Chapter 14 - The Safety of Dawn
The back of the ambulance was the warmest place Clara had ever known. Wrapped in thick, heated fleece blankets, she sat with a steaming cup of sweet cocoa held between her small hands, watching two paramedics gently examine Leo. The toddler was wrapped like a cocoon, drinking warm electrolyte fluid, his rosy cheeks fully restored.
Mark sat on the metal bumper of the vehicle while an emergency technician disinfected the knife gash on his arm and wrapped a supportive brace around his cracked ribs. Every breath still hurt, but the crushing weight that had sat on his chest for weeks was gone entirely.
Down the logging road, two sheriff's department vehicles returned from the ridge. From the back of the first cruiser, Amanda was escorted out, her hands cuffed behind her back, her designer clothes soaked in filth and pine needles. When she caught Mark’s eye, she bared her teeth in a silent snarl of defeat before an officer pushed her gently into the back of the transport wagon. Julian followed shortly after on a stretcher, his face pale from shock and pain.
The captain walked over to Mark, holding a clipboard and two small wrapped sandwiches. "Your mother has been contacted, Mr. Vance. She's waiting at the county hospital in Fairview. We have a transport ready to take you and the kids there as soon as the EMTs clear you."
"Thank you, Captain," Mark said, his voice thick with emotion.
"You don't need to thank me," the officer replied softly, glancing toward Clara and Leo. "What you did tonight... getting them through that river, keeping them alive in freezing temperatures with broken ribs... most men wouldn't have survived the fall from the mill, let alone fought back."
"I had to," Mark said simply, looking over at his daughter. "There was no other choice."
Clara hopped down from the ambulance step, her blanket trailing behind her, and walked over to where Mark sat. She climbed onto the bumper beside him, leaning her head against his uninjured shoulder.
"Daddy?" she asked quietly.
"Yes, sweetheart?"
May you like
"Can we go home now?"
Mark wrapped his good arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his heart. "We're going to Grandma's house, Clara. A house with a garden, and big windows, and doors that stay wide open."
