Page 57 of Guardians
Lunging for the wolf, Malik turned his head and carefully clasped his jaws around the hybrid’s throat. Malik’s instincts urged him to snap the wolf’s neck or rob the bastard of air. But the wolf was clearly a leader. He needed to be questioned before he died. The wolf howled, furiously twisting and flailing within Malik’s grasp.
The wolf raised his blaster and shot past Malik. Triumph surged through the wolf and a cruel chuckle escaped his throat. The sound was deep and demonic. Confused by the wolf’s reaction, Malik released his hold on the hybrid’s throat. Turning his head sharply, he glanced behind him and gasped. Kane!
The momentary shift in focus was all the hybrid needed to escape. He bounded off into the trees.
Releasing his shift, Malik rushed over to Kane and went down on one knee. The fucking wolf had shot Kane in the chest. Kane gasped and moaned, clearly fighting just to draw breath. Guilt jarred through Malik as he realized that Kane must have run over hoping to assist him. If Malik had ripped out the wolf’s throat, Kane wouldn’t have been harmed.
“Medical emergency. Team leader has been shot.” They were not allowed to use names on their comm system, but Zion was monitoring the mission.
“Has the scene been secured?”
Malik clenched his fists, claws digging into his palms. What the fuck? Was the mission more important to Zion than Kane’s life? “Two of the wolves escaped. Six are dead. The rest are in custody.”
“Understood. Help is on the way,” Zion assured him. “Can you stabilize team leader until the transport arrives?”
It wasn’t like he had a choice. The transport was at least half an hour away. If he couldn’t stabilize Kane’s condition, his best friend would die. “Working on it.”
Malik’s heart pounded in his chest and sensory input inundated his mind, making it impossible to think. He had to calm down,to tune out others’ emotions and focus on his patient. Rushing over to his discarded clothes, he quickly pulled on his pants. He inhaled slowly, purging his battle instincts through sheer force of will. Kane’s life was on the line, and he needed a doctor, not a soldier.
Gradually Malik’s battle instincts reversed, and his lion sank into the background. His thinking focused and his heartbeat slowed until he felt like himself again. He needed supplies. Springing to his feet, he rushed to the nearest hovercraft and grabbed the medical kit that was standard equipment on every vehicle. He ran back to Kane and opened the kit. Kane was ashen, his lips starting to turn blue. His mouth was open wide, but he couldn’t seem to draw in enough air.
Ripping open Kane’s shirt, Malik assessed the damage. The skin on his chest was burned yet unbroken. Malik grabbed the medical scanner and passed it over Kane’s chest. He held the device as close to Kane’s chest as possible without touching the damaged skin.
The impact was slightly right of center so there was no damage to his heart. His liver, however, was a mess. The right lobe had been almost entirely detached and the rest was covered with tears and contusions. Kane’s right lung had collapsed, but the left was functioning, so internal bleeding was the most immediate threat. Malik grabbed the pulsonic regen unit and carefully targeted the seeping edges of Kane’s liver. Numerous pulses finally stemmed the flow of blood. Once that was done, he made a small incision between two of Kane’s ribs and carefully inserted a thoracostomy tube. The lung reinflated and Kane gasped in a deep breath, then promptly passed out.
Malik knelt there for a moment watching the steady rise and fall of Kane’s chest. The ashen pallor eased and his lips pinkened.Encouraged by the progress, Malik scanned Kane’s chest and abdomen, making sure that the worst of the bleeding had been mitigated. Kane still had broken ribs and countless smaller lacerations, but this was the best Malik could do with these rudimentary tools.
“The transport is ten minutes out,” Flynn told Malik a short time later. “I’d like to head back with the wolves. Sitting here is too dangerous.”
“Go on. I’ve done what I can for Kane. It’s a race against time now.”
Flynn started to leave, then paused. “I’m going to contact Raphael just in case. If he wants in on the alliance, this is a good way to win some points with Zion.”
Malik nodded. Raphael was a powerful healer and Kane was in really bad shape. He’d take any help he could get right now. “Let Diego know what’s going on. Last I heard he was up at the raptor village.”
“Will do.” Flynn and the other guardians crammed the wolves into the interior of the carts and then stood on the small ledge that encircled the vehicles. It wasn’t a comfortable way to ride, but it was much faster than hiking.
It was almost twenty minutes before the transport arrived and as soon as the hatch opened, Lexie flew down the stairs looking panicked and furious. “Who did this?” she cried. “Please tell me that wolf is dead.”
Malik cringed. Not only had he failed to kill the wolf, but he’d also failed to prevent his escape. “I was focused on Kane, but I saw the wolf’s face. He will pay for this, I assure you.”
She let it go with a breathless, “All right.” Then she knelt beside Kane and pressed his hand between hers. “I’m here, mate. You’re going to be fine. We’ll get you back to the village and Malik will fix you up good as new.”
If only it were that simple. The equipment he had at the village was better than a medkit, but not by much. If he was brutally honest, he wasn’t sure he could repair the damage that had been done to Zane’s liver.
The ride back to the village was tense and silent. Lexie sat beside Kane, holding his hand and whispering to him from time to time. Malik monitored Kane closely, but was feeling more and more helpless. Kane’s injuries were nothing compared to modern medical technology. Any hospital on Earth could have patched him up in less than an hour and sent him on his way. But situations like this were screaming reminders that this was not Earth.
Malik had successfully transferred Kane from the transport to the village clinic by the time Diego and Raphael arrived. Diego took one look at Kane and snarled, “Is the fucker that did this dead?”
Another wave of guilt nearly obliterated what little remained of Malik’s composure.
“Malik was a little busy saving Kane’s life,” Lexie defended.
Her vehemence soothed Malik, but Diego had a right to be angry. “I saw him clearly. We’ll go hunting as soon as this crisis is over.”
“Show me,” Diego demanded. “I’ll go hunting now.”
It was likely Diego could tie up this loose end before they could organize a hunting party, so Malik nodded and opened his mind.
