“The truth is, we need to move fast. There’s a medic on the heli. The faster we get him there, the better this will go.”
“He can’t walk.” I point out the obvious and feel ridiculous the second the words leave my mouth.
“I’ve got you, brother.” Bishop reassures Levi as he lowers himself and hoists Levi over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.
“Are you sure?” I ask Bishop, worrying my lip between my teeth as I see him stagger for a minute before he readjusts the weight of Levi’s body. I can only imagine what it must feel like to have that kind of weight on your shoulder and walk over a flat road. I can’t begin to fathom climbing the boulder riddled mountain this way.
“I’ve got him,” Bishop reassures me. “This way. As fast as you can.”
I follow behind, in awe of what Bishop is accomplishing, keeping my eye on Levi as I scramble to keep pace. Bishop grabs his walkie and opens comms.
“We’re headed up the mountain now. We need the medic ready. Will be a minute or two longer.”
“We don’t have two extra minutes. One tops. Move!” Rowan’s voice orders through the static.
“What do we need ready?” the medic calls back down.
“It’s a tension pneumothorax.” His voice is labored from his heavy breathing as we weave through rocks and brush up the mountain, branches scraping over my arms and forcing me to dip and dodge as we hurry. Allegedly, there’s a cleared spot of jutting rock at the top where the helicopter was able to land, but this terrain makes it hard to believe.
“Roger that,” the voice calls back.
“Fast as you can.” Bishop glances back at me one last time, and I nod, not wanting to waste precious breath on speaking. The altitude and exertion are taking all I have.
Bishop picks up his pace, making it hard for me to even keep up. I suppose he's had to run hundreds of drills like this over the years, maybe even carried a man just like this. But watching him has me disbelieving as my lungs burn in my chest, and I struggle to keep up.
Somehow, by a complete miracle, we make it in time. The helicopter blades whir over our heads as we duck low and are pulled on board by the medic and Rowan, who are already waiting along with the pilot. I barely have time to strap in before the pilot’s taking off from the mountain. I watch the treetops disappear from below our feet, and my head swirls with vertigo.
My father’s house in the distance still lies dark, but I see the tiny looking car headlights that are moving outside it. He called for backup, and he got it—quickly. So quickly, in fact, I see why Rowan told us we didn’t have time, as three more men surface on the mountain at the exact spot we just took off from.
Rowan and I exchange looks, and he shakes his head. There’s nothing he can say that I haven’t already thought of myself.
“You’re lucky. He’s a better man than most,” Rowan mutters, his eyes returning to the chaos at our feet.
My heart twists in my chest as I look at Levi. I’m dying for the chance to tell him how much it means to me that he cameback for me, and I hate myself for not telling him last night. I feel my stomach tumble as they struggle to get his body in a position where they can start to assess the damage, a red medic’s bag perched next to him as Bishop and his friend work to save his life.
“Is there something I can do?” I offer, desperate to be helpful in some way. I feel like all I’ve done is act like extra baggage—a burden the rest of the team wishes they could get rid of. Besides my initial role in getting them into the compound, I don’t know that I’ve been any help at all.
“No. Just stay clear.” Bishop shakes his head as he assists the medic. They work in sync like they’ve done this a million times before, probably because they have.
“I feel useless,” I mumble.
“You got us inside. That was your job, and you did it well,” Bishop reassures me. I don’t have the heart to tell him I might have doomed us all by killing my father. I can’t think about him right now. His life seems inconsequential compared to the man lying on the floor of this helicopter.
I watch as the medic pulls out a giant needle and moves the tip to Levi’s chest. I turn away just as he slides it in.
“Is he going to live?” I force the question past my lips. I’m not sure I want the answer, but I have to ask it.
“He’ll live.” The medic answers instead of Bishop this time. The shock of it seems to be finally setting in as Bishop slumps back against the closed door of the helicopter.
“Thank fuck.” Rowan shakes his head. “I wasn’t going to be the one to tell Grant we let his stubborn ass get himself killed.”
I think, despite his unbending pragmatism, deep down the man sees Levi as a brother. Someone who irritates and confounds, but he loves underneath it all. Not that he’d ever admit it. He and Levi are both stubborn that way.
“I just hope his stubbornness saves him,” I say softly, and Bishop looks up at me, patting my knee and giving me a reassuring look. One I need. Because I want the chance to tell Levi how much he means to me and thank him for coming back for me. I want to tell him how grateful I am for all the time we’ve had together and how he’s made me believe that good things are possible again. Most importantly, I need to tell him how madly in love with him I really am.
FORTY-SIX
Levi
