Uncertain of what was broken or if she had internal injuries, he couldn’t waste time. She needed help immediately. There was no luxury of waiting for paramedics or rangers to get through the woods. The shadow of a crescent moon was beginning to appear and there was a short window of time before it was dark. He couldn’t subject her to more cold. Her skin showed signs of hypothermia. He had to do something so he gently slid a hand between her breast and the stump, trying to keep her ribs immobile.
She weakly cried out.
Tears stung his eyes. He noted the bruising on her side which extended to her stomach and ribs. The puffiness made every beautiful thing about her take on an unnatural and grotesque appearance. Trying to keep her as immobile as possible, he struggled to get her into a position where he could lift her. For whatever consciousness remained, he needed to prepare her she was going to be moved. He lowered himself so he was even with her face. His lips pressed against her cheek, intently listening for tiny wisps of breath. They were slight, but they were still there.
“Sweetheart… Aimee,” he said close to her ear. “It’s me, baby. Don’t be afraid. I’m going to pick you up.”
A slight groan acknowledged she heard him.
The cop in him tried to commit some of the scene to memory. There were signs of struggle everywhere. The dirt leading to the stump bore drag mark from her shoes. Pieces and long strands of her hair were littered about. Whatever attacked her must have taken her from the trail, pulling her where no one would see.
He looked one last time before picking her up. Broken twigs and pulled vines surrounded him. The large tree to his right had blood and flesh on its bark. He knew this should be collected for evidence, but his first priority was her. His imagination was wild with scenes of the brutality she suffered, but for her sake he had to stay focused. He positioned her to cause the least amount of pain when a mix of blood and semen coated his hand. The sticky substance gushed out of her as he moved her leg. Rage enveloped him when he realized the animal was a human one.
If he ever found the son of a bitch responsible for this, he would kill him!
He lifted her. First her head, then ever so gently her body. He turned her face into his chest as he cradled her. With one arm under her back, and one under her knees, he pushed himself up. What had been left of her jeans fell to the ground and he growled under his breath. He took slow steps at first. She moaned, and very weakly at that, but he didn’t know how long she’d been out there or how much time she had left.
Immobilizing her as much as possible he began to walk. He strongly suspected she had broken, or at least fractured ribs, and he prayed he wouldn’t puncture a lung while moving her. The fluids were tacky against his arms, and rubbed against her raw wounds. Any attempts her body had taken to clot the blood were eradicated from movement. His rage escalated with each step. She hung suspended, and nearly lifeless, in his arms. His muscles grew tight and rigid as he struggled to buffer her body with his own. He kept his line of sight in front of him, focused on reaching the house. He didn’t dare look down for fear he would lose it. His jaw clenched when he felt a bone push against her skin. The muscles in his arms burned as he struggled to keep them motionless. Although he fought to keep them still, he was grateful she was unconscious.
He was pissed.
He wanted to kill.
Refusing to give into his strained and burning biceps, he reminded himself he was her only hope. Step by step, his long legs carried her over rocks, vines, and other brush. He concentrated only on the sound of her breath.
The air grew warmer once he left the thick of trees. His cabin was finally in sight. Quickening his pace, he reached the house and nudged the door open with his foot. He turned sideways to get her through the doorway, and then he didn’t stop until he deliberately and gingerly laid her on the sofa. Wasting no time, he pulled out his cell.
“This is Carter Sinclair,” he told the 911 dispatcher. “I have a woman in her twenties covered with lacerations. She may have internal bleeding and broken bones. I need someone—NOW.”
Once he relayed the message he wasn’t sure what questions were asked or answered. The voice on the other end sounded like they were miles away. The only thing that mattered was keeping her alive.
He knelt on the floor beside her, afraid to even hold her hand because her fingers were an icy blue and swollen.
That’s when he saw Cody.
She laid on the floor, right beside the sofa, not making a sound. She wanted to be with Aimee. He reached for her, bending down to look her over and assess the damage. As his hand lightly rubbed down her side, he found the source of the blood. It was a puncture wound, but he couldn’t be sure if it was near an organ. Helpless and outraged, he ran his hands through his hair trying to concentrate on what needed to be done. Once again he reached for his cell.
“Marc, this is Carter. I need your help. You have to get Cody to the vet for me. She’s been hurt.” The strain in his voice was evident.
“How?” he asked.
“I’ll fill you in when you get here. Can you take her?”
“On my way,” he answered.
He tossed the phone on the side table. He had one hand on Aimee and one on the dog, holding them both. Tears escaped as reality began to spiral out of control. He had to stay composed. They needed him. He began to pray they both would be alright. Almost as an answer he saw the hopeful sign of Cody wagging her tail.
“We’ll fix you up soon, girl,” he choked out. “I don’t know what the hell happened out there… but I think you’re the reason she’s alive.”
His throat seized, tightening with emotion as his head rested on Cody’s. He’d done all he could. Hope was as fragile as particles floating in sunlight.
“I can’t lose either one of you.” He choked out a sob.
Finally, the sound of a siren was heard in the distance.
Everything moved in slow motion. A chill enveloped the room as the clock ticked off the minutes. He counted the shallow rise and fall of her chest. Sitting on the floor, he held her hand in his. It was cold. He dared not rub to warm it for fear it may cause her pain.
The wail of the ambulance echoed through the mountains. The paramedics arrived just as Marc did. Carter watched helplessly as Marc carried Cody to his car and the paramedics converged in his living room. They tried to stabilize her on a body board. Taking necessary precautions, they slipped a collar around her neck and started intravenous fluids.
“Do you have any idea what happened to her, Mr. Sinclair?” one of them asked him.
He shook his head. He didn’t recognize his own voice. “No. She was like this when I found her,” he said, suffocated with emotion. Helpless, he watched as the second paramedic confirmed her hips and legs were secure by pulling on the strap.
“You’ll be able to ride with us, if you like,” she said. He nodded his head once again. He wasn’t leaving the hospital until she regained consciousness. Marc or Falcon could bring whatever he needed to him in the interim.
As they lifted the stretcher they locked it into place, jostling her. He looked from one paramedic to the other.
“Take it easy with her!” he demanded.
They didn’t answer, just rolled the stretcher out the door and into the ambulance. He hopped up inside, sitting to the side of her. He placed one of his hands over hers. He would remember it was dark as the sirens wailed. Everything else in his mind raced.
Was she in shock? Had she lost too much blood? Would the bones heal properly? Did she have internal bleeding?
He ran his hands through his hair, then held his face in them both. Tears stung his eyes. She was the brightest light that had come into his life in so long. He was terrified of losing her. It was his fault, he reasoned. He’d lost once. Thoughts of his mistakes interrogated him as they sailed down the bumpy mountain roads.
Why hadn’t he stopped her? Why didn’t he make her stay, force her to let him explain? Why did he let her go?
He had to stop. No
thing good could come from these thoughts, and as badly as she was hurt, she needed him to be strong for her.
They reached the hospital. Once the doors opened there was complete chaos. Doctors met the paramedics at the door. The paramedics relayed information about her condition. It was all a blur. As he followed down the hall after them, a nurse stopped him.
“Sir? I’m going to take you to a waiting room. Someone will come to get you as soon as they stabilize her.”
“I’m going with her,” he stated.
The nurse was kind, seemingly sympathetic.
“I know you want to, sir, but you have to let them do their job. It’s her best chance.”
Carter helplessly nodded. She took him by the arm and led him to a small room. A TV was playing on the wall and a phone sat on a small table.
“Can I get you some water?” she kindly asked. The moment he looked at her his mind went blank. It was as if she knew.
“I’ll get some for you sir. I’ll be back shortly. Please try to make yourself comfortable. I promise, someone will keep you apprised of her condition.” She smiled at him again before disappearing through the doorway.
She was nice. It was the only thing he would remember of her.
The TV on the wall had some wrestling match playing. The sound was almost too low to hear. It sounded like gibberish anyway and it comingled with the hospital PA system calling for doctors over the loud speaker. He tried to form coherent thoughts, trying to figure out who he needed to call. She didn’t have close family. Declan was the closest thing she’d ever mentioned and he couldn’t decide if he should call until he knew something. His concern helped him to form a mental checklist in the order of relevance.
Cody!
She was his next thought after Aimee. Pulling out his cell, he called Dr. Karls. Thankfully, she and the Sinclair’s had been friends since Cody was a puppy and Carter had known her even before then. He had her cell number in his phone.
Knowing it was after hours at the clinic, he was confident she would answer. Lauri didn’t work according to a clock. She worked according to devotion. When he was an active Trooper, he would sometimes run across a hurt animal, or even find a stray litter of puppies or kittens in the woods. She told him to contact her anytime and had given him all of her contact information. It proved useful many times when he was on the road. There was no one he trusted better with Cody than Lauri Karls. If anyone could make his giant fur ball well, she could.
The phone rang several times. He was about to hang up when she answered.
“Lauri? How’s Cody?”
“She’s good Carter; really good. Marc filled me in a little bit. He said you didn’t know much about what happened. I can confirm she had a puncture wound on her side. How it missed any organs, I can’t figure out. She’s a very lucky girl.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. She could hear the anxiety in his voice.
“When Marc brought her in, he was carrying her. He said she was limping?” she asked.
“Yeah. She was limping when I first saw her. I didn’t know where it was coming from. All I saw was the blood.”
“I don’t think you need to worry,” she informed him. “She’s a pretty healthy girl. I x-rayed her limbs, chest and stomach. Who or what she tangled with did their best, but nothing was broken. I ran my hands all over her after the x-ray. She was in pain. Someone definitely kicked her or may even have hit her with something. She’s bruised and she’s going to be sore for awhile, but she’ll heal.”
He held his forehead with his fingers. He could feel a headache coming on.
“So, she’s gonna be okay?”
“Yes,” she assured him. “We’ll have to watch her stitches, but she’s going to be fine.”
“Thank you,” he croaked.
“Can I ask you a question?” She paused. “Marc said she may have saved your girlfriend’s life. He didn’t go into much detail, but I know you’re at the hospital. Do you think it’s true? Cody went after her attacker?”
“Yeah,” he smiled. “It looks like it.”
“She must really love your girlfriend. Berners aren’t aggressive by nature. They’re usually very friendly dogs.”
“She does love Aimee, and I do believe Cody saved her, somehow. To tell you the truth, Lauri, I have no idea what the hell happened out there. Until she’s conscious, I can only guess.”
“Well Cody will be okay with me,” she assured. “I can keep her with me for a few days. I’d prefer to have her stay with me for observation anyway, and you can concentrate on whatever else you need to do. It’s not much, but I hope it helps you out a bit.”
“I’d really appreciate it,” he said, grateful Cody was in good hands. “Thanks, Lauri.”
“…and Carter?” she added. “I really hope your girlfriend is okay.”
Immediately, the picture of Aimee’s delicate, broken body flooded his mind. It was fast becoming the image his nightmares would be made of and his throat clenched as he remembered.
“Me, too,” he answered.
Seven hours, thirty-seven minutes.
It was the length of time he waited to talk to Aimee’s surgeon. She had been in surgery for six hours.
He stood as the doctor approached and noticed the name stitched into his jacket.
“Dr. Harris”
“Mr. Sinclair? I’m Dr. Harris. I’m Ms. Vincent’s physician.” He reached out to shake his hand.
“May we sit for a moment?” he asked, and pointed toward the chairs.
“Mr. Sinclair, I’ve heard you were the person who found Ms. Vincent. I have to warn you, it’s probably as bad as you thought. Her injuries are extensive. Her x-rays were done upon her arrival. She sustained a broken jaw, broken nose, two fractured ribs, and one broken one. She suffered two broken fingers and a broken thumb, and the area around her spleen is tender, but it’s intact. We also found numerous bruises and contusions. There were many wounds, most superficial. They looked much worse than their actual severity, however there was one, right in front of her ear, requiring stitches. We saw no damage to her kidneys. She’s also lost a tooth and has a few tears on her scalp where the hair was torn away, most likely another result of her immobility. It appears she was thrown or pulled using it, and her neck suffered from it as well.” He waited a moment for Carter to digest the information.
“…but she’ll recover?” he asked.
Dr. Harris took a deep breath.
“We’re hopeful, sir. A lot is going to depend on her. We repaired everything, but she was in shock when she arrived. I think with time she’ll recover, but it will be a long time until Ms. Vincent is back to normal. I think you need to know something else, Mr. Sinclair. She was raped along with whatever else she suffered. Knowing this was definitely a police matter, we attempted to collect any samples. We also scraped under her fingernails. I don’t know what you’ll find, but we knew the police would need any evidence.”
Carter nodded. His clenched jaw nearly locked from unvoiced anger. It took all his resolve not to go back to the woods and hunt the animal down who did this to her.
“When can I see her?” he asked.
“I’ll have the nurse come out to get you. You can sit with her in the PACU until we take her to a room.”
“How long, doc? I mean how long do you think she’ll be in here?” he asked.
“I can’t say, Mr. Sinclair. Again, most of it will depend on her. I can tell you once she’s released she’s going to need help. She can’t be on her own for awhile.”
“She’ll be staying with me,” he said firmly. “She won’t be alone.”
A few minutes later, the nurse led him to her bedside. Once he saw her, nothing else mattered. He wouldn’t have believed it, but she actually looked better. All of the blood was washed off her skin. Her hair was clean as well. He held onto the rail of her bed, bracing himself as he made closer inspection.
Her one eye was swollen, the other already turning black and bruised. He saw the cut in front
of her ear. It was very close to her lobe. She would be happy it would be hidden by her hair. Her jaw was turning deep bruising colors of blues and purples. The scrapes and cuts he saw when he found her were dressed with ointment, most looking like red lines.
He thought she was beautiful.
She was alive and breathing
As he watched her, he saw her eyes open ever so slightly. She blinked, staring at him, and he returned the gaze.
“Aim… can you hear me baby?” he whispered.
She responded by raising a finger to brush against his hand. He carefully raised her fingers, holding the tips ever so lightly to create contact.
“I’m staying, baby. Just so you know. I’ll be here, however long it takes. I’m not going anywhere…,” he said.
Weakly, she squeezed his fingers. He stroked her hair with his other hand. The pain medicine was obviously working because she didn’t flinch. He’d been afraid every touch would shatter her.
He was stroking the back of her hand when he noticed she’d fallen asleep. Pulling the chair over, he put the guard rail down on the side where he sat. Gingerly, he laid his head down on the bed, close to her hip. Still holding her frail fingers, he felt the wetness of his tears as they trailed over his cheek… and he prayed.
“I don’t know what I am, or what I believe anymore,” he whispered, “but Aimee said it doesn’t matter. She’s the one with the faith. I don’t have a whole lot of it, but with all I’ve got, I’m asking you to help her.”
He laid there, listening to the orchestra of monitors to which she was connected. He focused on one sound—her breath. He was still listening as he fell asleep.
When the nurse came in to check she found them sleeping. Carter still held Aimee’s fingers. She wanted to inform him they would be moving her to a room in a few hours.
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