone had found wedged in her car’s console. The hospital gown afforded her some modesty, the blankets provided warmth and her credit cards weren’t floating downstream. At least there were some things for which to be thankful.

      She flicked her gaze back to her rescuer. He appeared tall with jet-black hair, cut close, and piercing eyes that seemed to burn into her whenever he looked her way. He wore a pullover sweater and jeans, and from the looks of his dry clothes, he’d evidently changed after his dip in the creek.

      Glancing down at her blanket-swathed body, she was grateful ERs didn’t provide mirrors for their patients. She’d hate to see herself. Limp brown hair, faded hospital gown, bags under her eyes, no doubt. Whatever the long-term diagnosis, she knew it wasn’t pretty.

      Outside the car window, ice covered the trees and shrubs, every leaf and branch frozen in place. Another time and the landscape would have seemed magical. Like a winter wonderland. But not tonight. After all that had happened, there was nothing magical about Mercy.

      The doctor had assured her she’d be comfortable staying at Nolan Price’s home. A widower with a teenage daughter. The man Tina had mentioned. Nice of him to take her in. Still, she’d give anything to be home in Atlanta.

      Her eyes grew heavy. The doctor had given her something for pain. “To take the edge off,” he’d said.

      She needed to ask something before she fell asleep. “What…What happened to Tina?”

      Intent on driving, Nolan apparently hadn’t heard her, and she was too tired to repeat the question.

      She closed her eyes, and her body floated as if she were in the creek again. This time the sun was shining down, warming her. She drifted….

      His hands nudged her.

      She opened her eyes.

      “Easy does it,” he said, hoisting her into his arms. A sharp jab cut through her leg.

      A large forbidding structure loomed ahead of them. Two-story. Brick. No light inviting them in from the cold.

      Trees crowded around the house and creaked in the frigid air like old bones dancing in the night.

      Kate shivered. This wasn’t the welcoming lodge she’d