I'm Thankful in real life for these people who give up so much for us.
On a daily basis they run toward danger saving others. Nights, weekends, and
holidays are often spent away from families and friends. Most times under
stressful and intense situations.
One man’s choices—One woman’s
impact
Rock House Grill
Coming in 2020
Aden House, successful but driven chef and TV personality,
refuses to slow down. His life implodes one night, damaging him both physically
and emotionally. He's rescued by a woman he thinks of as his angel.
Shay McDowell has rebuilt her life after her divorce. She
juggles volunteer EMT duties and her job, while dreaming of becoming a chef.
She finds her way to Rock House Grill and back into the life of the man she
helped save.
Can love be the ingredient needed to survive the many
obstacles they face?
Excerpt
“Easy,
you’re going to be okay.” A soft voice eased through the chaos around him. The
owner of the voice grabbed his arms and held them in a firm but gentle grip.
“I’m right here with you. You are not alone.”
“Can
hardly m-move.” His voice slurred. “C-can’t see anything.”
“You’ve
been in an accident. I’m an EMT with the ambulance squad,” the velvety voice
calmly explained. “Hold still, okay?”
“’K.”
A small light flickered at the edge of his vision. It shone into a bag next to
him. Penlight.
“You’re restrained to a board. It’s to keep
your head from moving, and you injure yourself further.” She continued to talk
to him.
The
voice reached down somewhere inside him, calming and peaceful, so he focused on
it. A glow from spotlights on the outside lit whatever covered them. The shadow
gave the woman the appearance of a halo-like an angel.
“It’s
dark because we’re covered while we extricate you. The noise is from the rescue
crew cutting the car away.”
Even
in his pain, Aden winced at the thought of his baby being chopped up. The voice
was busy shuffling something around. While she worked in the dark, he tried
piecing together what happened. He grabbed at her hand when she began to place
something over his face.
“Stop.
It’s just an oxygen mask. It won’t hurt.” The steady order was backed up by
compassion in the tone.
His
angel meant business.
“Hold
on, Shannon. We’re going to pop the lid.” A man’s voice called from outside
their inky cocoon.
“Told
him not to call me that,” she muttered under her breath.
Shannon,
my angel's name is Shannon. A loud pop came from the front end, and then
scree. Some metal-eating monster was taking a big bite out of his baby.
The car jostled, sending a flame of pain shooting up his legs. He moaned.
“Shh,
I’m sorry. There’s no way to make this not hurt.”
His
car screamed again, and the steering wheel pinning him began to pull free of
his legs. Even in the dark, there were spots of light before his eyes. Bile
burned in the back of his throat. Everything started to fade away, as he
recognized her taking his blood pressure.
“Aden?”
He
felt muddy. Then tapping at his face.
“Aden!” The tap came harder. “That’s his name,
right?”
“Yeah,
it’s who the plates are registered to,” a male voice answered.
“Aden,
come on, open your eyes. You need to stay with me.”
He
forced his eyes open but could barely make out any features behind the helmet’s
shield. He latched onto the woman’s voice like a lifeline.
“We’re
almost ready to move you, Aden. I don’t want you to fight us or try and help.
Let us do all the work.”
After
a few more minutes of torturous screeching, the tarp covering him pulled up and
away. Glass tinkled to the ground and crunched under boots. The air was thick
with the smell of diesel.
He
couldn’t lift his head. Right, they’d strapped it to a board. His gaze
skittered around, taking in red, yellow, and blue flashing lights. At first, he
was grateful when they uncovered him. But when they began to remove him from
the remains of the car, the pain grew unbearable. He groaned.
There
were moments of clarity as he slipped in and out of consciousness. The noise
and the flashing lights gave a dreamlike quality to the scene. The world slithered
by in slow motion. Flat on his back, he floated through the air as they
carefully carried the stretcher toward the flashing red-and-blue lights of an
ambulance.
“Angel?”
He’d lost her.
“I’m
here.”
She
grasped his flailing hand.
The
warmth of her hand and sound of her voice cut through everything else, calming
and encouraging him. Things he could lock onto. Her face now visible, free from
the protective shield, held his gaze. Worry creased the space between her eyes.
“Aden, right?
“Yeah.”
He licked his split lip and could taste the metallic tang of blood. A man’s
shout cut through the increasing buzz in his ears.
“He’s
crashing!”
“Hold
on, Aden.”
For
the first time since he initially heard her voice, she sounded unsure—shaky.
I’m dying. Visions of what this
would do to Olivia filled him with regret.
When
they loaded him into the ambulance, the pain in his legs overwhelmed all other
thoughts. Darkness seeped back into the edge of his vision. The last thing he
heard was his angel curse.
Hi, my name is D. V. Stone. Recently, Rock
House Grill, a contemporary romance, has been signed with Wild Rose Press. I
host Welcome to the Campfire, a weekly blog. I am also a multi-genre author of
two independently published books. Felice, Shield-Mates of Dar is a fantasy
romance. Agent Sam Carter and the Mystery at Branch Lake is a mid-grade
paranormal.
Born
in Brooklyn, D.V. Stone has moved around a bit and even lived for a time on a
dairy farm in Minnesota before moving back east. Throughout her wandering, she
always considered herself a Jersey Girl. She met and married the love of her
life, Pete—a lifelong Jersey Man, and moved this time to Sussex County.
They adopted Hali, a mixed breed from the local shelter, who is still working
things out with their cat Baby.
D.V.’s
career path varied from working with the disabled to become a volunteer EMT,
which in turn led to working in hospital emergency rooms and then in a women's
state prison. After a few years, she took a break from medicine and became the
owner of Heavenly Brew, a specialty coffee shop in Sparta NJ, and a small
restaurant in Lafayette. Life handed some setbacks, and she ended up back in
the medical field, but this time in a veterinary emergency hospital.
During
the poor economy, she was laid–off from a long-time position she cared about.
Devastated, D.V. wondered what to do with her life. Finding comfort in her love
of reading, she realized it was now time to follow her dream of writing. It's
been a long road but worth every minute of it. Now a published author, she also
works in a people medical office again.
"Thank
you for taking the time to read about me. Each time you open the pages to one
of my books, I hope you'll be swept away by the story and find
encouragement in your own life, never to give up on hope.”
D.V.
Stone
Thank you, Angela for allowing me to show appreciation to our first responders.
ReplyDeleteDV Im a Brooklyn born girl, too!!! yay
ReplyDeleteBay Ridge is my hometown. Hooray for Brooklyn girls.
DeleteGreat post, DV! First responders are part of my list of heroes.
ReplyDeleteHeroes who are essential to our life and literally our breath. Thanks for stopping by.
Deletewonderful post, D.V. You have a great list of heroes! And I'm glad you finally came to writing!
ReplyDeleteHi Barbara. Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad too. It's fulfilling and challenging.
DeleteThanks for thanking first responders--many times they are overlooked but are some of the most valuable people who help us when we need it most. Good luck & lots of success with your new book! (-Christine Samuelson)
ReplyDeleteHi Christine. They certainly are. Weekends Holidays middle of the night. Cheers to our First Responders.
DeleteThank you for your well wishes.
Very nice! They are true heroes.
ReplyDeleteGreat post and cool cover!
ReplyDelete