Gibbs was on his third circuit around the park when he began to slow. The sky was clouding up, and while the day was slowly progressing, it was going to be one of those days when the temperature dropped as the day passed. If the darkening sky didn't confirm the weather report for snow, his knee definitely did. It was starting to ache, making him feel irritated that it was going to slow him down for the rest of the day. Maybe for the week, if the forecast turned out to be right.
He tugged his hoodie a little tighter and glanced south to confirm that Kate was still making her way around the park at a walk. Originally, she hadn't wanted to wear her coat at all, but he knew she was glad to have it now. One more lap, and they were headed back. Even a jarhead could figure out the cold was only getting worse. Time to dig in for the day. Not that he minded digging in with his wife, not by a long shot.
By the next quarter mile, his pace was slowing, and he gave into it. Gibbs had long since realized that he didn't have anything to prove. There was no need to impress others with his stamina or speed, and even if he felt that need … everyone else apparently had the sense to stay inside and sleep today. Traffic on the street was light, but pedestrian traffic in the part was non-existent.
As he lapped her, he slowed a moment, assessing. "You good?"
When they had finished their first circuit, her breath was short. Once upon a time, she could easily last 5 or 6 miles, but her balance was off these days, and her stamina was one of the first signs of her pregnancy. Kate nodded, "yeah."
"Last lap," he called, giving her one last look over his shoulder before picking up the pace again.
The squeal of tires and sound of an engine revving caught his attention, urging him to round the nearby copse of trees just in time to see a small sedan whip around the corner, swinging wide and quickly followed by an SUV. Before he could reach the sidewalk, the SUV surged forward, bumper connecting with the sedan and ramming it toward the far side of the street.
Behind the wheel of the sedan, he saw the woman panicking, and despite his shout of warning, she overcorrected anyway. With a loud crunch, the car connected with a mailbox and came to a stop, engine smoking harmlessly as the SUV floored it and whipped around another corner, out of sight. Virginia TKO976, he repeated the tag to himself as he stowed his gun that he had grabbed out of reflex and finished crossing the street. "Kate, call 911!"
"On it!" she yelled back, steps coming closer, panting with the exertion of trying to catch up, the cold air making her breath shorter.
The doors on the vehicle were locked, and while he was pretty sure the car wasn't going to explode or anything, Gibbs knew he needed to get in the vehicle and assess the woman who was now unconscious. Airbags had deployed, and she was slumped limply against the door, though he could see she was breathing.
A glance to the backseat, and his heart caught in his throat at the sight of a dazed looking little girl. She was three or maybe four years old, eyes wide and bottom lip trembling, body tangled in a mess of her car seat's straps. Whatever had them in a hurry, it was too much of a hurry to get the girl correctly into her car seat.
"Hey, sweetie," he called, trying to keep his voice calm and kind. Gibbs stepped to the window opposite of the child, and he waved. "Can you unlock the door?"
Before the little girl could answer, he heard a voice saying something about a star and asking what was the emergency.
"The car crashed," Kate shouted, her hand squeezing his arm and handing off the cell phone to trade. "This is Special Agent Kate Gibbs, we need the doors to be unlocked. Female driver is unconscious, one child in the backseat with unclear injuries, but we can't get in!"
A moment later there was a click, and Kate quickly opened the door to the backseat, letting her husband handle the front seat and the woman who had been driving. She managed to get their location to OnStar and then turned her full attention to the little girl who had fat tears streaking down her cheeks. "Hey… ssh, my name's Kate, and I'm here to help you," she soothed.
"Momma?" came the whimper, bottom lip trembling again.
"Can you tell me your…wait a sec, Natalie. It's Natalie, right?"
A little sniffle was the first reply, and then the girl blinked. "Uh-huh. You and momma talked at the park."
"Mhmm," Kate soothed, sliding closer now that the girl seemed less scared. "Yeah, we talked a few times. That's my husband, Gibbs, up there."
"Momma?" Natalie tried again.
Kate shifted a little, blocking the girl's view, not that there was much that Natalie could see from that angle. Still, if it turned out for the worst, she didn't want her to see it. "He's helping her, she's asleep right now. Can you talk to me, tell me where it hurts?"
"H-here," Natalie sniffled again, tears dripping off her thick eyelashes as she pointed to her neck, but her hand froze and she whined.
Kate reached out, hoping to get a better look at the bruising, but Natalie jerked it back, cradling it close with another whimper. "Sssh, okay, I won't touch your arm. I'm going to put my hand under your chin. Natalie, do you know how to play the quiet game?"
"N-nat," she whispered.
"Nat, okay," Kate murmured, her hand gently cupping the girl's chin and holding her head still. "Now, we're going to stay still like a statue, can you do that?"
Natalie started to nod, but realizing she wasn't moving, she answered a soft yes.
"Good girl, you're being very brave," came the soft encouragement. "Can you tell me about getting in the car? Where were you going?"
Natalie tried to shrug, but Kate gently held her still, encouraging her to use her words instead. "Dunno, m-momma dinnit say. Told me get in my seat, and buckle tight, but I dinnit do it right cuz it's twisty."
Kate glanced at the straps. "You tried really well, honey," she soothed. "Were you at home when you got in the car?" In the distance, she could hear the sirens nearing.
"Sleeping in my house. I don't have lovie," she sniffled, chin trembling now, and Kate was working overtime to try to keep her calm.
Natalie sniffled hard, good arm lifting to rub at her messy face. "Too loud," she complained.
"I know, it's the doctors that are coming to help us. They have to be loud to tell everyone else to get out of the way so they can help you. Sssh, you're being so brave, just a few more moments and they'll be here to help us."
The sirens were there now, and Kate could barely hear her husband directing the crew, getting help first the woman in the front, a single woman coming to Kate's side.
"What do we have?"
"Natalie, Nat," she emphasized, "Her right hand in injured, probably some bruises from these straps, and she says her neck hurts. I've got her still, I haven't let her move much since we arrived on scene just moments after the crash. She hasn't complained of any pains, but she's slipping into shock."
The paramedic slipped around to the other side of the car, gloved fingers gently running along the girl's legs and uninjured arm. "Nat, how are you doing?"
"Ow," she whined, eyes a little glassy, though Kate couldn't tell if it was from tears or from a head injury.
"Okay, sit tight while I get some things. We're going to put you in a special thing to help you relax and be still."
Kate was sure it was hard enough knowing that the mother was still unconscious and seriously injured… but watching the team try to deal with this four year old had her heart going through the ringer. The cervical collar intimidated Natalie, and the shift onto a backboard and then to be strapped down to it… The trained agent in her knew it was for the best, the safest course of action until they conclusively ruled out neck and spinal injuries, but she ached as the girl cried and shivered under the blanket. Shock had definitely settled in.
"Ma'am are you coming?" the medic asked.
As they had shifted Natalie onto a gurney, only Kate's hand rubbing gently over her calf had kept her grounded. Pained eyes begged, and Natalie sniffled again, looking impossibly small under the braces and straps. "Of course," she'd answered, giving Gibbs a lost look before the team carefully loaded Natalie into the back of the ambulance.
