Thankfully shrill sirens filled the air in the distance.
A person came up behind him. “Can I help?”
“Yes. I’m a doctor. I want you to stay right here with this lady.” Rex pointed to another person. “When the paramedics get here I want you to show them where this woman is. Do not move the people in the car. Understood?”
The people nodded.
Rushing to the next car, he passed the truck driver. He was wobbling on his feet. “Hey, buddy, you need to sit down.” Rex shined the light on him. The man had a gash on his forehead.
“Rex, I’m here. What can I do?” Tiffani came to a halt beside him.
“I need you to get this man somewhere he can sit down and see if you can find something to put over the cut. I’ve got to check that other car.”
He jogged in the direction of the second vehicle. There was no need to worry whether or not Tiffani would take care of the trucker. Rex was confident she would follow his instructions. At least this car was sitting upright. A middle-aged man sat behind the steering wheel. Rex tried the door handle. Tapping on the window, Rex said, “Open the door.”
The man didn’t look at him.
Was he in shock? Dead? Rex knocked harder at the window. “Sir, open the door.”
The man looked at him through glazed eyes. There was a click of the lock. Rex pulled the door open. “Can you tell me what’s wrong?”
Someone came up behind him. “Let me hold the flashlight.”
It was Tiffani. He could count on her to know what was needed. Handing it to her without looking back, he checked the man’s pulse. It was erratic.
“Tiff, help me. We need to get him out of here. Go around to the other side and climb in. Help me get him out far enough that I can get him on the ground. I’m afraid he’s headed for a heart attack.”
Tiffani did as he instructed. She grunted in her effort to push the heavy man out of the seat. Finally Rex was able to get his arms under the man’s shoulders and pull him from the vehicle. Tiffani rushed back around the car and held the light for him.
He could kick himself for not putting his emergency bag in Tiffani’s car. Normally he had it on his bike. Placing his ear to the man’s chest, he listened to his heartbeat and checked his pulse. It was unsteady, but there. The man needed immediate medical attention as well.
There wasn’t enough of him to go around. Too many seriously injured. “Anyone here know CPR?” he asked the crowd behind him.
“I do,” a woman said, coming forward.
“Then you stay here with this man. If he stops breathing you start CPR. I’ll be right over there. You...” he pointed to a man “...go meet the paramedics and tell them they have a possible cardiac arrest. Tiffani, come with me.”
Not asking any questions, she followed him. She stumbled, and he caught her before she went down. “Careful, I don’t need you hurt too.”
They returned to the woman in the first car. To his relief, the ambulance pulled up with lights flashing and sirens blaring.
“Tiffani, hold the light right there for me. I need to examine this woman.” Rex placed his fingers on the artery in the woman’s neck. All he was getting was a faint response. It was lighter than before. He felt over her chest to her midsection.
A brighter light than the one Tiffani was using shone over his shoulder, giving him a better view of the woman.
The paramedics came up behind him. He stood. “I’m Dr. Rex Maxwell. The best I can determine is that she has internal bleeding. Her husband and two children are in there as well. The man over there...” he pointed “...is having cardiac issues.”
* * *
Tiffani stepped back from the car so as not to block the light. It turned out it was the light from a news camera.
A woman she recognized as a reporter at a local station came up beside her. “Who is that guy?”
For a second Tiffani didn’t understand what the woman was talking about. “He’s a doctor.”
The reporter said, “We were only a few cars back when the accident happened, and started filming as soon as we got here. He’s been amazing. A real hero.”
Tiffani’s mind shifted gears to her job. “That’s Dr. Rex Maxwell, a surgeon at Metropolitan Hospital.”
“He’s been a lifesaver here tonight.” Tiffani didn’t miss the awe in the woman’s voice.
As if on cue, Rex carried a child over to the ambulance and set him down. Tiffani glanced at the cameraman. He was focused on Rex and the camera was rolling. What would it hurt to give the newswoman a few choice tidbits about Rex? He might not like it but Tiffani still had a campaign to run. “Did you know he’s the go-to general surgeon for west Tennessee? They find him indispensable over at the Metropolitan.”
“Really?” The woman was obviously enthralled with Rex. “I’m going to have to get an interview with him.”
A policeman approached and told them all to get out of the accident scene area. Tiffani was almost to the car when Rex jogged up.
“All the injured are going to Metro. I’m going to ride in with the woman. She’ll need surgery right away. You good to get home by yourself?”
“Of course.” She liked it that Rex worried about her but she’d been taking care of herself for a long time. “I’ll be fine.”
He gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “I’ll call you.”
Tiffani watched as he ran back into the thick of things. She couldn’t help but be proud of him. He was her hero. And tomorrow he would be the city’s.
* * *
Rex pulled his surgical cap off and dropped it into the bag hanging on a stand. It had been a long night. He’d been asked to scrub in when he’d arrived at the hospital. The woman had coded on the way in. It had taken everyone to keep her alive long enough to get her into the OR. There was a slim hope she’d make it through the night.
Now he was going to go home and get some sleep, then give Tiffani a call and invite her over for dinner. He smiled. And dessert. The sweet kind only she could provide.
“Hey, Rex, how does it feel to be the man of the hour? You hiding a red cape under those scrubs?” one of the doctors coming into surgery asked.
“Uh?”
He grinned even wider, “You haven’t seen the news this morning, have you?”
“No, I’ve been in the OR until ten minutes ago. What’re you talking about?” Rex was starting to get a nasty feeling in his gut.
“Go out in the waiting room and have a look at the TV. They’re even talking about you on social media. My wife texted me to see if I knew the doctor everyone was talking about.”
Rex strode to the waiting room. Thankfully it was empty. He didn’t have to wait to find out what was going on. There, in living color, was a video of him carrying the boy to the ambulance. He had offered to help and the paramedic had handed him the kid. The next clip was of him on his hands and knees beside the window of the other car involved. How had they gotten those pictures?
A knot formed in his chest. Anger roiled, feeding his suspicion. Tiffani. Would she do anything to get the publicity she needed? The picture moved to a woman holding a microphone, who was talking to Tiffani. She was talking about him. She had no excuse for not knowing how he would feel about taking advantage of the tragedy. How could she have done it? Because all she could think about was that promotion, about PR, about appearances. Just like his parents. Do whatever you can to get what you want, even if it hurts others.
Less than thirty minutes later he pulled his motorcycle in behind Tiffani’s car parked in the driveway of her condo. Jerking his helmet off, he laid it on the seat and stomped to her door, not bothering with the bell, instead hammering on it. He didn’t care who he woke.
Seconds later the lock clicked. Tiffani, dressed in her robe, opened the door and hissed, “What’s wrong with you? It’s early.”
Rex pushed his way
in and slammed the door behind him. He had to give her credit. She didn’t even step back. “How could you? Does your job mean so much to you that you don’t care about anyone else? Not even a family who almost lost a wife and mother?”
“You saw it?” She walked into the living area where her TV was turned to the morning news channel.
He followed on her heels. At least there was some contrition in her voice. “You bet I did. After I’ve spent hours in the OR, trying to save the woman’s life, I came out to that nonsense.”
“How is she?” Tiffani looked at him.
“Like you care.”
She flinched. For a fleeting second he had compassion for her. He lowered his voice. “All you’re interested in is getting your promotion. What did you do? Call the news?”