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It was another kid.
A girl.
Considerably older than the boy and out cold.
I dropped down next to her and carefully felt around her body for any injuries. Her skin was cold, but she was still breathing. She was lying on her side so I could see part of her face. Apollo was frantically licking her skin and barking. I could hear sirens in the distance.
“Sweetheart, can you hear me?” I asked. I ripped off the light jacket I was wearing and covered the girl with it. “Honey, I need you to open your eyes, okay?” I stroked her cheek. “Apollo really wants you to wake up.”
The girl’s eyelids fluttered a bit.
“Apollo?” she whispered.
The dog had dropped down to his belly and was nuzzling the girl’s hand.
“Yep, Apollo’s right here, honey.” With that, the girl’s eyes slowly opened. I guessed her to be in her early teens at the most. Probably no older than fifteen.
“I’m sorry, Apollo,” the girl cried and then she was trying to reach for the dog, presumably so she could wrap her arms around his neck.
“Sweetheart, I need you to stay still,” I said as I eased my hand around her neck in an effort to immobilize her head. “You might have hurt your neck.”
I wasn’t sure if the teenager heard me or not, but it didn’t matter because Apollo took care of it by lying down next to the girl so that his big body was lined up with hers. The girl sobbed as she put her arm around her dog.
I couldn’t even begin to fathom what the kids were doing there but it wasn’t important at the moment.
Within minutes, the ambulance was there, followed closely by Cam in his police-issued vehicle as well as his deputy, Alex, in another cruiser. Then Sawyer was there. I’d kept my attention on the girl so I’d missed the point where Sawyer had taken the child from the driver, but a quick glance in that direction showed Cam was talking to the man.
“You okay?” Sawyer asked as the paramedics signaled for me to release my hold on the girl’s neck while they put a brace around it.
“Yeah,” I said as I turned to look at him. The little boy was pressed against Sawyer’s shoulder, but he was quiet. Sawyer was bouncing him slightly as the kid sucked on his own thumb.
“Owen? Where’s Owen?” the girl suddenly shouted and then she was trying to climb to her feet. I quickly dropped back down to my knees next to her.
“He’s here,” I said to the girl while I signed for Apollo to lie down. He’d initially moved out of the way when the paramedics had arrived, but the girl’s outburst was bringing out his protectiveness. Thankfully, he obeyed the command.
“Owen!”
“Hey, hey,” I said as I took the girl’s hand in mine. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”
The girl’s eyes swung to me. “Jess… Jessie.”
“Jessie, my name is Jett and this is Sawyer. He’s got Owen.”
Sawyer stepped behind me so the girl could see what I highly suspected was her brother. “Is Owen your brother?” I asked.
“Yeah. Is he… is he okay?” she asked.
“He’s good,” Sawyer responded.
“Apollo?” she asked as she tried to search the dog out.
“He’s okay,” I said. “Do you know what happened to you? Did you get hit by a car?” I asked, knowing anything the girl told us about her injuries would help the paramedics.
Jessie tried to shake her head. “I don’t think so. I wasn’t feeling good, like I was going to throw up and I was dizzy, but I don’t remember anything after that.”
“We’ll get her checked out,” one of the paramedics said.
“No, no, I don’t want to go,” Jessie cried out. She began to swing her arms wildly. “Owen!”
“Jessie, look at me,” I ordered firmly. Either the command itself or my voice got her attention because she quieted. “I’m going to come with you in the ambulance, okay? And Sawyer is going to follow us with your brother as soon as he makes sure Apollo is all settled with our friends.”
Jessie tried to shake her head. “You gotta make sure my mom’s okay! He was hurting her but she told us to run and when we went back she was gone and there was so much blood…”
The girl’s struggles had Apollo jumping to his feet, a low growl rumbling from his throat. Sawyer dropped down next to him and grabbed his collar. The animal settled a little when the little boy reached out to pat him.
“We’re going to need to sedate her,” the paramedic said to me. I nodded even though I know they weren’t asking my permission. The other paramedic injected something into the IV they’d gotten started and within seconds, Jessie had quieted enough for the paramedics to finish getting her strapped to a backboard.
Cam appeared just as Jessie was being loaded into the ambulance.
