Star Spangled Banner (Triple Star Ranch Book 3)

Excerpt of Star Spangled Banner
Copyright © 2019 Siobhan Muir
All rights reserved.
“That’s Doctor To You.”

The rumble of propeller engines made her breath catch and she focused on the sky. From her position at the north end of the arena, she could see the big, gray airship roaring across the sky with the cargo door open at the back. Soon, now, real soon.

The rest of the crowd cheered as the announcers shouted out to “our Navy SEALs, the Leap Frogs” and Suzie strained her eyes to catch the little black dots of the men tumbling out of the back of the C-130. She bit her lip as they fell without chutes for a few moments, but the blue and yellow sails opened and the men stopped short. She let her breath out and shot a guilty grin around to her fellow contestants, but no one noticed her unease.

Two of the men fell in tandem, their feet locked together, and the other two fell separately, one twirling and swirling like his chute was caught in a wind vortex. Her heart crawled up to her throat until he leveled out. Glory be, I hate it when they do that. Not that they weren’t consummate professionals, but the appearance of being out of control scared the daylights out of her.

The tandem pair broke apart and one dropped an American flag while the other dropped smoke to leave trails in the sky. The whole team performed flawlessly, though the few “out of control” swirls still made Suzie hold her breath. The announcers commented on the performance the whole way down and it was a sight to behold these powerful men falling precisely into the center of the arena.

The first guy touched down amid cheers from the audience, waving before he gathered up his chute. The first member of the tandem team hit the ground, his NAVY chute fluttering to the ground along with the smoke.

But when the second member of the tandem team hung no more than fifty feet up, the SEAL’s chute folded like a burst balloon. He immediately looked up and tried to maneuver into the portion of his chute still inflated, but his speed increased.

Oh dear glory!

Somehow, the SEAL twisted in midair and gathered up the American flag before he hit the ground in a jarring thud that sprayed the sand of the arena out in all directions. The announcers shouted in panicked surprise as the landed members of the team turned toward the downed man.

Suzie squeaked and took two steps forward to the rail, looping the reins to Painted Dog onto it before she vaulted over the side into the arena. She was running before her mind even caught up to what was happening. Fortunately, he’d fallen close to her end of the arena and she was the first to reach him.

She skidded to a halt on her knees beside him and scanned his body to determine where he was most hurt. He didn’t even moan, but his face blanched white under his tan and his lips were drawn into a tight line though his eyes remained closed.

“Sir, my name is Dr. Suzie Appleton, can you hear me?”

The man moaned but didn’t open his eyes.

Sweet glory, let’s hope he didn’t break his neck.

“I’m going to check you over for injuries, sir.”

She thanked all the watching deities he’d uncurled onto his back, but she worried he might have broken something internally. One arm lay curled protectively around the bundled American flag. Always ready to protect the flag. The other lay across his body at an odd angle and she suspected he’d used that arm to slow him down when he landed. His ragged breathing made her listen closely. His wheezing suggested a compression she couldn’t see.

She checked his pulse just as the other members of his Leap Frogs team gathered around him.

“Miss, you need to get away from him.” A gruff man reached for her, but she shook her head and dipped out of the way.

“That’s Doctor to you, Sailor, and I’m checking him for injuries. He’s broken his right arm and I suspect he’s broken a rib or two, given the sounds his breath is making. He needs to get to a hospital ASAP to check for internal hemorrhaging and injuries.”

“The SEALs take care of their own, doctor.” The gruff man growled and tried to grab her again.

“Then have your corpsman get his ass here fast, sailor, so you can save your teammate. You’re gonna need to stabilize his chest if you want him to live.”

She didn’t know for sure if that was the case, given she couldn’t see inside his body armor, but she wouldn’t give an inch when her expertise was questioned. No one knew they were SEALs when they wore street clothes. The same pertained to her when she competed in the barrel-racing events. She couldn’t exactly wear a white lab coat.

“Damn, Suzie, you get here fast.” Helena Lindstrom, the head medical organizer for CFD. “You think we can let the others take him now?”

Suzie nodded. “Helps that I was gonna ride in the championship barrel race.” She pointed to the different portions of the broken man’s body. “He’s got a broken arm, and from what it sounds like, he’s got somethin’ going on in his chest. If I had to guess, I’d say broken ribs that might have punctured a lung. Make sure you’re gentle when movin’ him, and make damn sure the corpsman sees him before they tell me I’m right.”