“Are you hurt?”
“I'm okay but Sten was hurt bad. I was able to heal him earlier with my med kit. But just now during this new aftershock and landslide, he got hit in the head with a rock, and he's alive but passed out and bleeding. I'm not sure how bad it is. He needs help.”
“Okay. Hold on,” the voice says. “My name is Thorn Sandstone, I’m Sten’s older brother. It's going to take a little while longer because there's some large rocks we have to move. We'll get to you as fast as we can. Meanwhile take this.” He hands me a brand new, fresh med kit.
“Thank you. Thank you.” I'm crying now. “I'll help him. I will use this and help him while we wait.”
“Thank you.” And then he hands me water and two meal replacement bars.
I go back and sit next to Sten who has passed out again and take out the med kit. It’s not able to help much this time because head wounds are beyond its parameters. I spray the area and give him another pain shot, and then use the light to see exactly where the cut is on his head, and then apply another wound patch to keep him stable until we can get him to a real med lab.
I hear a huge thud and then there's more light and a large opening. Cheers erupt from outside, and I start to see a lot of Hyrrokin. It looks like there's been a huge team outside working.
I don't even get up. I'm still on the ground right next to Sten, holding his hand. And now there's lots of light. I can see everything as if they've opened the entire cave, and there's so much natural light and rays of handheld lights. I put a hand over my eyes. It's so bright, and then they're all there.
Sten opens his eyes and groans again.
A large male stomps through the rubble and then there's another male. And I'm remembering that he's got two brothers, so I assume that's who these are.
“I’m Thorn and this is Rake. We've been working with everyone all day and night to find you and then get the two of you out.”
One of them glances at me. “Is he…?”
“He's alive.” I reassure them. “I put that patch on his head and just gave him a pain injection. He's been breathing the whole time and he groaned earlier. Thank you for the new med kit, that was a real help.”
Sten groans again and moves slightly, and I see relief on everyone's face. This is how I felt earlier. And then he eyes open his eyes again, and he looks at his brothers. “Thorn?” he reaches out a hand, and his brother bend down on his knees and takes it in return.
A big, watery smile spreads across my face. “Sten.” I need to know that he's okay and I feel he needs to know that I'm still right here beside him.
I lean forward with a hand on his chest and reach out with another hand to touch his cheek.
He glances over at me, rears back and almost winces at the thought of me touching him.
“Sten?”
His dark eyes scan my face. “Who are you?” he hisses with a forked tongue.
Chapter 12
Sten
An odd human I’ve never seen before gazes at me with a stricken look. As if I’d killed her pet or stolen her favorite toy. Her eyes appear wet with unshed tears.
I feel guilty for what I said and I don’t know why. I truly have no idea who this female is and I don’t want some stranger touching me as if we are…
“Sten,” my older brother, Rake, scolds. “This is Taylor Dumas, the Librarian you were stuck in here with for the last diurnal. She’s been tending to your wounds. This female saved your life.”
“Or is she Sten’s fiancé? I’m confused,” Thorn says. “I’ve heard two different versions of the status of their relationship.”
The female shakes her head. “No, I am not his fiancé. I am simply the Librarian sent by the Antiquities Council.”
I manage to sit up because the blinding pain I’d felt earlier has now subsided. I feel for the injury on my head, between my horns and find a wound patch, which I assume my brother applied. “Thank you,” I tell Thorn.
“You need to thank her, not me.”
I glance at the quiet female. There’s a nag of remembrance. Images flash in my mind of this female arriving. I frown at her. “Iremember you screaming and fainting at the transporter station. You’re that female?”
“Do you remember anything else about me?” she softly questions.