Hunt put Ava’s phone in his pocket and went back into the room. Dr. Quick was still checking vital signs and waiting for the portable X-ray to come in.

“Her parents are on the way.”

Quick nodded. “Her blood pressure is coming up. Her pulse is getting stronger. Her pupils are reactive.”

“This is good, right?” Hunt asked.

“Yes, this is good.”

“She needed a defibrillator. Rhonda said you only had the one,” Hunt said.

“Small hospital. Few luxuries here. We only have one and were trying to resuscitate one of the victims they brought in. Your CPR saved Ava’s life,” Quick said.

“What about your patient?” Hunt asked.

“We didn’t save the baby she was carrying, but we saved her,” Quick said.

“Then it happened the way it was meant to happen,” Hunt said. “Will Ava stay here, or will she have to be transported somewhere?”

“She’s stable here. Right now, we don’t know what all we’re dealing with, so moving her wouldn’t be wise. I need to see X-rays and then we’ll go from there.”

“Then I’ll be here with her,” Hunt said.

Quick smiled. “I expected that. We’ll be moving her upstairs soon.”

“Her parents are on the way,” Hunt said.

“They’ll be fine. I don’t expect them to cause a fight. And I understand we have you to thank for ending the other one. Our orderlies were having a terrible time keeping the families out of the exam rooms, too. That’s what started the fight in the first place.”

“I wasn’t trying to be a hero. I was just trying to get to Ava. They were in the way,” Hunt said.

“A little military coming out in a time of need?”

Hunt shrugged. “Maybe. It was a knee-jerk reaction to the fear on Ava’s face. If that young couple that they brought in survives and gets married, they’re both going to have the in-laws from hell.”

“Maybe this incident gave all of them a reality check. Anyway, they can be mad all they want somewhere else, and tonight, that will be locked up beside each other in the Blessings jail.”

Before Hunt could respond, Ava’s parents appeared in the doorway of her room. Dr. Quick stopped them, then walked them back out in the hall. Two nurses were tending to Ava and monitoring her condition, so Hunt followed the doctor out into the hall and walked into the middle of the conversation with Ava’s parents.

Karen Ridley was trying not to panic, but the fact that they hadn’t let her and Larry see Ava had scared her.

“Dr. Quick! How is she?”

“She’s alive but unconscious.”

“What happened?” Larry asked.

Quick looked at Hunt. “You didn’t tell them?”

“I was going to after they got here,” Hunt said.

Karen’s eyes widened in sudden fear. “Tell us what?”