Sirens! Rita heard them. Was she dreaming? No. She was in an ambulance. She did not need to be in an ambulance, Betty did. What was going on? She tried to sit up but was strapped to a stretcher.
"Where is Betty?"
"I'm here."
Rita's head jerked at the sound of Betty's whisper. Then a strange voice interrupted.
"Okay now, you better save your energy for the many tests you'll undergo when we arrive at the hospital."
Rita's mind was assailed by questions. Was Betty going to be okay? Where was Mama? What tests was the strange man talking about? She did not need any. The man must have been referring to Betty when he spoke of tests. She also wondered who that deep velvet-sounding voice belonged to. She tried to see just exactly who was speaking, but was unable to turn her head quite that far. She could hear Daddy Joe in the front seat telling the driver a story about her having fallen down the cellar steps a few days back and that is probably why she fainted. She didn't want hear anymore of his lies.
"Ohhh, it hurts! Help!" she groaned, trying to sound as agonized as possible, tossing and turning her head with every wail she let out. "Please!"
That's when the stranger with the nice voice came to check on her.
"Where does it hurt?" The stranger asked.
The man had the most beautiful green eyes. For a moment it seemed his lingering gaze was speaking to her, connecting with her soul. "My, uh, my ear." she stuttered.
He grasped her head with his very large, calloused hands. Despite the rough feel of his fingers, he held her tenderly.
"Which ear?"
"The left one."
"Hold still, while I have a look," he said as he reached across her to a panel that held a bunch of instruments. He grabbed an odd looking one, and Rita jumped when he stuck it in her ear. "Well now, if I thought you'd be afraid of a little otoscope I would have warned you it was coming." He laughed. It was a beautiful sound. "Hold still, please."
As he attempted to find what was causing her so much discomfort, Rita asked, "Are you a paramedic?"
"No."
"You're not." She raised her brow. "Do you have any medical experience that would qualify you to be examining me like you are?"
"When you fell down the cellar steps, you hit your head, right?
"I can't remember."
"But you clearly remember falling down into the cellar?" He seemed very serious, but there was a playful expression in his eyes
"Yes. Are you going to answer my question?"
"No."
"No, you are not going to answer my question, or no, you do not have any medical experience?"
"I'm not an MD if that's what you mean, but, I am qualified to do CPR. Does that answer your question?"
"No," she pouted.
Before she could say another word the ambulance stopped. In the minutes that followed hospital personnel swarmed them and took her away from Betty and the man with the beautiful green eyes.
"Excuse me, sir," said a young woman in a starched white uniform to Daddy Joe. "You will have to go to the nurse's desk to answer a few questions. It's down the hall and to your left. When you're through you're welcome to come sit in the waiting room until we finish examining your daughter."
