Risk Factors. Calisa Rhose

so because she was a woman, but not a victim? Figured. It wasn’t the first time. A thought teased her lips to claim she was a cattle wrangler, but decided against it at the last second. Viv met his gaze, surprised at the lack of expectation in the gold depth. Genuine curiosity greeted her. “I’m a doctor.”

      “Doctor’s always good to have on hand.” He focused on something behind her, waved and side-stepped. “I need to get busy. Sorry again for walking on you.”

      “No problem. I’m fine. If I can help…”

      All cattle were sedated and ready for transport when the truck arrived. It would be nice to go home and wash, since she’d missed dinner. The chaos made Viv doubt her ability to eat if a salad landed in front of her at that moment. He left as she turned to look for someone to take the dog. The commander was several yards away, near the crushed vehicle the canine had crawled from. Thankfully the dog was unharmed, though badly shaken. She headed in the commander’s direction.

      She had almost reached the car when her paramedic–when had she labeled him as hers?–walked by with a determined countenance, and then spun and aimed those sexy eyes at her and pointed. “Did you mean what you said?”

      “What?”

      He grasped one of her hands and gave it a meaningful stare as tingles scurried up her arm at his warm touch. “You’re here to help out. Come with me. My nurse is tied up and I need small hands.”

      “But, I’m not–” Before she could argue her offered help had been meant for the animals, he hurried back to the car. Another medic began pouring alcohol solution and scrubbing her hands clean. Rubber gloves were held open for her to preserve sterility, and she was pushed over to a mangled vehicle. The instant the occupants moaned loudly enough to get above the machine noise nearby, her professionalism kicked in. She may not be familiar with human medicine, but she understood pain and suffering.

      “I’m here.” She stood at his shoulder beside the small SUV and waited for him to tell her what he needed. Not sure he’d heard her, she leaned close and peered inside the broken window, making sure to keep her hands free of the filth covering the car. “How many are trapped?” Viv lowered her voice to a whisper.

      His gaze flashed hotly and held briefly before he returned to the task. “Two adults and one more, of three, kids.”

      “Any infant yet? Did anybody get that dog out?” Chief Reed leaned to look inside, pressing her snugly against the paramedic. She wondered at the paramedic’s name.

      “Tell Dillan no sign of a baby, and Joel took the dog.”

      The warmth of his breath fluffed Viv’s hair lightly and she jerked away, relaying the message as an excuse. She would take time to fill the chief in on her treatment of the animal later. News of a possible missing child disturbed her though, and she leaned to the medic again. “What baby?”

      “There’s an empty seat in here, but no sign of an infant. I’m guessing it’s with a sitter. At least I hope so.”

      As he worked his voice remained soft, constantly soothing. His honeyed tones revealed how much he cared for the people in the car. Saving lives wasn’t just a job to this man. Viv doubted his awareness of the other emergency workers as he spoke to the victim.

      Tiny shivers massaged over her scalp at the gravel in his tone and the intimacy of their position. She leaned from his proximity as much for air, as to hide her shame. They were trying to save lives, and she had some misplaced attraction for a strange man who probably didn’t remember, or care, if she was next to him. Well, except that he needed small hands.

      Would he appreciate her hands on him, doing who-knew-what to him? Best to stay in the fresh air and not suck up his woodsy scent. Her head swam from his body pressed close to hers. The dizziness crowding in had nothing to do with her predicament, but everything to do with the man at her side. The man, so close and so virile, caused her tummy to twirl and dance like there was no tomorrow! Who was she kidding? Viv recognized the lie. No matter how the paramedic made her feel, the accident, the moaning people in the crushed car, the dread, overwrote any nice sensations. The excuse worked for her though, shutting the other vague face inside the vehicle from her mind.

      Get a grip, Dane. The dog provided an excuse to escape as she said, “I should go check the dog again.”

      “Put your fingers on this vein while I hold the other one.”

      Other one? She was trapped with her hand suddenly dragged into the car. The paramedic put it where he wanted, but she couldn’t see what she was expected to do. Another medic was leaning through where the windshield used to be and Viv focused on her actions as she worked on the man in the passenger seat. Three other people were squeezed in at various spots to reach the child still in the back seat. Nothing helped clear her head, it seemed.

      Heat surrounded her fingers, along with slimy fluid. Blood. Human blood. Oh, God, oh-God-oh-God. She should tell him she didn’t do well with bleeding people, but her hand remained buried inside of someone’s…something. She couldn’t speak around the bile rising in her throat.

      Deep down, Viv acknowledged the premature attraction to the paramedic as a defense mechanism. Ever since the wreck that had killed her best friend during high school, Viv couldn’t tolerate human blood. And now the memory she’d buried seemed hell-bent on squeezing through.

      Her reaction was purely psychological, but knowing didn’t chase the sudden dizziness or nausea away.

      With eyes shut, she pretended to treat a dog, a cat, any type of animal she typically tended. With determination, she forced her training to take over and block the horror. “I feel the bleeding source.”

      “Good. Hang on and we’ll lift her out.”

      With careful juggling of positions, the car door was pried open. Viv held tight to the severed artery in a woman’s arm. “I’m slipping. I can’t grip tight enough.”

      “You’re doing great. Just don’t let go.”

      The minutes seemed like hours before one of the ambulance attendants took over, and she stumbled back in relief and tore off the gloves. Bent at the waist, she sucked blessed air in gulps until her head cleared.

      “Truck driver’s ready to fly!”

      Viv didn’t know who yelled the announcement, or to whom. All she cared about at the moment was getting away before she made an idiot of herself by fainting. She was about to escape while she could stand straight, when a weak cry off to her right caused her heart to stutter. She poised, listening.

      A soft mewing led her closer to the hulking truck mass; the smell of sweet diesel assailed her sensitive nostrils. She squatted and duck-walked closer to the steel body.

      Viv glanced around, but saw no available body to call for help. She crept closer to the wails, weak and pathetic compared to the ruckus of rescue machinery. The cries seemed to be coming from behind the truck cab’s huge rear tires just feet from the car. There was nothing to do but crawl under the rig. Night was falling and emergency lights flashed eerily around her in the dusk. The groaning shift of steel stalled her heart, but not her determination. She squatted and reached out to the warm pavement and stretched to try to see deeper into the growing shadows, her previous discomfort forgotten.

      “Hey.” Someone grabbed her ankle and pulled as Viv struggled to get free. Strong hands held fast until she was sitting in clear view. A fireman stared down at her with a look that said he suspected she’d lost her mind. “Go in and you might not come out. This mess might roll any minute.”

      She didn’t know the fireman, but took a chance she wasn’t crazy. “I heard a something. Another dog perhaps.”

      “Nah, weren’t but the one.”

      “Well, what about a baby? There’s an empty car seat in the car. Are either of the parents conscious enough to speak? You have to check.” Viv challenged the fireman with desperation. The last she’d heard, neither parent was conscious and the two young children were too