Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
“You listen here, Bernie McCoy. I can make your life a living hell.” Denny takes that time to step between the two men, and I put on my brave face for Gramps. No way am I going to allow a man like Sheriff Sanders to haul Gramps off because of me.
“That’s enough. Gonna have to ask you to leave, Sanders. We all heard you loud and clear,” Denny states, his voice leaving no room for argument.
My eyes move from Sanders to Denny, then to Grandpa Bernie. The sheriff looks fired up, ready to beat either Denny or Bernie. This is not what I signed up for when I came to work today. Where’s Nikki when we need her? She’d bust some heads, and no one would come at her for it.
“Oh no, oh no, no, no.” I move around Denny’s back, watching as Gramps’ hand goes to the back of his chair. My eyes fill with horror. He’s going down, and with his height and weight, the chair won’t be any help, and him hitting the floor will be even worse.
“Denny, oh God! Someone call 9-1-1. We need an ambulance.” I come up beside Gramps, arm wrapping around his waist. Denny springs into action, turning his back to Sheriff Sanders, who isn’t doing a fucking thing but staring in disbelief. What a waste of human space.
“Olive, call Gabe. Sanders, get the fuck out, right now!” Denny barks, and if he weren’t helping me with Bernie, I’d bet the sheriff would have a fist in his face and were laid flat out.
“Gramps, can you hear me? You’re okay. We’re going to make sure of that. Don’t leave Gabe, okay? Don’t leave me,” I whisper into his ear once Denny helps lower him to the ground. I stay near him the whole time, not letting go of his hand, worried that he’s gone forever.
“He’s got a pulse,” Denny states.
“Grandpa Bernie, stay with us. You have a lot of people who love you, including me.” The outside world fades away. All I worry about is the man who took me under his wing, who’s been helping me since I landed in Plaine Hill, this amazing person my man loves so much.
“Carsynn, we gotta give them some room. The ambulance is here. You need to go with him. I can’t get ahold of Gabe, so I’m going to drive over to the shop. You go with Bernie, alright?” Denny tells me what seems like hours later, but I know better. I’ve been in this situation before with my adrenaline pumping, thinking about the worst and praying for the best. He pulls me away. My emotions are messy, tears streaming down my cheeks.
“Okay, I can do this. Please tell Gabe to hurry.” I wipe my cheeks with the back of my hands, watching as the paramedics work on Gramps, unaware of when they showed up. Besides Sheriff Sanders, Plaine Hill and its citizens are amazing people.
“You got it. Go with Manny. He’ll make sure you’re with Bernie the entire time.” Olive comes rushing around, my purse in her hand, looping it over my head, and giving me a fast hug. They have Gramps loaded, and Manny is waiting on me to follow him out while he starts to ask questions about his medical history. I answer what I can, mostly his medicines, and mumble. “I don’t know” when there’s a question I don’t know the answer to. This happens the whole time we walk to the ambulance and continues while I look on, watching as they work on Gramps. My hand grips the strap of my purse, tightening its hold while I chant over and over in my head to please hurry and get us to the hospital.
23
GABE
Jesus fucking Christ, two scares in less than a month. My damn gut can’t take much more. First Carsynn and now Gramps. When Denny came rushing toward my bay to deliver the news, I thought my knees were going to give out beneath me when he told me Gramps was at the hospital and that Carsynn was with him. The tightness in my chest loosened a bit at knowing she was with him, but it didn’t prepare me for the sight of her when I walked into the emergency room, talked to the front desk clerk, and gave the nurse my name. Apparently, she already knew who I was. Carsynn’s doing. She gave me a name badge, hit the button, and told me where to go. The whole drive here I was hitting the dial button on my woman's number, but it was no use. Cell reception in the hospital was obsolete. It sucked because Denny wasn’t sure how Gramps was doing, only that they were working on him when the paramedics loaded him up. He had a pulse, but other than that, there was no fucking news. Denny couldn’t tell me what was going on, and since I had no way of getting ahold of Carsynn, it was a long-ass ride here. It didn’t even dawn on me to call the hospital. I drove as fast as I could, found the closest spot, and double-timed it until I walked through the sliding doors.