Gore from the woman on my gurney made my gloved fingers slippery as I stopped the IV. A physician had called off resuscitation attempts after intubation and all attempts to restore circulation had failed. After I had failed...I looked at the mess in front of me, doubting she had been conscious through any of the ordeal. Her nose was caved inward, most likely after she hit the ground following a sideswipe by a mini-van. Running near the cliff's edge on the trail, the hit had propelled her onto a sharp outcropping of rock, breaking several ribs. It would be for the medical examiner to confirm, but all signs pointed to one of the fragments piercing her heart. She had been gurgling her last breath when we arrived, her pulse barely detectible by our instruments and not at all by touch.Hair spilled off the gurney, it's color indiscernible from all the blood. Her left hand flopped lifelessly over the edge. I placed it back in position along her hip. A diamond solitaire with no second band glittered dully on her ring finger.
