32. Thoren
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
thoren
I have had this pit in my stomach all day that something isn’t right. Lily was supposed to get the proof copy of her book today and she was so excited about it. I thought she would call me or at least text me to say if it was everything she hoped for or not. Instead, it’s been radio silence all day. I’ve chalked it up to her being on the phone with Andrea and her team talking it over, but even that doesn’t feel right.
The minute the clock hits five, I am out the door and headed to my truck. A nasty storm rolled in today, and Niles and I did several drives through the campgrounds to make sure everyone was faring okay. My windshield wipers struggle to keep up with the onslaught of rain and wind, but I don’t dare slow. The pit in my stomach is growing by the minute the closer I get to home.
It amplifies tenfold when I pull up to the cabin, and Lily’s car is noticeably absent. I throw Freya in park and run into the house, only to find an anxious Shadow waiting at the door for me.
“Lily?” I call, checking through the house. “Lily, honey, are you home?” My feet carry me room to room, but all of them come up empty. I slip my phone from my pocket and dial her number, but she doesn’t answer, so I leave a quick message. I pace the living room, trying to think where she could be, before making my way to the kitchen in search of a note she might have left.
The minute I see her book and the opened envelope on the counter, I know I’ve fucked up. The logo from Kinsley’s firm is stamped in bold on the top of the pages, and I know that she knows. I sink onto the stool at the island, my head in my hands. I should have told her, why the fuck didn’t I tell her?
The wind shifts, pelting rain into the windows, as a shiver runs through me. Lily shouldn’t be out in this storm. I pull my phone back out and call Jake, but he hasn’t seen or heard from her. Michele is next, but she hasn’t heard from her either. She chews me out when I tell her about the bill she found, but then tells me she’s getting in the car to drive around town to look for her. My parents haven’t spoken to her, and neither has Amber.
Fear is pulsing through my veins as I try to deduce where she could be. I start a group text with everyone, asking them to let me know if they hear from her. By the time I change into warm dry clothes, the replies have poured in. Each and every one of them is going to drive around in this storm and look for her and her car.
With most of them in town, I head further into the woods. My gut is telling me that I know exactly where she is. I’m terrified to find out if I’m right, because if she went to our spot, she would be somewhere in the woods in the middle of a horrendous storm with no end in sight.
My heart stops as my truck pulls up to the small turn off to see Lily’s car in the parking lot all alone. I pull up next to her, heart in my throat, but she isn’t in her car. I try calling again and see her phone light up on her center console.
FUCK!
I dial Jake, who picks up on the second ring. “I’m still driving around, but haven’t found her yet,” he says gruffly.
“I found her car,” comes my fearful reply. “I need you to get the SAR team together for me. All the gear for a long search through the night, the sked litter, emergency blankets, all of it. Call Niles, he was staying late at the office, tell him to pull in every volunteer. The pull off by marker 87, the one with over fifteen miles of trails.”
“Thoren,” Jake interrupts. “Stop talking like a robot. She’s going to be okay. I’ll make the call, but I’m on my way to you. Don’t go off without me.”
“I don’t know how long she’s been gone,” I whisper the words I don’t want to say out loud. “I’m going in now.”
“Damn it, Thoren, don’t you dare. Ten minutes.” He hangs up to make the call to Niles. There is no way that I am waiting here if Lily is lost or hurt in these woods.
Reaching into my glove compartment, I pull out my map and a marker and scribble where I am heading first and where I think Lily will have been. I know she went to the waterfall, so that’s where I am starting the search. I place it on my dash in hopes of someone seeing it. I really wish I grabbed my hiking backpack, or any of my SAR gear at the house, but I’m not turning around for it now. Grabbing the emergency flashlight from the center console, I lock up my truck and head to the trail.
Jake’s truck races into the parking lot when I am five feet onto the muddy path. “Dick!” he yells out over the rain, throwing a heavy jacket on. “I knew you wouldn’t wait.” He jogs over to catch up with me. “Search and Rescue 101 - always go in pairs. Niles is getting the team together, and your dad and Michele are on their way. Let’s go.”
LILY
My head throbs with every pulse, my body shudders with uncontrollable shivers, and my ankle aches with a dull, throbbing pain. All I want is to roll over into the warmth of Thoren’s arms. The sounds of the pouring rain and rolling thunder forces my eyes to flutter open as I take in the trees, ferns, and muddy forest floor around me.
My fingers press at the painful spot on my head, wincing at the tenderness there. My fear spikes when my hand comes away streaked with blood. Trying to sit up, I gently roll my ankle to see how bad I tweaked it. Pain lances up my leg with the movement, and I can feel the swelling with the tightness in that boot.
Pulling off my backpack, I dig through for any help I have for this situation. I left my phone in the car like an idiot, so I can’t call for help. The emergency kit has some gauze that I press to the cut on my head, but it soaks up more water than blood. There’s also a small emergency blanket at the bottom that I unwrap and drape around me.
It’s getting dark, so I pull out the emergency glow stick and pop that, setting it by my side. I try to adjust myself a little further onto the wet pines and ferns instead of the muddy trail, setting my backpack against a tree trunk to use as a pillow. I could try to walk on my ankle, but with how slippery the path is, I won’t get far. Huddling the best I can under the silver foil blanket, I let my eyes close again, letting sleep take me under.
THOREN
“Lily!” I swing the flashlight around the clearing again, not seeing anything that points to her being here. “Lily!”
Jake comes tramping out of the woods, his phone flashlight in hand. “She’s not here. We should turn around and check the other trails.”
My legs give out, my body sinking to my knees. I thought for sure Lily would be hiding here, waiting out the storm. We didn’t pass her on the hike up here, and there were no signs of life, although the rain and mud would have washed away any footprints. She is somewhere out here, lost, scared, and possibly hurt, and it’s all my fault.
What the hell was I thinking not telling her? It seems so trivial now, keeping such a stupid thing from her. I know I could have convinced her to let me pay. I just chose the easy way out and this is what it got me.
Lily is my everything, my true north, the one true love of my life. When we find her, I swear to god, I am going to fix this and make her my wife. She has to be okay. I try to focus on the future we are going to have; the beautiful white dress she will wear, her belly swelling with each child we will have, her black hair turning gray and accentuating her beauty.
Jake grips my shoulder hard, pulling me from my spiraling thoughts. “Get up. She needs your head on straight right now. Do you know what time she might have come out here?”
“Mail comes around eleven. If she came right away, then she has been out here for eight hours,” my voice cracks on the last word.
“Then she needs us now. Come on, the rest of the crews should be out looking by now. Let’s try to get back to a spot with service so we can see which trails are being searched and where they need us.” He holds out his hand, helping me up and pulling me into a hug. “She’s going to be okay. She has to be.”
By the time we reach a spot with cell service, my phone is blowing up with messages.
Dad:
I stopped by your place and picked up Shadow. I figured we could use all the help we can get.
Michele:
I have extra clothes packed for her.
Niles:
I called everyone, fifteen made it in. Your mom set up some tents at the trailhead with hot food and drinks, and is manning the walkie-talkies and map with an Amber. We are in five groups of three, and your dad is with a woman and a dog on their own, too. We are splitting up the trails, so join whoever you find first. There’s no back-up teams, we are all gears going. We are going to find her tonight.
Unknown Number:
Hey this is Amber. Michele gave me your number. I closed the shop early and am helping your mom track where everyone is. I packed my car with every blanket I own and some random sizes of jackets from the store if anyone needs to warm up or get dry clothes.
Mom:
I sent some extra waters and two winter coats with your dad if you find him. I know you boys went out without thinking. Not sure if they will fit Jake though. Bring her home, son.
Fuck, my eyes prick with tears. I am grateful every day for this community, but right now, I feel overwhelmed with the love and support. All for the beautiful woman who blew into town and tipped my world upside down with her gentle manners, kind smile, and striking blue eyes.
I make a quick call to my mom, getting a general location of my dad, and Jake and I make our way toward him and Michele. If anyone can find Lily, it will be Shadow.
I know these woods and these trails well, but in the dark, with the wind and rain still whipping around us, it’s easy to get turned around. Our boots squelch through the mud, trying to keep a decent pace to find my dad and to keep the chill at bay. It can’t be over fifty degrees out. I keep my feet moving, trying not to think of all the things that could go wrong for Lily right now.
After another thirty minutes, I hear Shadow before I see her. Her black fur keeps her hidden in the night, but my flashlight catches her barreling for us. My dad and Michele aren’t far behind her, and I am beyond relieved to see them.
“How you holding up?” my dad asks, pulling the jackets from his bag. We put them on, neither of us able to zip them up, but it’s better than the sweaters Jake and I currently have.
“Not great.”
“Well, let’s keep moving. Shadow seemed on a mission before she heard you two behind us,” Michele says, giving me a sympathetic look. The worry we are all feeling is palpable, but we keep moving, following Shadow, who keeps her nose to the ground.
Dad’s radio squawks, my mom calling out for updates on the location of everyone and checking in to ensure everyone is still doing okay. Slowly, the replies come through the static, and each one that verifies they have found nothing yet adds more pressure to my chest.
My dad radios in our reply, as we continue to search through the dark. Michele keeps her flashlight trained on the path while I keep mine on Shadow, and dad and Jake search the woods on either side. It’s slow going, but it’s important to not miss anything, and another thirty minutes pass with no signs of Lily. My chest feels like a leaden weight, each inhale a painful reminder of the empty space her absence has created.
Shadow’s sharp bark breaks through the deafening silence around us as she races into the distance. Before I can comprehend it, I am sprinting after her, hoping and praying she is leading me to Lily. Her paws stop in an instant as a small light illuminates her and a reflective surface. Shadow whines before her piercing bark continues until I am by her side.
She burrows next to the light, and that’s when I see her. Lily’s small body is huddled under an emergency blanket, her skin is pale, and there’s dried blood on her forehead.
“She’s here!” I shout behind me, falling to my knees at her side. She’s cold to the touch as I try to assess her for injuries. “Lily, baby, I’m here. Open your eyes, baby. It’s going to be okay. I’m here.”
Her lashes flutter, struggling to stay open. “Tor-n?” she slurs. Fucking fuck. With her coloring and slurred speech, she’s hypothermic and needs to be warmed immediately. I hear the others before I see them as they crouch around me, and my dad calls through the radio, giving our location and that we need an extraction.
I pull off the blanket, seeing her soaked clothes beneath it. Normally, these emergency heat blankets would be the right thing to use, but with a cold body and wet clothes, they can actually prevent you from getting dry and cause more harm than good.
Michele has done some SAR training in the past and is already pulling off her boots and socks and telling Jake to pull the dry clothing from her pack. “Her ankle is a mess,” she says, as I carefully prod her head to find where the blood came from. I glance down to see one ankle swollen and purple, but I’m more concerned with how pale her toes look.
Finally, I feel the cut on the side of her head. Head wounds tend to bleed a lot, and it doesn’t seem too bad, but a concussion is a possibility, too. I pull off her sweatshirt and shirt underneath, leaving her in just her bra and panties as Michele and I put her in the long johns, sweats, and jacket that Michele brought. Jake grabs thermal socks from the bag, handing them over without looking.
“Thank you,” I mutter to Michele, knowing this small act can make a huge difference for Lily right now.
“They’re coming with the sked litter. Team three packed it in and they are about a mile out,” my dad interrupts. “How’s she doing?”
“Lily, wake up. We’re getting you out of here, but I need to know where you hurt.”
Her blue eyes flutter again before remaining shut. “Head a-a-and ankle.”
“She’s too cold, and we are wasting time staying here. I’m carrying her to them.” I delicately lift her into my arms. My dad rummages around in his backpack, pulling out a fresh emergency blanket. He drapes it around her as best as he can before nodding to me.
“We’ll be right behind you.”
“Give her to me,” Jake says with a stern glare when I scowl at him. “They will need your help to carry her in the sked and it’s a long hike back. I’m too tall to help with that, I’ll throw off the balance. Let me help while I can.”
I reluctantly pass her off, stroking her hair as she settles into Jake’s large arms. He made the right call. With his long strides, the rest of us are practically jogging to keep up with him. I hear him whispering to her the whole time, telling her about all the people who showed up for her today, and fuck, that one act about broke me. We make it to team three in no time. They have extra emergency blankets that we wrap around Lily like a cocoon before buckling her in.
I watch her shallow breathing as my team and I carry her out, and she still can’t keep her eyes open. When we finally reach the trailhead, an ambulance and EMTs are there waiting. The sight of them surrounded by all the cars, and my mom and Amber under the large tent with tables and lights set up almost brings me to my knees.
The EMTs are by our side instantly, working on transferring her to their gurney. I take in all the people standing there, a mix of fear and relief covering their faces. I have so many things I want to say, so many thanks to give. My mom shakes her head at me, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Go, we have this. We will meet you at the hospital as soon as we can.”
I climb into the ambulance with Lily, the lights and sounds around me not even registering. I only have eyes for her. My heart, my future, my whole damn world, laying on the gurney next to me. I reach for her free hand across from where the paramedic works on her, stroking my thumb over her knuckles.
“We’ve got her now. It’s going to be okay,” the paramedic says in a calm and reassuring voice as he works on her IV.
She’s going to be okay. She has to be okay.