Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8
L exi glanced up as Hawk and Robert rushed to help. Together, they led Erick to the nearest chair, which he collapsed into. He was panting hard from his flight through the jungle to the Lodge. It must have been agony with an injury like that.
“Tell me what happened,” demanded Robert, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Who did this to you?”
Lexi bent down in front of him and carefully peeled back the torn, blood-soaked material to take a look at the wound. She cringed. It wasn’t good. A large gash, about five inches long, stretched across his outer thigh, displaying a good amount of tissue and muscle.
“He needs urgent medical attention.” She applied pressure to the wound. “Sorry,” she murmured as the ranger flinched.
“Can you do something to stem the bleeding?” Hawk crouched down beside her.
“Yes, but we have to get him to the clinic. He needs stitches.”
“It was a panga,” the ranger rasped, using the local name for a machete, the large, cleaver-type knife favored by tribes in eastern and southern Africa.
“It didn’t cut the femoral artery, thank goodness.” She glanced up at Erick. “If it had, you’d have bled out by now.”
He nodded weakly. “Rebels attacked the village. We tried to stop them, but they were too strong for us. There were too many this time.”
“Oh, Lord,” whispered Estelle, visibly paling. “Not again.”
“Is there anything we can do?” Hawk asked. Lexi saw genuine concern in his eyes.
“A smaller group were headed this way,” Erick warned.
A collective gasp went up amongst the group.
“We must warn the others,” Estelle said. “They’re going to want to go and protect their families, if they haven’t already.” Bad news traveled fast in the bush.
Hawk sprang into action. “I’ll go and issue the alert. Dan can come with me.” The cameraman nodded.
Lexi focused on Erick. “Let’s get you to the clinic. You’re going to need anesthetic and stitches. We’ve no time to lose.”
“I’ll bring the golf cart around,” Estelle said, matter-of-factly.
Robert put a warning hand on his wife’s arm. “Okay, but I don’t want you going with them. You need to stay here and secure the house and staff.”
She gave his hand a quick squeeze. “I know.” They’d rehearsed for this contingency many times. “You should call MONESCU,” she whispered. “Before it’s too late.”
Robert began barking orders. “Hawk, once you’re at the clinic find Patrick. He’ll warn the others.” Hawk nodded, no argument.
“Lexi, you know what to do once you’ve seen to Erick?”
She nodded. The shelter under the clinic had been well prepared after the last uprising.
He clapped his hands together. “Right, let’s go!”
The whole household swung into action. Within two minutes the golf cart was at the front door and Hawk and Dan lifted the injured ranger into it. Lexi had bound his wound, but was still applying pressure with her hand, which was now covered with blood. She jumped into the back of the cart with her patient, while Dan and Hawk climbed into the front, Hawk taking the wheel.
“What about me?” asked Jasper. “What should I do?”
“You and the rest of the crew stay here with us at the main house,” ordered Robert.
He flashed Hawk a worried look, then nodded and went back inside.
“Stay safe,” Estelle called, a catch in her throat, as they took off down the dirt track to the clinic.
Lexi peered into the jungle as they bounced towards the clinic, keeping her hand on Erick’s leg. Somewhere in the darkness, the rebels were approaching. She estimated they had twenty minutes at the most, then they’d have to take cover too. She had to work fast.
“What is MONUSCO?” Dan asked, as the clinic came into view. “Is that a United Nations thing?”
“It’s the UN peacekeeping mission in the area,” Lexi told him. “They do what they can in these situations, but once the rebels are on the move, it’s hard to stop them. The damage is usually done by the time the troops get here. The local communities are so inaccessible that response times are slow.”
They skidded to a halt outside the clinic, the front tires kicking up plumes of dust and grit. Hawk and Dan lifted the ranger out of the car and carried him into the clinic.
“Put him on the operating table,” ordered Lexi, going straight to the sink and washing her hands. The water ran red as the ranger’s blood spiraled down the drain. After drying them, she pulled on a pair of surgical gloves and began to assemble the utensils she’d need to treat his leg.
Erick winced as they set him down, but didn’t complain. He was a brave man, and he’d risked his life to come and warn them. “It’ll be okay,” she told him, praying she was right.
“We’ll go and find Patrick.” Hawk set off, Dan right behind him, leaving her to work. She cleansed the wound with disinfectant, gave Erick a shot for the pain, and then went to work stitching him up. She’d never operated on a human before, but it wasn’t that different to gorillas, just less hair. She was so preoccupied with what she was doing, she didn’t notice when Hawk came back into the room.
“Dan’s gone with Patrick to round up the staff,” he said, startling her. His gaze fell on Erick’s leg and the tightly stitched wound. “Do you need anything?”
“What’s the time?” She blinked, her eyes strained from the intense concentration.
“Ten thirty-five,” he replied, without looking at his watch. He must also be keeping tabs on the time.
“We’ve got to get Erick to the shelter. If the rebels are heading this way, they’ll be here any moment.”
He nodded, watching as she bandaged the wound. As soon as she’d secured it, he asked, “Ready?”
She gave a hesitant nod and stood back. She’d done what she could. Erick still needed a real doctor to treat his wound, but it would last until they could get him to the hospital in Goma. Tony helped Erick off the table. The ranger cringed and sagged against him, his injured leg nearly useless. Tony put an arm around his waist to support him.
“Where’s the shelter?” he asked Lexi.
She grabbed a jar of antibiotics and some more bandages. “Out the back. There’s a hatch in the ground. It leads to a basement under the clinic. We can go through the office.”
Hawk half-carried a heavily limping Erick through the tiny office and into the dusty yard. Lexi darted around him and pulled a rusty wheelbarrow and some pot plants out of the way. “It’s underneath this.”
She raised the trapdoor and gestured for him to lower Erick into it.
“You get in with Erick. I’ll stay outside to put these back,” Hawk said, as he helped the injured ranger into the shelter. “Otherwise, they’ll know we’re inside.”
Her chest constricted with fear. “It’s too dangerous, Hawk. The rebels will find you.”
“They’ll find all of us if we don’t disguise this trapdoor.” He climbed back out and looked around. “What about Patrick and Dan, and the others? What are they going to do?”
“Patrick knows to come back here. Some of the staff will head back to their villages to protect their families, but the majority will stay with the gorillas. They’ll hide in the enclosure.”
“Okay, but you’re getting into the shelter.”
“But, I?—”
“Now, Lexi.”
She glanced up as something caught her eye. Through the thin, dilapidated fence, she spotted Moyo standing in the clearing, looking scared and confused.
“Okay, but first let me get Moyo.” Before he had a chance to restrain her, she darted back through the clinic.
“Fuck!” she heard Hawk mutter as he took off after her. He reached her before she stepped into the clearing. “Get your ass back to the shelter. Now! I’ll get the boy.” Before she could stop him, Hawk sprinted across the clearing.
At that moment, Patrick appeared with one infant gorilla in each arm. At his side were his wife and five terrified children. Dan was clutching the youngest by the hand. They could hear shouts and the sharp, staccato bursts of rifle fire emanating from the edge of the jungle. The rebels were here.
“Get to the shelter,” Lexi urged them. “Dan, go with them.”
“What about you?” he asked.
“I’ll be right there.” He nodded, and followed Patrick, the gorillas, and the children outside. She glanced worriedly across the clearing, where Hawk had scooped the paralyzed child up in his arms.
There was no time. She had to close the hatch to the shelter or else they’d all be at risk. Racing out to the back, she pulled the trapdoor down and tugged the wheelbarrow over it. That would have to do.
Next, she grabbed a tranquilizer gun from the medical cabinet and darted back in time to see Hawk tearing across the clearing with Moyo clinging to his chest. The boy’s wide eyes glistened with fear, his arms wrapped tightly around Hawk’s neck.
Bursting through the clinic door, he thrust the trembling child toward her. “Get him to the shelter.”
“It’s too late. I’ve shut it up already.”
He raked a hand through his hair. “Goddammit, Lexi!”
“I had to, Patrick and his family are down there, along with Dan and the infants. I couldn’t risk their lives.”
“But it’s okay to risk yours?”
She glared back at him. “It was the only way.”
“Shit.” He glanced around. “Do you have any more weapons?”
A memory triggered. “Yes! There’s a rifle in the golf cart, behind the driver’s seat. I saw it on the way down here.”
Before she could argue, he dashed back outside. The Jeep was only yards away, but the edges of the jungle were alive with movement. Any second now and the rebels would emerge.
Lexi held Moyo in her arms and watched through the window as Hawk leaned over the side to grab the gun. Slinging it over his shoulder, he charged back inside just as the first line of rebels emerged from the foliage.
After he’d locked and bolted the door, he hunkered down beside them. Lexi watched in amazement as he flicked off the safety, checked the magazine, and chambered a round—all in a matter of seconds.
“I’m not even going to ask how you know how to do that.”
“It’s a long story,” he muttered. “But right now we have to get you and Moyo somewhere safe.”
There was the sound of glass breaking as a rock flew through the clinic window. “They’re going to ransack the place,” Lexi whispered, backing into a corner. “They always do.”
“We need to get the hell out of here,” Hawk said, his voice low and steady.
“The back way,” Lexi whispered as she led Moyo out into the yard. The hatch was closed, the wheelbarrow firmly in place. Lexi ignored it as she slipped around the side of the office and through a hole in the fence. Behind it, was a dense layer of vegetation.
Moyo clung tightly to her hand, his eyes huge and haunted. Her heart broke for the boy. His childhood memories were filled with the terror of rebel attacks. She thought of her own indulgent childhood back in the States, filled with trips to the Hamptons and weekends at the Cape, and cringed at the comparison.
“Come on!” She beckoned to Hawk, who kicked some dust over the hatch for good measure before following her.