Chapter 6 #2
“Careful, there’s a pit there.” Raul pointed to the two-foot-deep gouge in the dirt. “I stepped in it and injured my ankle.”
She grimaced. “I’ll get an ice pack and a wrap from camp and bring them back here.”
“Thanks, but I’ll limp back to camp with Pascal’s assistance,” Raul said. “I have to get there anyway.”
He tried again to step on his left foot and got punished with a blast of pain. Mierda. He wouldn’t be rock climbing today…or tomorrow. Disappointment blasted through him.
Erica walked ahead of them, occasionally throwing a worried glance over her shoulder. On top of his own frustration, he had just made her job infinitely harder. Joder!
“In my defense, I spotted a pair of upupas,” he said, trying to distract himself from the pain and Erica from her concern. “I wanted to get closer to see if they would display their crests.”
“Two upupas in the same place! I’ve only seen one in my entire life.” She sounded genuinely awed. “That might be worth a misstep.”
Raul snorted rather than agreeing, since it felt like a hot blade was jammed into his ankle.
“Your ankle will heal,” Erica said, her voice soothing. “You might never see another upupa again.”
Now he didn’t feel quite so stupid about stumbling into the hole. Erica was right. He had seen something rare and special.
Relief flowed through him as they came out of the trees and into the campsite. Erica spread a sleeping mat over a flat boulder, and Pascal eased Raul down onto the cushioning, while Dario rolled another rock over to elevate Raul’s ankle.
“This is going to hurt.” Pascal knelt to probe the ankle, and Raul gritted his teeth against the agony shooting up his leg.
“There are no obviously broken bones,” Pascal said, sitting back on his heels. “Could be a hairline fracture, of course.”
“Don’t be so optimistic,” Raul tried to joke.
Erica knelt down beside Pascal with a bag in her hand, her face tight with concern. “Here’s everything we’ve got for first aid.”
“Let’s get a couple of self-cooling ice packs started.
” Pascal rummaged in the bag and brought out two packs, bending them to start the chemical chill before he and Erica strapped them on either side of Raul’s ankle with an elastic bandage.
As she bent over his leg, her ponytail swung forward to brush against his bared calf, sending a welcome tingle of pleasure up his leg.
The cold dulled the pain slightly, and he could loosen his clenched jaw muscles.
Pascal peeled open a foil pill pack and offered two tablets to Raul. “These should help.”
Erica was at his side with a water bottle before he could even ask. Her jaw looked as tense as his.
“This isn’t your fault,” he said to her. “I should know better than to walk out in the wild without watching the ground in front of me.”
His heedlessness had ruined the trip for both of them. How ironic that he hadn’t wanted to come at all, and now he hated the fact that his vacation would be cut short.
No matter what he said, Erica felt a lead weight in her gut, especially when she could see how much pain he was in. His well-being was her responsibility, and she had allowed him to get hurt.
“What can I do to make you more comfortable?” she asked. “Do you want a sleeping bag as a blanket? Or a pillow?”
She cast a glance at Dario and Pascal, who spoke in low voices a few yards away. Dario scanned the clearing before he looked up at the sky.
“They’re deciding how to get me out of here,” Raul said with a grimace.
There was no way he could manage the long steep trail back to the base of the mountain. He would have to be airlifted. She knew he would hate that, and she would hate his absence even more.
“Dario, a word please,” Raul called.
“Yes, Senor? ” The bodyguard squatted beside him.
“Whatever we do about transportation, we do tomorrow,” Raul said. “I want to stay here one more day.”
Dario gave him an unhappy frown. “We don’t know how bad your injury is. The sooner we can get you to a medical facility for treatment, the better.”
“I’ve done worse on the soccer pitch,” Raul said. “All the doctors will do is wrap it and tell me to rest, ice, and elevate. We can do that here.”
“We’ve only got two more ice packs,” Dario said.
“There’s the stream,” Erica said. If Raul wanted to stay, she would help him do it. He needed this break from the demands of being the prince. “The water is quite cold.”
He threw her a look of gratitude.
Dario’s frown deepened. She could see him struggling with the conflict between what he saw as his duty and his boss’s wishes. “You don’t want to be limping for the wedding of el duque ,” he said.
Raul’s shoulders sagged as though a weight had dropped on them. “You’re right. I’ve screwed up enough of Gabri’s life. I don’t want to mess with his wedding. Arrange the airlift.”
Erica’s heart twisted at his expression of stoic acceptance, so she tried to lighten his load. “You’re going to make some helicopter pilots very happy. They love doing mountain rescues.”
“At least someone will be happy,” Raul snapped before he shook his head and gave her a rueful grimace. “My apologies. There’s no excuse for my rudeness.”
“You’re in pain. You’re disappointed that your vacation is being cut short. You have every right to be out of sorts,” she said, knowing how disappointed she felt at losing the rest of her time with him.
“ Senor , we’re going to have to take you back to the meadow. There isn’t enough room for the helicopter to maneuver here,” Dario said. “But we can make a stretcher with the trekking poles and carry you.”
“No! Just wrap the ankle, and I can walk with your help,” he said, his tone edged with temper but still controlled. “I’m not that incapacitated.”
“You should use the stretcher,” Erica said. “A sprain can be worse than a break.”
Raul’s glare was scorching, but all he said was, “I’ll see how it feels when I walk.”
She started to mention the wedding again but decided that would be cruel, so she kept her mouth closed.
“I’ll go set up the locator beacon, and when I return, I’ll wrap your ankle,” Pascal said.
Dario shifted his gaze to Erica. “Only a small helicopter will be able to land in the meadow, so we can’t all be flown out.
I’ll go with el principe, while Pascal will accompany you back to the parking lot.
If you would repack the backpacks so you have what you both need, I will take the extra equipment in the helicopter. ”
“Got it,” she responded before she reached over to put her hand on Raul’s forearm as she had the night before. In a low voice, she said, “You can come back when you’re healed. The mountains will still be here.”
He rewarded her with a quick smile that lit his blue eyes. “ Gracias. I needed that reminder.”
She dared to give him a quick squeeze, his arm warm and muscular beneath her fingers. Something hot flickered in his eyes, mesmerizing her for a long moment before she stood to collect the backpacks.
With lighter loads, she and Pascal would be able to make it down the mountain today.
That meant no tents were necessary, and the climbing equipment was now superfluous.
As she transferred Raul’s harness to a different pack, she felt an ache of loss that they wouldn’t have that strong sense of connection on the cliff face again.
She carried the two extra backpacks to where Pascal was wrapping Raul’s ankle. The muscles in the prince’s neck and jaw stood out as he fought the pain. Too bad Pascal couldn’t wait for the painkillers to kick in.
“All packed and ready to go, but I kept a couple of your palace protein bars. Hope you don’t mind,” she said, trying to distract Raul. “I was curious to taste them since I’ve never had gourmet camping food before.”
His forehead was beaded with sweat, but he attempted a smile. “They may ruin you for the store-bought variety forever. Our chef is amazing.”
“Oh, I know. I’ve had her French toast on the jet. It makes all other breakfast food pale in comparison.” Erica licked her lips.
Raul’s gaze lost its glaze of pain and focused on her mouth.
Not what she had intended, but if it took his mind off his injury, that was an extra benefit.
Except that it sent her imagination into overdrive, and she wondered what it would be like if he pressed his lips against hers.
A ripple of heat ran through her, but she shoved it down.
“ Bien , all done,” Pascal said, standing.
Raul huffed out a sigh of relief. “It feels more stable now.”
“The helicopter has locked on the beacon,” Dario said. “They’ll be here in twenty minutes.”
“Let’s get going,” Raul said.
Before Erica could move, Dario and Pascal had knelt on either side of Raul, looped his arms over their shoulders, and surged to their feet, bringing him upright with them as though he weighed nothing.
“Don’t put any weight on that foot,” Erica warned as Dario and Pascal walked Raul toward the forest. She slid one of the excess backpacks over her shoulders and carried the other one as she followed the three men, watching Raul’s gait.
Surprisingly, the prince was obeying her instructions, using only his right foot to walk. Smart move if he wanted to heal before the royal wedding in ten days.
It was too bad Dario had reminded Raul about the big event.
Before the prince had injured his ankle, she had seen him change on their trip.
His mood was lighter, with fewer shadows lurking in his eyes.
His laughter had erupted more frequently, and the angles of his face looked softer and less drawn.
His famous smile was no longer a mask; there was genuine pleasure shining in it.
Satisfaction warmed her. She had done that with the help of the mountains. Maybe he could manage to carry some of the lightness back to the palace with him.
And maybe he would take another climbing trip after the wedding. Of course, she would be with the jet in the Caribbean while Gabriel and Quinn honeymooned on rock star Kyran Redda’s private island.