“Let’s get you out of here.”
He supported the injured man with his free hand until they’d left the cave behind. Once outside, Eli slipped the pistol back into his pocket. “How badly are you hurt?”
“Bad enough,” the man grunted. He wheezed, and his face turned a worrisome shade of gray.
He tried to take another step just as his legs gave out on him. If not for Eli, he would’ve face-planted in the rocky mud. The time for caution was long past. He settled the man on the ground and pulled up his shirt to assess the damage. Damn, it looked bad. Eli peeled off his flannel shirt to get to his T-shirt. He used his pocketknife to cut a large square of the soft cotton fabric to use as a makeshift bandage. He secured it in place with more strips cut from his T-shirt and then checked the man for other injuries. There were a couple of shallow cuts on his arms and another deeper one on his lower leg. Those weren’t life threatening, but the severity of the stomach wound combined with his age definitely were.
“Look, mister, my name is Eli Jervain, and I live a short distance from here. I could hustle home and call the authorities, but it would be faster if I drive you to the hospital myself. If you can’t walk, I can carry you to my truck. It’ll probably hurt like hell, though. Is that okay?”
The man’s faded gray eyes were hazy with pain when they fluttered opened long enough for him to meet Eli’s gaze. He whispered, “Halder Dennell. Let’s do it.”
“Dennell? Are you related to Safara?”
“Granddaughter,” Halder said as he struggled to stand up.
Another member of Safara’s family up here on the mountain? Couldn’t be a coincidence, but now wasn’t the time to poke at that piece of the puzzle. He lifted Halder to his feet and then half dragged and half carried him back to the cabin. Eli was breathing hard by the time he reached his truck, while his companion was either unconscious or stoic as hell, because he hadn’t made a single complaint since they’d started down the mountain.
Eli tucked Halder in the front seat and fastened the seat belt for him. He was relieved to see the man was still breathing. He ran into the house long enough to ditch the broadsword and to grab an old blanket to help keep the old man warm until they reached the small community hospital down in Ridgewick.
On the way, he tried calling Safara’s cell phone several times. No answer. It was frustrating, but maybe she was out on a call or something and couldn’t respond. Finally, he gave up on reaching her and left her a message. “Safara, it’s Eli. Your grandfather was injured up here on the mountain. I’m taking him directly to the hospital. Meet us there.”
He tried to avoid the worst of the ruts on the way down the mountainside, but right now time was more important than comfort for either of them. When he reached the highway, he gunned the engine, not all that worried about the speed limit. If the cops stopped him for speeding, they could just provide escort to the hospital. Twenty minutes later, he pulled up in front of the emergency entrance of the small hospital and shut off the engine.
“Mr. Dennell, hold on for a few minutes longer. We’re at the hospital now. I’m going to run inside and get help.”
The old man may have nodded or maybe he’d just drawn a deep breath. He was so still now that there was no way to know for sure. Eli slammed out of the truck and hit the ground running. Inside, he caught the attention of a man wearing scrubs. “I have an injured man outside. He’s bleeding pretty badly.”
The man didn’t waste time with questions. He ran out of sight but was back within seconds with a stretcher and two more people following hot on his heels. The three of them eased Halder out of the truck and lifted him onto the gurney. As they wheeled him back into the hospital, Eli parked his truck and returned to the waiting room. There wasn’t anything more he could do for Halder himself, but the police were going to want a statement from him at some point.
Besides, he wanted to be there for Safara. He’d barely sat down in one of the plastic chairs when she came running through the door. He waved his hand to draw her attention in his direction. She charged across the short distance to where he sat.
“Where is my grandfather? Is he okay?”
“They just took him back to one of the examination rooms. He was still hanging in there when we got here. More than that I don’t know.”
He patted the chair next to him. “Sit down and catch your breath. I’m sure they’ll send someone out when they’ve had a chance to check him over.”
She shook her head and started toward the ER door. “No, I need to know now.”
Eli lurched up out of his chair to stop her. When she tried to dodge around him, he caught her in his arms. “I know you’re worried about Halder, but let them do their job.”
“He needs me.”
She fought hard to get free, but he held on tight. “Please, Safara. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Finally, the fight went out of her. She collapsed against his chest and held on for dear life. “How bad is it? And what happened? How did you happen to find him?”
“Sit down while I get each of us a cup of coffee from the vending machine, and I’ll tell you everything I know.”
Safara let him settle her into a nearby chair. She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees and her face buried in her hands. He hurt for her, but there wasn’t anything either of them could do for her grandfather right now but sit and wait.
He got two cups of black coffee. It might taste terrible, but they both needed the hit of caffeine and heat right now. “Can I call anyone to come sit with you?”
She accepted the cup but made no effort to drink it. “Dad was out of town at a meeting. I called him after I got your message. He’s already started back, but he’s picking my aunt up on the way. She lives down closer to Puget Sound near Bellingham, so they should be here in a couple of hours.”
She looked at him with eyes bruised with pain. “I’ll be all right by myself if you need to leave.”
He wasn’t going anywhere and said so. Before he could launch into the details about how he came to be the one to bring her grandfather down off the mountain, a woman wearing a bloodstained gown over her scrubs came into the room.
