Page 9 of Rugged Mountain Man
Cormac barely saw it in time. He hit the brakes, sending the car skidding wildly. He swore under his breath, fighting to regain control, before plowing to a stop.
Chapter four
Cormac
“Shit,” I grumbled, staring at the tree in dismay. That was going to slow us down. “I have a chainsaw in the back. I’ll cut a path. Stay here.”
I shoved my door open and snow filtered into the car, melting in the blasting heat.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Mika called after me.
“Keep the engine running,” I replied. “I don’t want you wandering around out here in the storm.”
Retrieving my chainsaw, it took a few tries with the pull cord to get it going in the cold. But it finally revved to life and I set to work on the tree. The wind and snow lowered visibility and made my footing treacherous.
I carved off the broken, jagged branches to reach the thick tree trunk. My body temperature was dropping by the minute. In the cabin, I had been warm enough, but Mika still wore my coat, and there was no way in hell I would take it away from her.
Cutting into the tree trunk, sawdust sprayed across my boots, clinging to my clothes. Snow blinded me, slashing at my face. When I hit a knot in the wood, my chainsaw threatened to jam.
I wedged my boot against the wood, adjusting my stance for a better angle to dodge that knot. When my chainsaw lodged in the wood, I braced myself and yanked.
The chainsaw came free. I lost my balance, pitching back on my heels.
Pain seared through my lower leg as my chainsaw blade chewed through my jeans like a meatgrinder. Blood spilled onto the snow, garish red against the relentless white.
“Fuck,” I hissed, clamping my hand to the wound. It wasn’t deep, didn’t reach the bone, and it burned like fire. But the blood loss would be a major problem.
Limping back to the car, I fought to keep my breathing steady despite the adrenaline coursing through my veins. If I couldn’t stop the bleeding, I would be unconscious in a few minutes. Before that happened, I needed to make sure Mika was safe.
“Mika—” I rasped, pulling open the car door.
Her face went ghostly white at the sight of me.
“Oh my God. What happened?”
“Slipped,” I said, hauling myself into the car.
Blood smeared my hand, staining everything I touched. Damn it. Mika started to reach for me, then pulled back, looking uncertain.
Fuck, I hated doing this to her. I was supposed to protect her, not leave her to fend for herself while I passed out.
“I’m going to need your help, KitKat,” I added.
She blew out a breath of disbelief, staring at me.
“I’m not a doctor. I don’t know how—”
She broke off, watching the blood that dripped from my leg, pooling on the floor of my car.
“You’re smart,” I said. “You can do this. We just need to slow the bleeding. I’ll walk you through it. I left my rucksack at the cabin, but there should be a tarp in the back we can use.”
Mika nodded and scrambled over the seats. She returned with the tarp. I grabbed her hand, squeezing it tight.
“Good girl,” I whispered, growing dizzy already.
For a split second, she recoiled at my touch, looking like she was ready to fling herself into the storm if it meant getting away from me.
Then she squeezed my hand back. Taking the tarp from her, I wrapped it around my leg.
