Page 20 of Her Steadfast Hero

Chapter Five

It took ten solid minutes for Sarah to get her head in the game when she got to the clinic. It was the little girl who asked if her mommy was going to be okay that snapped her out of her euphoric haze. David Sloane sure could pack a punch.

“Lady, my mommy is crying.”

“Show me.” Sarah gently clasped the little girl’s hand and let her lead her to the hole in the back of the clinic to where the young woman was leaning against the outside wall. She was holding a toddler and she was wiping tears off her face. It was clear that it had taken a Hurculean effort to get to this point.

“Good Girl Rosa, you found someone,” she gasped. The woman turned to Sarah. “Gringa?”

“Yes, I’m an American,” Sarah responded in Spanish. “I’m a nurse.” She pulled the little boy from the young mother’s arms. Then she saw the problem. Her shoulder was dislocated, and from the way she was standing, there was something wrong with her leg or foot.

“Let me go inside and see if there is someone strong who can carry you inside,” Sarah said. Arnie might have been a drunk and a druggie, but at least he’d had a strong back. Of course he needed to be forced to help out.

Asshole.

“Give me Alejandro,” the woman demanded softly.

“Let me help you sit down.” Sarah eased her to the ground, and then arranged for the toddler to sit on his mother’s lap.

“Thank you.”

“I’ll be right back.”

She ducked back into the broken part of the clinic wall. She followed the noise to one of the curtained areas. She found bedlam. There was a teenage boy on a gurney, and a doctor whose hands were wrist deep in his chest. A woman was crying in the corner. There was a small family huddled in the corner, a woman was in the middle, sobbing. The oldest man was clearly stopping her from going to the boy on the operating table.

The three other aid workers were assisting the doctor. Somebody needed to get the family out of the makeshift room, so the task fell to Sarah.

“Please, come with me.” She blocked the view from the family. The man that Sarah suspected to be the boy’s father threw her a grateful look. He guided his wife out of the curtained cubicle and the two younger men followed. She guided them to the makeshift waiting room, that contained a semblance of a couch.

“Have a seat. I want to assure you that Doctor Fredericks is one of the best doctors I’ve ever worked with.” She just didn’t know why he was in a full-blown open chest operation in the clinic and hadn’t had the teenager sent to the hospital. It had to be really bad.

“My baby fell on a spike when he was helping move debris,” the woman moaned. “He was trying to help.”

Sarah crouched down in front of her and grabbed her hands. “As soon as I can, I’ll find out what is going on.”

“Bless you.”

“In the meantime, there is a woman who is hurt and needs help. She’s outside and I need assistance bringing her into the clinic.”

“Roberto and Esteban will help,” she said tiredly. She nodded to the two older boys who stood at attention.

“Thank you,” Sarah said and stood up. She motioned to the young men. “Follow me.”

“Mama. Mama. Mama wake up.” Sarah heard Rosa’s shrill voice clearly, and sped up. She ducked through the hole in the wall and found the woman passed out. Alejandro was crawling away in the dirt, she scooped him up. Sarah turned to the two young men.

“Can you pick her up and follow me? Rosa, take my hand. We’re going to get your Mama inside and take care of her. It’s going to be all right.”

“What’s wrong with her? Why did she go to sleep?”

“She’s tired, Honey.” Sarah watched as the boys carefully picked up the woman. She led the way through the hole. She knew there were more gurneys next to the makeshift operating room, so that was where she guided them.

When she got there, she found all of them occupied.

Damn!

“We’re going to take her to the sofa where your mom and dad are, okay?” It was either Estaban or Roberto who nodded. As soon as their parents saw them carrying the unconscious woman, they got up so that she could be placed on the couch.

“Give him to me,” the older woman said, holding her hands out for Alejandro. Sarah passed over the toddler. She then bent over and checked the young mother’s pulse, which was strong. That was when the woman started to rouse.