Danger Zone (File One of The First Responders Files)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Everyone rallies around Judd and Grace, the visitors drop by, the house celebrates, Matt gets a word of advice, and Owen would rather be anywhere than in the same room with his son and Nick. Really. Anywhere.

Enjoy "Saving Grace!"

***

"It was six minutes, T!" The raw pain in Judd's voice made the woman wince and duck her head, watching from under her hair as Judd leaned on the windowsill, glaring out of the blinds. "She was pinned underwater for six minutes before Swiftwater Rescue got to us!"

Tommy swallowed, saying the only thing she could in that minute. "I know."

Judd sniffed. "You can get brain damage in four."

"You can," Tommy acknowledged, quick to find positives. "You can . . . but there have been people that have been under for seven, even eight, minutes without permanent brain damage. The water was cold. That worked in her favor."

Judd shook his head, sighing. "I couldn't get her out of there, man," he whispered, voice breaking. "I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't save her, I couldn't lift her – "

"Juddy," Tommy began, taking a step forward.

"I got spooked!" Judd blurted. "I saw the lights coming, and I shouldn't have swerved the truck into a river – "

"Judd!" Tommy snapped, cutting his panicked, self-deprecating ramble off. "Do you really think either one of you would be coming out of this better after a head-on collision?"

Judd blinked tears out of his eyes. "Is she coming out of it?" he rasped.

Tommy opened her mouth to answer, but nothing emerged. There was no way she could give him the answer he wanted to hear at that moment. Judd's expression broke, and he shoved his IV line away from him, looking seconds away from ripping the needle out of his arm and finding Grace himself. "Listen to me," she hurried forward, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Listen . . . look at me." She cupped his cheeks, and Judd finally looked her in the eye. "OK, we have to be positive about this, right?" She waited for Judd to nod before continuing. "Alright," she took a deep breath, fighting to keep her tears at bay. "She's alive. She's a fighter." She grinned. "She laid you out!"

Judd cracked a smile, miming a hit. "With one punch."

"One punch," Tommy chuckled and nodded. "Don't you dare underestimate our girl."

Judd shook his head, steel in his eyes. "I never have."

***

Not again.

That thought resonated in Matt's head as Kelly slammed on the brakes, parking outside West Park Memorial. He hadn't shut the engine off before Sylvie threw the back door open, stumbling out of the car and taking off for the entrance in a sprint. "Sylvie!" Kelly shouted, then let out a muffled curse as he and Matt scrambled to follow her.

Not again.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar car squeal into the lot, stopping just in front of the hospital. TK burst out of the passenger seat, slamming the door shut behind him. "What happened?" he demanded, green eyes wide as he ran to join them, Carlos peeling away to park.

"We don't know," Sylvie shook her head, biting her lip.

Not again.

TK shoved open the doors to the hospital, and Matt couldn't find it in him to protest the action. Eddie whirled around from where he paced in front of the main desk, eyes locking on them. "Hey!" he jogged up to them, sending a quick text from his phone before putting it in his pocket. "You – "