SOPHIE'S PATH

SOPHIE'S PATH CHAPTER TWO

As his eyes focused through swollen and bruised lids,  he saw a beautiful stranger with an illuminated smile and dark eyes that promised a universe filled with hope. 

"Hello, Jack," she said with that voice he knew would haunt him for the rest of his life,  even if he never saw her again. 

She had a heart-shaped face; naturally,  being an angel of mercy and saving lives,  she would be all heart.  She wore a white lab coat over maroon scrubs.  Her name tag rested over her right side, heart pocket.

 S. Mattuchi. RN  

  "Nurse Mattuchi?" Jack mumbled, feeling a jagged pain saw through his head.

 "You can call me Sophie. The doctor has ordered more tests for you. I've assured him your heart is stellar." 

She leaned close.  Jack caught a floral scent in her dark hair as she fluffed his pillow and continued talking. 

"Hearts are my specialty,"  she continued. "I'm a cardiac surgical nurse,  but I help out in the ER when they need me." She pulled away and added,  "I was off duty,  but came immediately when I got the call about you and your friends." 

Friends?

Suddenly, Jack's mind was alert and the jumbled pieces of information in his brain fell into place.  He moved his sluggish and swollen tongue.  "Owen and Aleah?"  He reached for Sophie's forearm and squeezed it anxiously. "Tell me." 

"Owen is just fine. A broken collarbone and a few bruises.  Aleah is being examined by the doctor right now,  as is the driver of the other car.  We were quite worried about you. You were unconscious and I was afraid you'd been blinded."  

  "What else— I mean..."   He closed his eyes and felt a scratch across his eyeballs as if they were filled with sand.  Even the most minute movement was so difficult.  "Please. Sophie.  What else happened?" 

"You have whiplash. No broken bones, but your ankle is sprained. No internal injuries.  We'll keep you overnight for observation. That concussion is dangerous. The neurosurgeon will be down later to check on you and she'll probably order a CT scan." 

"Neurosurgeon?" Jack's fear meter leaped to high alert. 

"We have to make sure there are no blood clots or other damage. Best to cover our bases. Yours and ours." 

Jack tried to nod and failed. "Good thinking."  He paused for a moment.   Words were reluctant to move from his brain to his lips.  "Your insurance carrier will commend you for your prudence."

 Her expression was quizzical.   "I wasn't thinking of our liability—I only want what's best for all our patients." 

"Don't...take me wrong—" Jack tried to sit up but failed.  He slumped back on the pillows.  He groaned as he tried to touch his aching head, but when he lifted his arm he saw the IV and several butterfly bandages over a nasty gash in his forearm. A fleeting worry about scarring shot through his mind, but he dismissed it. He'd come razor-close to losing his eyesight. He was thankful that, in all likelihood, he'd walk away from this with some scars on his arm, a badly sprained ankle and a headache.  

 A beep went off in Sophie's lab coat pocket.  Anxiety distorted her pretty features and suddenly her entire demeanor changed.  Her motions were brusque,  hurried,  but exact as she tore a plastic wrapper away from a disposable hypodermic needle.  She dabbed gauze with alcohol and cleaned his IV site, then took the IV line, unhooked it and cleaned both ends of the plastic connections before injecting a vial of medication into his IV. 

 "This will help with the pain," she said,  glancing into the hallway.  She turned back to him.  "This is your call button if you need anything.  I know you must be thirsty,  but we can't let you have anything to eat or drink for a while.  If you feel nauseous,  you hit that button immediately.  Do you understand?" 

Jack nodded, disconcerted by her stern tone,and suddenly realized that the soothing melody of her voice had distracted him from what was going on in the rest of the ER. Sophie peered through Jack's privacy curtain, and he heard what sounded like dozens of people all talking at the same time.Orders were being shouted. Someone was rattling off clipped, terse instructions. Rubber-soled shoes and sneakers pounded against the linoleum floor.Wheels of gurneys wobbled and screeched. 

Though it sounded like pandemonium to Jack,  an outsider,  he knew these were professionals.  He believed in this hospital and its very qualified staff. 

After all,  it was only a few months ago,  thanks to Katia Stanislaus's expertise,  that he and his company had landed the insurance contract for the Indian Lake Hospital. He'd met with President Emory Wills himself. Jack also knew cardiac surgeon Nate Barzonni personally. He was an excellent surgeon and could have had his pick of positions at Sloan-Kettering in New York, but being the altruistic man he was, Nate chose to divide his work between the Indian reservations up in Michigan and here in Indian Lake.  It eased Jack's nerves to know that he, Owen and Aleah were in very capable hands. 

Still, Jack wanted to talk to somebody who knew what had happened to him and his employees in the fog on Highway 421 tonight.  Had  he gone off the road?  Had he fallen asleep?  Was this his fault?  What could have caused all this suffering?

 Just considering that he could be responsible in the slightest degree was intolerable. Guilt flooded him like a tsunami, taking over his thoughts and causing more agony than his physical pain. 

His whole life,  he'd tried to do the right thing in every circumstance.  From striving to live up to his marine father's demanding and impossible expectations to taking care of his sister and mother after his father's death. He chose insurance as a career to help others protect their lives and their possessions. 

Jack Carter was a guardian.  In the blink of an eye, he had placed the people in his charge in jeopardy. 

Now Jack had to face his darkest hour. 

Just then,  the air was split again with screams of human pain that Jack would never have imagined, even in his worst nightmares.  He heard a man,  a young man,  yelling for help.  Then he screamed again with such agony,  Jack thought he must be torn in two. 

Jack wanted to cover his ears,  but even if he could have, he knew he would never forget that scream for the rest of his life. It was so terrifying it sounded inhuman. 

But above it all,  he heard the high-pitched wail of a young girl's terror that turned his blood to ice. 

 "That's Aleah!" Jack growled as tears burned his swollen and bruised eyes.

 A voice came over the loudspeaker.   

"Code Blue. Code Blue. Dr. Barzonni to the ER, stat." 

Sophie glanced back at Jack with pleading eyes as she burst away from his bedside.   She flung back the curtain and said, "I want to help you,  but I have to go to her." 

Jack reached out his aching arm to Sophie and motioned her away. 

"Save her, Sophie.  Save her."