“Take a slow, deep breath, honey. I’ve already sent for help. A rescue team is going to get both of you out of here in no time.”
Any rescue attempt wasn’t going to be easy, though. It was more than a hundred feet to the top, with no trails in sight for a rescue team with a stretcher. The ravine was too deep and narrow, with multiple overhanging ledges, to bring in a helicopter.
Even if a copter dropped a basket, the slightest wind up top could send the litter swinging wildly against the narrow vertical rock walls on either side.
The best chance would be to hike out following the creek bed—if it led to easier access within a reasonable distance and not a dead end.
Mei closed her eyes briefly, bringing her last CPR and first aid training session into sharp focus. She knelt at the boy’s side and timed his erratic respirations. She checked his pulse—weak but steady.
“He’s breathing,” Jasmine whispered brokenly. “I keep feeling for his pulse. He fell so hard. H-he was trying to save me from falling when the ground buckled. I got caught in some bushes that slowed my fall, but C-Cade…”
Mei eyed the sock pressed against the boy’s temple, then searched through her first aid kit for a roll of bandaging. “Smart thinking, Jasmine. I don’t want to risk disturbing the clotting of that wound, so we’ll leave that cloth there and overwrap it with this gauze to keep the pressure steady.”
She looked up and gave the girl an encouraging smile as she wound the bandage around Cade’s head several times and pressed the end of the bandage in place. “This material sticks to itself, so it should hold well. But I’m going to ask you to sit still and not jostle his head, okay?”
“I’m scared, Mei.” Jasmine’s voice quavered.
“Head wounds always bleed a lot, so he might be just fine otherwise. But he could have a bad concussion, and if he has got any spinal injuries we don’t want to take a chance.”
Jasmine nodded, her lower lip trembling and her eyes filling with fear. “M-maybe I hurt him already, just trying to make him comfortable.”
Maybe, but it was done. And trying to keep Cade stable while managing a hysterical girl wouldn’t do either of them any good.
“You’ve done your best—and if you hadn’t thought so fast, he could’ve lost a lot more blood.”
Mei began a careful head-to-toe exam, gently palpating the unconscious boy for obvious fractures and searching for other wounds. The ugly dark bruising and swelling of his right ankle didn’t look good. His jacket and sweatshirt were torn, revealing multiple lacerations and bruising on his ribs and shoulders.
Using sterile four-by-four gauze squares and the roll of bandaging material, Mei wrapped his wounds.
Jasmine kept her gaze fixed on his face. “I love you so much, Cade,” she choked out. “You have to be okay because you and I are going to grow old together. You can’t leave me now. You just can’t.”
Mei lifted his eyelids, checking for even pupil reactions. Was the right one more sluggish? Hard to tell, in these shadows, and she wished she had a flashlight. But if the pupils were uneven, what could she do? The first aid kit was the extent of what she had to work with.
And what worried her the most was his lack of responsiveness. A head injury could easily be fatal. Even now, his brain could be swelling.
And his spine…
Mei said a long, silent prayer as the minutes ticked by, then kept up a steady patter of small talk to distract Jasmine.
A half hour passed.
Then another.
Blood still seeped through the makeshift bandages. Noticing it was worse at Cade’s temple, Mei added another layer of bandaging, then applied gentle pressure.
Shouts of excitement erupted from the top of the cliff.
“They’re almost here!” a woman shouted. “Three county rescue guys!”
Jasmine closed her eyes and sighed with obvious relief. “Thank you, God. I’ve been praying this whole time for help to get here.” Her gaze shot up the sides of the ravine. “But how—what can they do?”
“This is their job, honey,” Mei said with more confidence than she felt. “They do this sort of thing all the time.”
In minutes, one man in sunglasses, a dark jacket and a COUNTY SEARCH & RESCUE–emblazoned backpack quickly rappelled down into the ravine, while the other two rescuers stayed at the top and watched, presumably awaiting directions.
Relief and gratitude welled up in Mei’s chest until she was barely able to speak. “Thank you, thank you,” she finally managed, fighting back the sting of tears in her eyes as the first man reached them. “I’m so glad—”
Her next words froze in her throat when she realized just who he was…and, with the next heartbeat, recognized the tragic irony of him being the first one on the scene.
Although he was all too familiar to Mei now that he’d removed his shades and black ball cap, he didn’t even glance her way because his attention was riveted on Cade.
He was all business, pure professional skill, as he hunkered down next to the injured boy. Working rapidly, he opened up his duffel bag and withdrew a stethoscope and portable blood pressure cuff, donned vinyl gloves, then began a careful exam.
But she’d seen his split second of hesitation.
The shock in his eyes.
And the way he’d blanched before throwing himself into EMT mode. Of all the people in the world to answer this call, Jack McCord had shown up.
And Cade was his half brother.
Chapter Two
From the moment he reached the ledge, Jack riveted his attention on the still form of his brother.
Jasmine looked up at him. “I c-can’t believe you’re here,” she whispered, her voice laced with panic. “Can you help him? Please—”
“Just hold his head steady. Don’t move. And be quiet, honey.”
Shoving aside his own whirlwind of emotions, Jack pulled on his vinyl gloves and forced himself into professional mode. He swiftly checked Cade’s vitals, relaying the data to the emergency room staff at the small local hospital through the cell phone headset on his ear.
Breathing—shallow but steady.
Pulse—regular.
Blood pressure—a hundred over sixty-eight.
Skin—cool and dry.
Pupils—uneven, the right more sluggish than the left. Unresponsive.
Slight signs of shock, with a possibility of internal injuries and a head injury.
But thank you, Lord. Cade appears stable.
Jack quickly checked him for bleeding and found he’d already been capably bandaged, then he searched for obvious fractures. Finally, rocking back on his heels, he listened to the E.R. doctor, disconnected and called his team members waiting at the top of the cliff.
He pulled a reflective foil blanket from his backpack and tucked it around Cade, then gently rested his hand against his brother’s cheek. “Cade—can you hear me?” No response.
A heavy fist clamped down on Jack’s heart as his thoughts raced through a litany of fears for his only brother. Internal injuries could be hemorrhaging unseen. He could have sustained a serious brain injury or damage to the spinal cord. He’d fallen more than an hour ago. If he wasn’t responding right now, what were the chances of an extended coma…or death? Lord, please take care of him. Please keep him safe in Your hands—let his injuries be minor, and please, please help him heal.
“How is he, Jack?” Jasmine’s voice shook. “I’m so scared for him.”
Whatever his own fears, inciting panic at this point wouldn’t do anyone any good. He considered his answer carefully. “I don’t see any significant external wounds. At least, he isn’t bleeding through any of the bandages so far. And I haven’t found obvious fractures. Of course, Cade isn’t awake to tell us where he hurts most, and I’m not a doctor. I also don’t have a radiologist’s X-ray report in front of me. We’ll have answers soon, though.”
Desperate hope flared to life in Jasmine’s eyes. “So that’s good?”
“Yes, it is.
And his heartbeat, color and breathing are surprisingly steady given what he’s just been through.” Trying to stay positive in light of the very serious possibilities made it hard to meet her earnest gaze.
“Then why doesn’t he wake up?” Tears trickled down her dirt-smudged cheeks.
“Maybe he just has a concussion and will be coming around soon.”
“What if it isn’t that? What if…” Her voice trailed off.
Jack sighed heavily and glanced toward the other woman, who had stepped away when he arrived and now stood at the far edge of the ledge with her head bowed, her long black hair veiling the side of her face. “I don’t have the answers. But we’ll have him out of here in no time, and the E.R. will be ready for him. They’ll figure everything out.”
She sniffled and backhanded the tears from her face. “I just can’t believe this happened, and it’s all my fault. If I had agreed to go back to the car instead of insisting on going up the trail…”
“But it isn’t your fault. A terrible coincidence, maybe, being at the wrong place at that very moment. But you couldn’t have predicted it would happen.” He studied her closely. “What about you? Looks like you need to be checked over, too.”
She lifted a cautious hand to her face. “Just a few bumps and scrapes. Maybe a little sprain of my wrist. It’s Cade who needs your attention. Not me.”
“You’ll still need to be seen in the E.R.” Her color had improved and she appeared to be calmer since he’d first arrived. He moved next to her, noting that her skin was warm and dry as he took her pulse and blood pressure. Both normal.
He gently bandaged a laceration on her arm, then examined her swollen wrist and wrapped it with a splint and a firm, supportive bandage.
“I’d guess that the doctor will want an X-ray of your wrist at the very least, and you might need some sutures.” He slowly straightened and pulled off his gloves, then donned a clean pair as he returned to Cade and knelt at his side. He looked over his shoulder at the other woman. “And what about you, ma’am?”
She still stood facing away from him, her arms wrapped around her slender waist, but now she turned slowly toward him with a tentative expression. “Hi, Jack.”
He felt his jaw drop and his heart lurch against his ribs. If he’d discovered the Queen of England standing in front of him, he couldn’t have been more surprised. Just seeing her slammed him back to his tongue-tied teenage years. “Mei? What on earth…”
Mei Clayton had always been pretty. Her delicate features and dark eyes had made her seem as exotic and untouchable as one of his mother’s porcelain figurines. But now, ten years after high school, she was no longer just pretty—she was beautiful.
“I was hiking and had intended to do some climbing farther up the mountain.” She dropped her gaze to Cade’s still form. “I’m so glad I was close by with my climbing gear. When Jasmine and Cade fell, I did what I could.”
He’d seen her rope dangling down the face of the cliff, and didn’t even want to imagine such a fragile woman making that dangerous descent—especially because it was at least ten feet too short. One false move and she might have fallen to her death. “You are one brave woman. And you did a fine job with the first aid, too.”
“I just wish I’d had more rope for the trip down.”
He cleared his throat, still feeling a little stunned at running into her in such an unlikely place. “I’d heard that all of you had to be home by Christmas. What brings you back home so soon?”
Her expression clouded. “My brother is missing somewhere in the Everglades. I wanted to be here with my mom while we wait for news.”
“I’m sorry. I haven’t seen Lucas since I left for college, but I remember that he was always a capable guy…and very independent.”
“One of the reasons he and my parents didn’t see eye to eye. I hear he hasn’t even been back here since graduating from high school. Still, he managed to put himself through veterinary school, so I just know he’s going to be a success. If…” Her voice trailed off.
“Lucas is a resourceful guy.” Jack rechecked Cade’s blood pressure and pulse, then examined his bandages for any seepage. “I’ll bet your worries will be unfounded when he suddenly turns up one of these days.”
“I sure hope so.” She bit her lower lip, as if debating about saying more about her brother. “How long until Cade gets to the hospital?”
“The other two guys on the rescue team are looking for a good route for bringing him up. The EMTs and an ambulance are on the way. Maybe an hour?”
“Oh, that long,” she breathed. She rested a hand on Jasmine’s shoulder. “I guess we’d all better be praying then.”
Jasmine nodded. “Believe me, I already have.”
Jack held Cade’s hand as the ambulance bounced and swayed down the rugged mountain road toward town and listened to the steady beep of a monitor mounted on the wall. “He looks stable, right?”
Sue, the EMT who had chosen to ride in back, was sitting on the bench next to Jack. She glanced up at the screen and nodded. “From what I see, I think he’s doing well, all things considered. He’s one very lucky boy.”
“I just wish he would wake up.” Jack gave his brother’s hand a squeeze. “I haven’t seen him this quiet since he was a newborn—and that wasn’t for a very long stretch at a time.”
“I’m sure the docs at the hospital will be doing MRIs and X-rays to make sure he—” She peered at Cade’s face. “I think I saw his eyelids flicker. Cade, can you hear me?”
A moment later Cade’s eyelids fluttered, then opened halfway.
“You’re in an ambulance. You had quite a fall, cowboy.” Jack brushed a wayward lock of hair from Cade’s forehead, willing him to say something. Anything.
When he didn’t, anxiety snaked through Jack’s stomach and began tying it into a tight knot.
The EMT leaned over so she could look directly into Cade’s eyes. “What’s your name?”
His brow furrowed, as if he were calling up a distant memory, before he finally silently moved his lips to form his name.
“Do you know where you are? What town you live in?”
He stared blankly at her.
“Do you know what day it is?”
Again, a blank look.
The EMT sat back on the bench. “The doctors will be checking him for a concussion. But it’s a really good sign that he’s waking up and that he’s at least oriented to his name.”
A good sign, maybe, but Jack longed to hear Cade’s voice. To hear him crack a joke—or even renew their old argument about Cade’s decision to marry so young. Anything that would show he hadn’t suffered a serious head injury.
“I’m here with you and I’m not leaving,” Jack reassured him. “We’ll make sure the docs fix you up good as new.”
But Cade didn’t answer, and Jack’s heart grew heavier with each passing mile.
Chapter Three
At the small community hospital, Mei sat with Jasmine in one of the exam rooms and listened to the bustle of activity several rooms away.
“We should hear something soon, honey,” she murmured, holding the girl’s trembling hand. “Don’t worry. So far the news has all been good, right? The doc doesn’t think you have any fractures or internal injuries. You’ll be out of here in a little while.”
During the past several hours, a nurse had been in to clean Jasmine’s scrapes and take a health history. Later, a doctor with Angela Kerber, M.D., embroidered on her lab coat provided an exam and several sutures to close a laceration. Results of the X-rays and the CT of Jasmine’s abdomen were due back anytime.
But Jasmine’s attention had been riveted on Cade since the accident, and she’d barely paid attention to the doctor’s words about her own condition.
“I don’t care about me. Cade is the one who fell the hardest. When are they going to tell me about him?” Clad in a thin exam gown and wrapped in a white cotton blanket, Jasmine sat at the edge of her gurney and shuddered. “Maybe…they’re a
fraid to let me know.”
“But he’s fully awake and talking now. So that’s a great sign. And we’re both praying for him, right? And I’m sure his brother is also.”
Jasmine glanced at the big white clock on the wall. “Arabella left for Denver this afternoon with her girls to see Jonathan. I just wish she could be here, too.”
“When will she be back?”
“N-not ’til late this evening.” A tear slid down Jasmine’s cheek. “Wh-what if he doesn’t m-make it?”
Footsteps stopped just outside, and the curtain rustled. Jack cleared his throat. “All right if I come in?”
“Absolutely.” Her gaze lowered, Mei slipped out of her chair and made room for him to reach the side of Jasmine’s gurney.
Even without meeting his eyes, she was all too aware of his strong, muscular build—toned and refined and even more powerful than the boy she’d admired back in high school. He’d matured to a good six feet, with an aura of easy confidence that surrounded him. Did all of the local gals still hang on his every word, and bask in his trademark smile? That charming, sidelong grin had sure melted hearts back in high school.
She could personally attest to that.
“Thought I’d better come in and check on you two ladies,” he said, his voice low and warm. He bent down a little to meet Jasmine’s gaze straight on. “Cade is worried about you, so I told him I’d see how you’re holding up in here. Looks to me like you’re in fine shape. Any good news yet?”
Jasmine grabbed on to his arm with both hands. “I’m okay, but the nurses won’t tell me anything about Cade, and they wont let me go to him, either. Is it bad?”
“We’re still waiting for the results of his CT scans and X-rays. But so far, so good. He doesn’t seem to have any fractures, anyway.” He searched her face, and gently tucked a long strand of her hair behind her ear. “He cares a great deal about you, but you already know that.”
The Loner's Thanksgiving Wish (Love Inspired) Page 2