Page 83 of Wandering Closer

She burrows next to the light, and that’s when I see her. Lily’s small body is huddled under an emergency blanket, her skin is pale, and there’s dried blood on her forehead.

“She’s here!” I shout behind me, falling to my knees at her side. She’s cold to the touch as I try to assess her for injuries. “Lily, baby, I’m here. Open your eyes, baby. It’s going to be okay. I’m here.”

Her lashes flutter, struggling to stay open. “Tor-n?” she slurs.Fucking fuck.With her coloring and slurred speech, she’s hypothermic and needs to be warmed immediately. I hear the others before I see them as they crouch around me, and my dad calls through the radio, giving our location and that we need an extraction.

I pull off the blanket, seeing her soaked clothes beneath it. Normally, these emergency heat blankets would be the right thing to use, but with a cold body and wet clothes, they can actually prevent you from getting dry and cause more harm than good.

Michele has done some SAR training in the past and is already pulling off her boots and socks and telling Jake to pull the dry clothing from her pack. “Her ankle is a mess,” she says, as I carefully prod her head to find where the blood came from.I glance down to see one ankle swollen and purple, but I’m more concerned with how pale her toes look.

Finally, I feel the cut on the side of her head. Head wounds tend to bleed a lot, and it doesn’t seem too bad, but a concussion is a possibility, too. I pull off her sweatshirt and shirt underneath, leaving her in just her bra and panties as Michele and I put her in the long johns, sweats, and jacket that Michele brought. Jake grabs thermal socks from the bag, handing them over without looking.

“Thank you,” I mutter to Michele, knowing this small act can make a huge difference for Lily right now.

“They’re coming with the sked litter. Team three packed it in and they are about a mile out,” my dad interrupts. “How’s she doing?”

“Lily, wake up. We’re getting you out of here, but I need to know where you hurt.”

Her blue eyes flutter again before remaining shut. “Head a-a-and ankle.”

“She’s too cold, and we are wasting time staying here. I’m carrying her to them.” I delicately lift her into my arms. My dad rummages around in his backpack, pulling out a fresh emergency blanket. He drapes it around her as best as he can before nodding to me.

“We’ll be right behind you.”

“Give her to me,” Jake says with a stern glare when I scowl at him. “They will need your help to carry her in the sked and it’s a long hike back. I’m too tall to help with that, I’ll throw off the balance. Let me help while I can.”

I reluctantly pass her off, stroking her hair as she settles into Jake’s large arms. He made the right call. With his long strides, the rest of us are practically jogging to keep up with him. I hear him whispering to her the whole time, telling her about all the people who showed up for her today, and fuck, that one actabout broke me. We make it to team three in no time. They have extra emergency blankets that we wrap around Lily like a cocoon before buckling her in.

I watch her shallow breathing as my team and I carry her out, and she still can’t keep her eyes open. When we finally reach the trailhead, an ambulance and EMTs are there waiting. The sight of them surrounded by all the cars, and my mom and Amber under the large tent with tables and lights set up almost brings me to my knees.

The EMTs are by our side instantly, working on transferring her to their gurney. I take in all the people standing there, a mix of fear and relief covering their faces. I have so many things I want to say, so many thanks to give. My mom shakes her head at me, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Go, we have this. We will meet you at the hospital as soon as we can.”

I climb into the ambulance with Lily, the lights and sounds around me not even registering. I only have eyes for her. My heart, my future, my whole damn world, laying on the gurney next to me. I reach for her free hand across from where the paramedic works on her, stroking my thumb over her knuckles.

“We’ve got her now. It’s going to be okay,” the paramedic says in a calm and reassuring voice as he works on her IV.

She’s going to be okay. She has to be okay.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

thoren

The last twenty-four hours have been some of the worst of my life, starting this morning when I felt like something was wrong. When we arrived at the hospital, they rushed Lily into the ICU, where I wasn’t allowed to follow. I paced the small waiting room for over an hour until Jake showed up with a change of clean and dry clothes for me. Then I paced for another hour before my parents showed up with food and coffee. It’s approaching midnight now, and although I missed dinner, there is no way I would be eating.

Another hour passed before a doctor came out to update us on Lily’s condition. They said she has severe hypothermia but they are gradually warming her with heated blankets and warmed IV fluids. Her head wound required stitches, but a concussion assessment was impossible due to overlapping symptoms with her severe hypothermia. Luckily, her ankle was only sprained, and the rest of her seemed to be okay.

He said protocol dictates I couldn’t go back until they have her conscious and aware, but I begged with my life. The doctor allowed me five minutes to sit with her, hold her hand, and tell her how sorry I was, and how much I love her. The sight of her still pale skin squeezed that already tight noose wrapped aroundmy chest, but I held it together until I returned to the waiting room.

The moment I stepped back through those doors and saw my mom, I lost it. I let the weight crush me, as I crumpled to the floor and let my emotions take over. My mom sat on the floor with me, holding me while I fell apart. Her soft hands stroked down my back as she assured me Lily would be okay. As the tears settled, I confessed the lie I told Lily about her lawyer, and that I was the cause of her being out in the woods alone today.

In her true motherly fashion, she scolded me for lying, then told me that today was no one’s fault. She had the utmost faith that I would grovel and Lily would forgive me. Her words echoed in my mind the rest of the morning.Couples fight honey, but a love like yours doesn’t fade. It can’t be suppressed or concealed, it’s an unbreakable bond that lasts a lifetime.

Jake went home to check on Shadow and get some sleep, and I sent my parents home to get some sleep as well. Michele showed up about an hour after they left, and we tried to rest on the awful chairs until the doctor came back to get me.

“She’s doing okay. Her body temperature is hovering around 98 degrees, but we still have her under warming blankets. She’s alert and talking, but her heart rate is still slower than we would like, so we are monitoring that. Her movements are slow still, but that is to be expected and should improve throughout the morning,” her doctor says as he walks with me. “Visiting hours don’t technically start until eight, so if you can keep everyone else out until then, that would be great. She asked for you, so I’m making an exception.”

“Thank you, Dr. Klein,” my voice is hoarse. He nods and points to her door, telling me I can go in.

The moment I step into the room, her blue eyes latch onto mine. Her lower lip wobbles, a lone tear breaking free from its confinement and trickling down her flushed cheek.Her flushedcheeks. I can feel my heart skip a beat as a surge of relief washes over me at seeing the color back in her complexion. The weight of her stare settles on my chest, making it difficult to breathe again. A knot forms in my stomach, tightening with each passing second.

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