Page 5 of In the Cover of Darkness

“I spoke with your friend Ace and he said something similar, I'm Dr Eric Johnson,” he says, stretching out his arm and shaking my hand.

"I've let the sheriff know and he's going to come see her when he can, but with the snowstorm, I don't know how long it could take."

“That's fine, I'll stay with her as long as she needs me to.”

Opening the truck door Dr Johnson steps forward and I hear him let out a slow whistled breath as he looks her over.

“Are you okay to carry her inside? There's no way I can get a wheelchair or bed out here with the snow this high.”

Nodding my head, I step in front of the doctor and once again gently lift her in my arms, grateful that I could see her small breaths escaping in the cold air. I hold her frigid body against mine, as I follow the doctor inside and into a small private room where I lay her on the waiting bed.

“I'll need to do some quick basic checks and then we need to focus on warming her up. You don't need a medical degree to tell she has hypothermia. I'll need to warm her up slowly, making sure her body doesn't go into shock or put her heart under any further stress.”

Suddenly, the lights start to flicker and I can hear several machines start beeping somewhere outside the room.

“Shit, not now,” I hear the doctor say under his breath.

“What's happening?” I snap, facing Dr Johnson, suddenly feeling more alert and on guard. Taking a step closer toward her, feeling the need to touch her but clench my hands into a tight fist instead.

“There's too much strain on the generators. We’re only a small medical centre and to be honest we’re not equipped to deal with this weather for long periods. We're going to have to take the strain off the system and turn off all unnecessary equipment.The department head will be by shortly to explain all this to you but we can’t run the machine I need to warm her.”

“What does that mean Doc, you just can't let her die?” I stress to him, my voice straining as I actively resist touching her now.

“Don't be an idiot, and I'm not going to let her die,” he says, seeming frustrated, looking at me like I've asked to sleep with his wife.

“We’re just going to have to be more creative in how we treat her.”

I stare at him waiting for an answer to what he means by creative, and after a few minutes of him carefully checking her over I get the answer I least expected.

"It appears her left wrist is broken and she has severe bruising around her ribcage which suggests one or more broken ribs. I won't be able to confirm it until I can x-ray them when we have full power again. On the surface, it appears these are the only broken bones. She has severe bruising and lacerations to her face and arms. These are defensive type wounds and appear consistent with her being beaten by something or someone."

I can feel the ache in my chest getting stronger as he all but confirms my suspicions that she was beaten, and from the few words she has spoken, whoever Trevor is, was doing it.

“The most serious concern is the hypothermia, if we don't sort that first then there will be no point treating her other injuries. I'll give her some general pain relief and a nurse will come and stabilise her wrist until we can reset it, but our resources are spread too thin tonight to use the warming machine. So my next question for you Dante is how much are you willing to help a stranger?”

Confused, I stare at the doctor. “Help? Me?” I say, not answering his question at all.

“Yes, Dante. I need your help here. It's unorthodox but it is the simplest way for us to achieve our goal of getting her warm.”

“Okay Doc, what do I need to do? I'll do whatever you need me to.”

“I'm going to cut the rest of her clothing off, most of it is covered in blood anyway, and I need you to undress and lay next to her, skin to skin. You can keep your underwear on obviously, however,” he says matter of factly, looking at me, not fully trusting that it wasn't me who did this to her but also desperate enough to ask.

I can feel my mouth hang open at his words. He wants me to do what!

Staring at him I expect a grin or a smile to appear on his face. Admit that it was a joke they play on all the out of towners, but his look is dead serious. He didn't strike me as the type to joke on his best day, but on this one, probably making the list of worst days, I can tell he's serious.

“Now hold on Doc, I don't know this woman and you want me to get naked and jump into bed with her,” I say, looking down at her motionless body in the small hospital bed.

“I need to use your body heat to warm her, and you willnotbe completely naked,” he sighs, rubbing his hand over his face looking tired for the first time tonight.

“You are a reusable source of warm heat, that will do a better job of regulating her temperature than putting a mountain of warm blankets on her and hoping for the best,” he explains further.

“I can't justify the strain on the generator to run our warming machine when you can do a better job by just laying next to her. Let alone risk us completely losing power.”

“Do I have to take my clothes off though? What if she wakes up to find an almost naked stranger next to her?” I can hear the strain in my voice as it comes out an octave higher than usual.Can I really do this? Dr Johnson's explanation makes sense but shit, he asked me to cuddle up to a stranger and just … hang out? Fuck.

“Yes, body heat is best transferred skin to skin and if she wakes up screaming about you being in bed with her then I'll be happy because it means she's awake and the treatment has worked,” he sighs, once again looking at me as if that was the obvious answer.

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