Chapter Twenty-Two
Hawkeye
A teen on the cliff had his hand to his mouth yelling, “Incoming!” to let those below him know that their team had arrived.
Levi, Cooper, Mojo, and Hawkeye made out the essence of a path and took it at a speed that wasn’t entirely safe.
Still, it took a long time.
As soon as Hawkeye got eyes on Petra, his stomach dropped.
She was covered in dried blood.
Her blood.
She was crouched over a rock performing first aid. Finishing up by tucking Mylar blankets and beach towels over the prone man.
A woman was wailing to the side, but she looked like a family member and not part of the rescue.
The second Hawkeye got down to her, he swept Petra into his arms and buried his face at her neck. “I can see you're fine. But shit, woman, did you go in the blow hole to pull the guy out?”
She didn’t answer. He didn’t need her to.
She was the only one in wet, ripped clothes.
Even the victim, neatly tucked under a blanket with a jacket supporting his head, looked in better shape. But Hawkeye couldn’t see what was going on for him beyond purple lips and full-body shivering.
Levi was commanding Voodoo and Cooper into place on either side of the guy to offer body heat and keep him from going into shock.
Hawkeye turned back to Petra.
“I’m okay, just a little banged up. Terry’s got broken bones.” She pointed at the man. “Do you have an ETA on the ambulance?” Petra asked, looking past him to the cliff.
Leaving his hands on her shoulders, Hawkeye held her out from him. Her eye was less wonky but still not great. She had cuts and bruises all over her body—she hadn’t sliced herself near her arteries. And the blood seemed to have coagulated. “We’re on our own. Crises are unfolding all over the island.”
The vein in her neck was throbbing, but that was the only sign that she might be stressed.
Safe enough for now.
Hawkeye leaned in to kiss her, then said, “Everyone is pressing the pedal to the floor. That’s why it took me a while to get to you. I’m sorry it took so long.”
“I have no idea how long it took—adrenaline tells me that we were working on saving Terry for five minutes, but also ten hours.”
“That’s about how it works,” Levi said.
Levi moved over to the pile of equipment amassed on a flat rock. It looked like the kinds of things someone might dig out of their hatch—ropes, first aid kits, blankets.
Levi pulled out two Tae Kwon Do long sticks from a black bag. “We’re in business.”
Levi efficiently constructed a stretcher by folding a sheet of plastic around either stick.
When he looked up, he caught Hawkeye’s gaze, silently asking how Petra was doing.
“Good to go. Let’s figure out the path before we load Terry up.” His gaze scanned the bystanders. “Who calls this beach home? Who knows this exact area?”
A teen stepped forward. “Me. Beans.” He put a hand on his chest, then pointed to the guy standing next to him. “Me and Lucky grew up just down the beach about a half mile.”
“Getting Terry up that cliff is going to be a trick,” Hawkeye said. “But that’s where we have our vehicle parked. What’s the safest way to get the litter from here to there?”
After Beans and Hawkeye conferred, the two Cerberus men moved the stretcher next to Terry. All four of his limbs were splinted. The one on the left leg was a traction splint made of walking sticks. That kind of splint was used to ease the pain of a femoral break and help keep bone fragments from cutting inside the leg. It could help prevent the femoral artery from being punctured. That was some advanced wilderness first aid.
He looked up to offer Petra kudos, but she looked too wiped out to care.
Levi and Hawkeye were feeling it, too.
With the boys leading the way and help from the bystanders on the stretcher, they got to the SUV. With the split seats down, Terry could lie fairly flat.
Melissa was in the far back with him. She’d been mum the whole time.
Petra and Voodoo squeezed into one seat on the second row.
Levi was driving, and Cooper was between Hawkeye’s feet as he sat shotgun.
“Twelve minutes,” Levi said. “I’m taking it slow and steady to keep from jostling you too much, Terry.”
Terry was going into shock, so Hawkeye cranked up the heat.
“Hospital knows we’re bringing you in,” Levi finished.
Hawkeye was watching Petra in the side mirror.
She caught his eye. “You were caught up in something, too?” Petra asked.
“The team pulled six from rip currents,” Hawkeye said.
“We had the rip currents near the tide pool. But we could see them, and everyone stayed clear. Then there were these huge waves.” She paused, her nose in the air. “You two smell like smoke and diesel.”
“A boat caught fire. That was our second rescue mission today,” Hawkeye said.
“I’m the third?” Petra asked. “Thank you both. Once I got the first aid wrapped up, there were lots of people who wanted to help, none of them had expertise, and I was getting afraid for—”
She seemed to realize who was in the vehicle and could be listening.
“Given the injuries, my thinking you were en route helped my psychology today. Thank you for coming.”
Hawkeye turned his body so she could look directly into his eyes. “Petra, you sent us a distress signal. Of course, we’re here.”
Levi lifted his chin. “You know, we’re pretty good at making do. But kudos to you. I’ve never heard of a bike helmet extraction before.”
Petra’s face drooped into a frown, and she lowered her voice. “It was riskier than I’d like to dwell on.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice further. “It’s hard to fathom. This poor guy was walking down the shore, having a romantic moment with his fiancée. A wave picked him up and took him out. He’s talking to her one minute and gone the next. Near as I can tell, the ocean pulled him out, then pushed him under and into the blow hole. From romance to being pummeled underground.” She dropped to a whisper. “His initial screams are sounds that will haunt my dreams.”
“You heard him?” Levi asked. “I saw that hole. I heard the roar of the surf. You heard him down there?”
“I have heightened senses. My eyes seek out anomalies. I have the nose and ears of a dog.”
Cooper drew his brows together until they wrinkled together.
“No, Cooper, not as good as yours. You are superior in every way. But you know I can hear things others can’t.”
“Like?” Levi asked.
“Electricity in the walls?
Levi chuckled. “Yup, part canine. I’d say.”
“How is your team?” Petra asked. “Everyone healthy?”
“Reaper was taking Ash to the hospital for smoke inhalation. We’ll meet up with the rest of the team when we get there.”
“Two missions. You got everyone out of the water okay?” She put her hand on Hawkeye’s shoulder.
He liked that she was reaching out for him. And he reached up to cover her hand with his.
“Unfortunately,” Levi said, “we know of one guy who didn’t make it. Ash tried to recover his body from a boat fire. But the smoke and fumes were too much.”
“Swollen air passages from the chemical fumes. Back on the beach, Ash was wheezing and having trouble breathing,” Hawkeye said. “We don’t mess around with that.”
“Of course not. My goodness,” Petra whispered.
“There were a few of our saves that might be touch and go,” Hawkeye added. “Just all around, not a good situation.”
In the far back seat, Melissa had laid her head on Terry’s stomach, crying.
Terry was conked out asleep—not just the exhaustion of survival but the drop in adrenaline sucked the energy right out of his body, Hawkeye guessed.
“Okay, let’s get a plan together,” Hawkeye pointed toward the emergency sign. “Petra, the place is going to be packed. But coral can be dangerous. You’ll need an antibiotic. You go in and get in line with the triage. If it looks like it’ll take too long, we’ll figure something else out.”
“And you guys?” She reached past Hawkeye to scrub her nails behind Cooper’s ear.
“Dogs and hospitals aren’t a sanitary mix. We’ll wait outside. The rest of our team is here. We need to find them and get an update. I can communicate with you via cell phone.”
“Here we go,” Levi flipped on the blinker, pulling up under the emergency awning next to an ambulance.
A nurse was waiting outside with a gurney.
As Levi and Hawkeye helped Terry transfer from the SUV, Hawkeye heard the nurse say, “Back again, huh? Your eye is looking better.”
“Thank you for remembering me,” Petra said.
“Were you involved in this too? You’re going to need an antibiotic. We’re slammed. Crazy day. The hospitals are full. How about you find a seat in the waiting room?” the nurse asked. “I’ll corner a doctor as soon as I can and get you a script. Remind me of your name? Hermione?”
“Yes, Hermione Armstrong.”
“You’ll be in our system. I’ll find you.” She grabbed the end of Terry’s gurney and was racing through the automatic doors. She caught Hawkeye’s gaze and added, “The fewer people inside, the better. It’s a zoo. Do you mind waiting out here?”
Hawkeye leaned down and gave Petra a kiss. “I’ll meet you out here when you’re patched up. Okay?”