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That’s when he finally found his voice.
    “No. No way in hell. You always said you’d never send one
    of the horses to Portloais.” He snapped.
    “Phillip! I’m seeing all the signs of shock here,” Linda
    barked like a drill sergeant as she wrapped Stephanie with a
    blanket. The unnatural way she flopped in Linda’s arms like a
    life-sized Raggedy Ann doll caused his hands to tremble. “We
    have to keep her warm. She needs a doctor immediately.”
    “Right. Preferably one who didn’t graduate last in his
    class,” he yelled at her then realized he was wasting precious
    time. He shoved Linda aside and picked Stephanie up, blanket
    and all.
    “Phillip. You should wait for the medics,” Nanna wailed,
    but he didn’t even slow his step.
    “I’m taking her to Tullamore. I can be there before the am-
    bulance even gets here.” He was at the door, and after fixing
    Danielle with a menacing look, she mutely flung it open for him.
    “I’m coming with you,” Linda demanded as she chased him
    down the steps.
    He didn’t remember much about the drive except the police
    trying to pull them over just outside of the city. He blew by as if they were standing still and didn’t give them a second glance.
    Linda spent the entire drive turned all the way around in her seat.
    Stephanie was lying in the back, deathly pale, wrapped in the
    blanket like a burrito. Linda had insisted on propping three pillows under her ankles for some reason that still eluded him, but she’d had many first aid classes while he’d been wasting his time in poetry, so he deferred to her judgment. He stole one glance at her in the rearview mirror and knew he couldn’t look back at her again until they reached their destination or he’d completely lose it.
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    TAMMY COONS & MICHELLE PACE
    A team of medics met them with a gurney at the entrance.
    He later learned that Danielle had called ahead of them. The po-
    lice pulled in behind him, but Phillip was already chasing
    Steph’s gurney into the building shouting at the staff. Linda
    practically tackled him.
    “Phillip! Go and talk to the coppers. I’ll explain to the nurs-
    es what’s going on,” She insisted. Just like that, the situation was plucked from his hands.
    The police were unbelievably cool, all things considered.
    After a stern talking to and agreeing to pose for a photo with
    them (so they could prove they’d met him to their girlfriends),
    they let him off with a warning. Sometimes being famous had its
    perks.
    Linda soon resurfaced with two cups of coffee. “They said
    it sounds like she had a hot appendix that burst. They’re prep-
    ping her now for emergency surgery.” Phillip had blanched at
    the word surgery. He’d known something was terribly wrong
    with her, but the mental image of someone slicing into her
    caused him to cover his eyes with his palms as if somehow he
    could block the vision from his mind. He desperately wanted to
    smoke at that moment. Unfortunately, Cedric and Adam arrived
    along with his parents, and he had more pressing problems than
    his cravings.
    “You ignorant punk!” Adam shouted, shoving him more vi-
    olently than he would have thought possible. “You could have
    killed her with your thoughtless cavalier bullshit.”
    “Dad!” Cedric’s volume was loud, but his voice was calm
    and collected. Adam didn’t even glance in his direction. If looks could kill, Phillip would have been hangin’ with St. Peter, as
    Steph would say. The force of Adam’s right cross snapped Phil-
    lip’s head back, knocking him into a potted tree behind him. His coffee splattered all over the window next to him. Linda gasped, and Phillip’s hand shot to his aching jaw. He gawked at Steph’s
    father in surprise. Both Cedric and his father grabbed Adam and
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    RAGE
    pulled him back, restraining him.
    “Can’t be bothered to wait for the professionals? What if
    she had crashed on the way here? You could have killed my little girl.” Adam shouted