Saving Grace

Chapter 3

Hey all! I am so sorry for the delay in this story. I am in college at the moment and I am trying to find a good balance of life. Here is the next chapter! Any advice and encouragement about where you would want to see this story go would be great!

Thank you to all my readers!

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Jesse and Maxi stay on the ground with Grace for a few minutes just sitting there in the silence.

"Jess, it is after 8 pm. We have to figure out what to do. We can't sit here all night." Maxi said quietly

"I know mate, I am trying to figure out what to do," Jesse says looking down at the sleeping girl in his arms.

Yak comes over with Von and Katie.

"Yak, mate, what do we do?" Jesse asks the older man

Yak takes a deep breath.

"I am not totally sure mate, She really should go to hospital but I am not sure how to get her there. She freaked out in the ambo, I think there was some form of PTSD with that. Now she is sleeping which probably doesn't come very easily for her." Yak said to the younger boys. "Von, Katie, any ideas?"

The other two paramedics look at each other.

"I really think that she needs the hospital. Her external injuries look horrendous, just think about the internal injuries she could have." Von said.

Katie and Yak nodded.

"Jesse, do you think there is any way that you could somehow carry her into the ambo?? I think that if we can transport her while she is sleeping then we will be at least at the hospital before we have to deal with another panic attack." Katie says after a minute of all of them looking at each other.

"I can for sure try, she is as light as a feather but from us both, on the ground it might be a little more difficult. Maxi, can you help me stand? I am going to try to stand without shifting her too much."

Maxi jumped off the ground and bent down to help Jesse stand. Jesse shifted Grace in his arms so he was holding her bridal style. Maxi put his hands under Jesses' arms and helped him stand slowly, them both trying not to shift the young girl.

Grace starts to move in Jesse's arms. Everyone holds their breaths. She buries her face deeper into Jesse's chest and stops moving. Jesse lets out a breath, thankful that she was still asleep.

Jesse and Maxi walk toward the ambulance.

"Jesse, can you go to the hospital with her? After you transfer her to the bed she may wake up and you may be able to calm her enough to get her to the hospital." Yak asks Maxi helps Jesse climb into the back of the ambulance.

"Yeah, I can go." Jesse says without thinking, "Maxi, can you cover my shift tomorrow morning? I will take one of your shifts."

"I think so, if not I will find someone to cover for you mate. I will take your car back to the apartment and I can come to pick you up later. Just give me a call." Maxi said unclipping Jesses keys that were clipped to Jesse's belt loops.

"Yak, mate, should I transfer her to the bed? I am not sure what to do and I want to do the easiest thing possible." Jesse asks, standing there awkwardly in the middle of the ambo. Although Grace was light his arms were getting tired

"Um, Von? Katie? What would you prefer?" Yak asks the other two paramedics.

"Um, If you can keep her calm if you transfer her then having her on the bed would be better, if not then we can set up the bed so you can sit on it and hold her since she seems to trust you a little at the moment," Katie said looking to Von for confirmation. Von just nodded.

"I am going to go make sure that they don't have anything else to do to lock up and head home. Do you need anything Jesse?" Yak said

"Can you grab my backpack from my locker? That has an extra change of clothes and I would really like to get out of my uniform at some point." Jesse asked

"No problem, I will be right back," Yak said and turned to run to the locker rooms to grab the bag

"Jesse, would you like to transfer Grace or just transport her with you holding her?" Von asks

"I'll try to transfer her, I will still come either way but having her on the bed will probably be easier for all of us." Jesse answers.

Jesse looks down to try to figure out the best way to transfer the young women in his arms. He stands next to the bed and slowly starts to release his grip on Grace and let her down. She shifts and moans. Jesse freezes. When she settles he continues his task of getting her completely onto the bed. He starts to stand up but Grace whimpers and grabs onto his shirt, holding on with a death grip. He freezes again for the second time in as many minutes. Jesse looks up at Von and Katie, not sure what to do.

"I think it would be best to wake her up. That way at maybe you could calm her down and we could get more out of her and be able to start an IV and some pain meds." Katie said.

"Jesse, here is your backpack." Yak said coming around the back of the ambo, "Have you figured out how you are going to get to the hospital?"

"We are going to have to wake her up. She is not letting go of Jesse and we think it is going to be easier to transport her when she is awake than trying not to wake her up in transport." Von said to Yak. He turned his attention back to Jesse, "Mate, can you just try to pry her hand off of your shirt and see if you can at least get her to let go of your shirt?"

Jesse nodded. He gently grabbed Grace's hand that was holding onto his shirt.

"Gracie," Jesse said firmly, Grace shifted at the sudden contact and shot up.

"NOO!" Grace screamed, the walls were closing in on her and she suddenly didn't know where she was an with whom she was with.

"Grace, its okay, it's me, Jesse. Okay? Remember me? You are Okay." Jesse says calmly.

Grace looked around at her surroundings and then her eyes settled on Jesse.

Jesse could see the fear in her eyes.

"Grace, breath. You are going to be okay." Jesse says calmly

"Jesse?" Grace says looking at the man before looking around at her surroundings

"Grace, we have to take you to hospital," Jesse said quietly

Grace looked around. Jesse had yet to push her so she was ready to give in a little and trust. To be honest the pain in her stomach was pretty bad.

"Okay," Grace whispered.

"Von, you drive. Jesse and I will sit back here." Katie said

Von got out and shut the door and went around and get in.

"Are we ready?" Von asked

"Let's go," Katie said

Von started the short drive.

"Grace, this hospital is amazing. They will take great care of you." Jesse said trying to reassure the trembling girl sitting

The next few minutes were silent.

"Ummm," Jesse stumbled with what to talk about, "So you have been an ocean lifeguard in California? Have you ever thought about trying out here at Bondi?"

Grace looked at him.

"To be honest, I don't think that I would ever be able to do it. I am not the best with people and crowds. We don't have that many people on the beach in Cali at once."

"Well, you should think about it," Jesse stated