Page 2 of Ultimate Freedom

Norrie went to where the body of her nemesis lay in the snow, blood seeping all around him. She checked for signs of life and found none.

Next, taking her courage in her hands, she knelt beside the wolf who’d saved the day, praying he wasn’t conscious and therefore dangerous. Tentatively, she leaned over Nito’s prone form.

From what she could see, his wound appeared to be in his shoulder, and it was bleeding profusely. Taking off her sweater, though the frigid temperatures should have made her think twice, she rolled it up in a ball and held it close to his wound, wanting to stem the blood.

Thinking quickly, she took handfuls of snow and packed it around the makeshift bandage, keeping it in place. Knowing she couldn’t stay outside without adequate clothing, she left the animal and headed for Lexie whose concentration remained completely with her patient.

Running inside the cabin, she reappeared with their parkas and threw one over Lexie’s shoulders. “Philip’s dead. And Nito’s alive but hurt bad. What can I do to help here?”

“We need to get Demi in the house. You’re stronger than me. Can you lift her shoulders? I’ll get her legs. Be gentle. That bullet is still in there. Once she’s in the house, I’ll need my bag from the car. If I can operate as soon as possible and get that bullet out, she’ll make it.”

Feeling lighter from Lexie’s words, Norrie gladly followed instructions. Once she leaned over the still form, Demi’s face appeared pale and some of the blood spray from her wound colored her waxen cheeks. It made Norrie tremble to see her best friend in such a condition.

With as much care as possible, she raised Demi, balancing her and trying to take as much of her weight as possible. Between the two of them, they carried Demi over the threshold and with superhuman strength, they lifted her on the table, pushing the used coffee cups out of the way.

“Please go get my bag. Where’re her sheets and towels?”

“Here, in this cupboard she has dishtowels and there’s another closet by Glen’s room over there where she keeps the rest of the linens. I’ll get the bag.”

Minutes later, running through the snow, Norrie fetched the bag and on her way back inside, she made a heartbreaking discovery. Nito had disappeared. Only her bloodstained sweater remained. Now why would that wolf leave? It made no sense. Unless he wasn’t injured as badly as he’d appeared to be. One could only pray.

Shaking off that particular worry, Norrie headed back into the house, knowing she had a lot more to deal with. Once she’d done everything she could to help Lexie, she took a few seconds to text Whit with a message for him to come quickly and bring the sheriff.

They needed all the help they could get.

Chapter Two

“I’ll build the fire and get it warmed up in here.” Norrie needed to keep busy.

“Good idea. Make it hotter than normal. We want to keep the patient comfortable.” While Lexie puttered around getting organized, she sent Norrie to boil the kettle and then fill a huge pot so she could sterilize her instruments.

Once they were done, Lexie again examined Demi and nodded with satisfaction. “She’s ready. Let’s get this finished.”

Norrie had never seen an operation up close, except on television. Turns out real life was completely different. Lexie took charge and soon they had the table draped with clean sheets, they were both decently covered to the extent of wearing proper plastic gloves, special masks, and there were sterile pads and bandages for their patient.

Naked from the waist up, Demi’s face appeared ashen. Her long red hair now draped behind her head, hung over the back of the table.

“So you know, I’ve never been involved with anything like this before. I hope I don’t disgrace myself and faint, or worse… upchuck.”

“If you feel anything close to that, step away. Otherwise, I could use your help. Just pass me what I ask for.” When she saw the confusion on Norrie’s face, she added, “I’ll help you by pointing to what they are. Just hand them to me carefully. No dropping anything now that we have them sterile.”

“Yeah. Okay. I’m good. But you’re my witness, Demi’s gonna owe me – bigtime.”

Chuckling, Lexie looked up from concentrating and winked. “She’ll be buying the next round for both of us.” The doctor talked as she worked. “I saw you on the phone.”

Norrie caught on to Lexie’s ploy of getting her mind off the surgery in front of them. As she removed the bullet from Demi’s chest, the sucking noise almost got to her. But again, Lexie covered it up with another question. “Who did you text?”

“The sheriff and Whit. They’ll be here soon. Are you sure we shouldn’t have taken Demi into the hospital for this procedure?”

“Nope. Don’t want there to be any more chances of infection. Besides, she’s lost a lot of blood. Look, just go and boil the kettle again. I’ve got it from here.”

Handing over the last requested instrument, Norrie stepped back. Gleeful that her knees didn’t give out, she stumbled like an old lady toward the kitchen area and then dropped to the floor.

Don’t fall apart now you idiot.Her brain gave her hell, but her legs didn’t care.

She was done for. A wuss. Good for nothing. Her head dropped into her shaking hands, and it shocked her to feel the tears dripping through.

Growing up in Alaska, she’d killed a lot of animals in her life, but never a two-legged one. She sniffed, trying desperately to regain her cool and not let Lexie down when the woman needed her. After all, hadn’t the doctor just faced the disgusting stalker who’d made her life hell for a long time? Seeing him get shot after he put the bullet in Demi - one that was meant for her - couldn’t have been easy.

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