Page 40 of Honoring Lena

Twenty-One

Carter criedout Lena’s name, but his sweet voice was muffled. Her eyelids weighed a ton, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get them open. Carter’s crying turned to screaming. She had to move, to help him.

Come on, eyes. Open.

She blinked her eyes, and brightness blinded her. Quickly slamming them shut, she groaned against the pain.

“Lena?” Marshall’s voice held such concern as his fingers skimmed her cheek.

She leaned her face toward the touch. She didn’t want him to worry about her. Cracking one eye open, her vision blurred on Carter sitting among a patch of fireweed. Tears streamed down his face as he held his little clenched hands in front of his mouth.

“I’m okay.” Her throat hurt like she had swallowed a handful of gravel.

“Eena?” Carter scrambled to her, only to be caught by Marshall.

“Hey, buddy. We can’t touch her. Not until we know we fixed her arm.” Marshall’s words tumbled the events that caused her to be spread out in the dirt back to her brain.

“The bears?” She rolled her head back and tried to relax, but her body hurt from head to toe.

“Gone.” Marshall scanned the area.

Good. He was keeping his wits. Someone had to since the pain spiking through her kept her from thinking straight.

“Carter?” She gazed at the boy that had taken over her heart.

“He’s fine, Lena.” Marshall set Carter down beside him and scooted closer to her. “Did we get your arm back in the socket or make it worse?”

He ran a jerky hand through his hair, making it stick up. His pained gaze flitted to her shoulder and down her body. How had she ever thought that he was a horrible person? Any time spent with him showed just how much he cared about others. These last two months, she could’ve been helping him more instead of letting her anger blind her.

“Okay.” She huffed out a breath and moved her uninjured hand to probe her shoulder. “It feels like its back in. Help me sit up.”

She tipped her head, motioning for Marshall to come to her other side. He stepped over her and gently wrapped his arms around her. Her muscles bunched with pain, and she did little to help him lift her. Once sitting, she leaned her forehead on his shoulder and breathed deeply to dam up the tears the movement had created.

Marshall softly ran a hand down her back and kissed the top of her head. She didn’t want to move, his presence bringing a comfort she hadn’t felt in a long time. Lingering wasn’t an option, though, not in this open basin with little cover and the national park cabin still a good four-hour hike away.

She sighed and lifted her head. “Let’s see how you did, Dr. Rand.”

He snorted a laugh as he moved back to her side. “I’m definitely not a doctor.”

Holding her elbow in her hand, she shrugged the injured shoulder. Pain spiked through it like a grizzly had just chomped down, but she could move it. She nodded and rotated it some more.

“It’s in.” She hated the tremble in her voice. Hated the weakness it showed.

“Thank God.” Marshall breathed out, and his head and shoulders slumped forward in relief.

“Eena, you’s okay?” Carter inched forward.

“Yeah, buddy. I’m okay.” She reached to him with her good arm and ran her fingers down his damp cheeks. “Just sore is all.” Cringing, she pulled her hand back to support her arm. “I’m going to need a sling.”

“Right.” Marshall snatched his shirt from the ground and shook it out.

Five minutes later, with her arm secure in a sling, she hiked hand in hand with Carter through the valley meadow. He chatted away like a squirrel about the bears and falling down the hill. His voice, full of excitement and wonder, pulled her in, both soothing her mind and battering her heart. Relief that he’d come out of the fall with nothing but a few small scrapes and bumps made her a little lightheaded. His love and affection coupled with Marshall’s trust and interest had her contemplating a future she’d thought long dead.

She put her free hand to her aching head, running her fingers along her eyebrows before shaking off her confusing thoughts. Distractions did not belong in the Alaskan wilderness. If she wanted to get Carter and Marshall to safety, there couldn’t be any more mistakes. She had to push aside any thoughts of the future, and focus. Carter squeezed her arm in a hug and gazed up at her in adoration. Focusing had never been harder.

“Will we see more bears?” Carter asked as he walked hand in hand with Lena.

Marshall strode behind the pair, still a little shaken from his education in wilderness triage an hour earlier. When Lena had come around and promised him he hadn’t broken her, his relief had been so immense, he almost couldn’t get his tears bottled up fast enough. He’d helped her put her arm in a sling, gotten Carter a snack and water, and had repacked and strapped on the pack with this overwhelming sense of foreboding.

---