Heart of the Country by Gutteridge Rene

Author:Gutteridge, Rene [Gutteridge, Rene]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: FICTION / Christian / General, FICTION / General
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
Published: 2012-02-09T22:00:00+00:00

33

OLIVIA

“DADDY! DADDY, hold on! God, please . . . Wake up—”

Hardy knelt beside me. The girls stood nearby, huddling next to one another. Crying. “Girls, can you wait outside for the ambulance and tell them where to go when they get here?”

Nell nodded, guiding her sister out.

“He’s still breathing,” Hardy said.

“Hang on. Help is coming,” I whispered to Daddy, my lips near his ear. Outside, the sirens were getting closer and closer.

Even as I held Daddy, I wondered where in the world Faith was. Her car was out front. Had she taken that old horse for a ride? She had no business riding him around. He could barely stand up.

Voices. And then the EMTs were hurrying through the front door. I stood and stepped back, allowing them in. “Please, please help him.”

Hardy rushed to my side and put his strong arm around me. I leaned into his chest and he covered my cheek with his hand. “This can’t be happening.”

“It’s going to be okay,” he said. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Dad?” Faith’s shrill voice came from the back of the house. Hurried footsteps; then she appeared in the living room. Tears. I hated her tears. “What happened?” she asked nobody in particular.

I stomped over to her. “What have you done?”

“Me?”

“I would’ve never left him! Never! That’s why I came over, because everybody that knows Daddy at all knows he never passes up a chance to fish. He didn’t look right. Didn’t you notice that? Or were you too busy talking to Lee about all your drama?”

It should’ve felt awful coming out, but it didn’t. I could finally breathe, for the first time since I found Daddy unconscious on the floor.

He’d hit his head, and it was bleeding down the side of his face. Faith stared at him as the EMTs worked at getting him on the gurney. She held a hand to her mouth. It was shaking. I glanced at Hardy, who looked like he regretted witnessing everything that I’d just said.

“We need to get him to the hospital,” the dark-haired EMT said. He turned to Faith, who stood closest to him. “I need a list of any medications he’s on.”

Faith shook her head, looked at me. I stepped forward. “I’ve already got that in my purse. I also have his doctor’s phone number.”

They wheeled him outside. Dad wasn’t moving at all.

“I’ll ride in the ambulance,” I told Hardy as I followed, grabbing my purse on the way out. “Can you get the girls to Rebecca’s house?” My voice cracked and quivered.

“He’s going to be okay,” Hardy said, helping me into the ambulance.

Faith was coming out of the house, still crying. She stood and stared at me, wordless, motionless.

I took in a deep breath. Steadied myself. “Get to the hospital as fast as you can. Go ahead and grab his medications. They’re on his sink in the bathroom.”

“Okay.” She nodded frantically. “What else?”

“Grab his billfold. It’ll be on the kitchen counter. Has his insurance card.”

“Okay.”

“Faith,” I said, and her searching eyes stayed still, looked deeply into mine.

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