Chapter Thirteen

Levi

“Okay, Tessy, listen to me.” Levi modulated his voice to the tone he’d used when they were young and together. The tone that had pulled Tess out of her nightmares without waking her. Because if she woke from the nightmare, she’d be awake and terrified. “I know this is scary. I know that. You’re not alone. I’ve got you.” Levi stopped himself.

That was from before. And the last thing he wanted to do right now was make her more uncomfortable than she already was.

His focus was squarely on the emergency.

So he amended. “You’ve got a good team here. We’re taking care of you.”

Goose sent her a smile. “You’re doing great, Tess. And the next step is for me to do a blood draw. I have dog equipment, so we’re making do.”

“Thank you,” Tess closed her eyes. She always hated the sight of blood.

“What’s the reason for the blood sample?” Enrico asked.

Goose wrapped a rubber tourniquet around Tess’s bicep, then swiped an alcohol swab over the crook of her arm. “I’m capturing a blood sample so the pathologists have a sample from earliest possible. It might be informative to do a comparison over a sequence of time. I’ll take another once we’re down and a third on the way to the hospital.”

Tapping Tess’s vein, he inserted the needle. As the rich dark maroon filled the vial, Goose said, “In case it’s helpful to you in the future, Enrico, there are different ways the hospital can test for venom. I’m thinking specifically of the D-dimer test for blood coagulation. That’s usually taken at the two-hour mark.”

“If someone survives that long,” Tess murmured.

“We’re just over the one-hour time marker.” He laid the vial on a cotton square, put a Band-Aid on Tess’s arm, and released the tourniquet. “If the snake experts don’t have enough information to identify the snake from the skin pattern, they’ll do an enzyme test. It’s imperative to get the diagnosis right because they need to balance the amount of venom in Tess’s system with the amount of anti-venom they’ll administer.” Goose wrote Tess’s name, date, and time on the white label. “If you don’t want to open your eyes, Tess, that’s fine. You do what you need to keep your system calm. But be aware, I’m about to stomp on this chemical pack to get the ice reaction going. I want to keep the blood sample at the right temperature.”

“Thank you.”

Enrico took over that process.

Levi kept his hands on Tess, so she didn’t need to exert to lay still on her side.

“You’ll feel my fingers on your right leg,” Goose said. “I’m going to inspect your wound and take a picture.” His finger pressed into Tess’s flesh.

Levi watched to find any subtle clue that Goose might not be sharing with Tess. “So far, your tissue looks like it’s in good shape. In the few minutes I’ve been treating you, I haven’t seen any degradation. Having said that. Levi and Enrico, you two need to come up with an extraction plan. There’s a saying,” Goose said, “Time is tissue. We need to get her down to the vehicle stat.”

Goose produced two telescoping splints to stabilize her right leg, pulling them snuggly in place with hook and loop closures.

“Once we’re down. It’s an hour to the hospital,” Enrico said.

Gwen sat cross-legged at the far corner, staying out of the way. “You all sprinted up the side of the hill. But it took us forty-five minutes to get up here, walking steadily. From past experience, down is slower.”

“We’ll put in the effort,” Goose said. “I want Tess in the hospital by the three-hour mark. It’s an hour’s drive. We’ll aim for thirty minutes carrying her down.”

Enrico scanned the path. “That’s aggressive.” He turned to Levi. “Typically, we’d run a line to keep everyone safe. No rope. And no time. We need to factor that in when we’re weighing the risk.”

In his mind, Levi formed a workable plan. It was going to be a trick. Not only did he need to jog down the mountain with Tess in his arms. But she needed to feel secure. Any anxiety that caused an increased heartbeat or the tensing of her muscles meant the venom might be speeding to her organs, speeding the degradation of her system.

“Tess,” Levi squeezed her shoulder, and she blinked her lids open.

He couldn’t believe she was here. That he was touching her. Surreal.

He’d process all this later.

Right now, he needed to see trust looking back at him. He needed Tess to believe that everything they could possibly do to save her was being done professionally and safely.

“Enrico and I trained to get our dogs down an angle if they sustained an abdominal wound or it’s ill-advised to drape them around our necks. We use a three-man team. The man in front is there to watch for anything in the path that might cause an issue and to act as a stop to prevent a fall.”

“I’ll take point,” Enrico said. “That way, I can manage Mojo. And Mojo can manage any animals on the way.”

Having finished administering first aid, Goose was throwing his supplies back in his pack, then yanked the straps over his arms. “I’ll take anchor.”

“And I’ll take Tess,” Levi confirmed before turning his gaze back to Tess. “If I can’t drape my dog over my shoulder to get them to safety, I’ve trained to run down mountains with that dog in my arms. And that’s how I’d carry you, with your permission.”

“Tess is much bigger than a dog,” Gwen pointed out.

“But she won’t be fighting me,” Levi explained, “and can curl toward me and hold on.”

“Do you think piggybacking might be better?” Gwen asked.

“I don’t advise that,” Goose said. “It’s best if Levi holds Tess in his arms against his chest. It’s the most stable way to move her. And will be the least exertion for her.”

“Thank you for carrying me, Levi,” Tess whispered. “Truly.”

Levi forced his gaze away from hers. He had to keep his thoughts and emotions squared away. This was the time for strategic thinking. “Goose, you and I will switch packs. I’ll wear the medical ruck.”

“It’s a lot of added weight,” Goose said, pulling the pack off again.

“I think of it as a counterbalance. Goose, your job is to keep a hand through the top handle of the medical pack. If you feel me falling forward, you brace and keep me upright. I’ll try to vocalize any time I feel my footing is off by saying ‘kip.’”

With the medical pack on, the straps adjusted and hooked across his sternum and hips, Levi squatted behind Tess’s back. “You ready? I’m going to roll you into my arms and stand.”

She lifted an arm to wrap around his neck.

How many times had he found her sleeping on the sofa and scooped her up to carry her to bed, hoping she could cling to a calm sleep as long as possible? Tess often woke up more tired than she was when she’d gone to bed.

He scooped an arm under her thighs and pulled her to his chest as he pushed from his squat to standing.

“Good?” Enrico asked.

Levi adjusted his hold. It wasn’t the same.

She weighed a little more. Her body was stiffer than before. She didn’t meld and cuddle into him. There was no little sigh of contentment.

This was a potentially life-or-death situation. Her brain wasn’t processing normally. She needed clear instructions to know what to do now rather than his assumptions that she’d remember how it used to be back then.

With her hips squared to the ground, Levi couldn’t see over her. It would be fine to carry her stiff like this across a flat field. But it would throw off his balance on the rocky hillside.

“Tessy,” his voice caught, “I'm sorry if this is awkward, but we’ve been in a similar situation before. Remember when you sprained your ankle on the hike?”

She took in a sharp breath and then rolled until her breasts crushed against his chest, her hips rotated. And, with her arms wrapping his neck tight enough to hold herself in place and loose enough that he was able to breathe, her head rested on her own shoulder so her weight was as close to his center of gravity as possible.

“Better, thank you.” Levi called out, “Stack up.”

“Mojo, lead, find the vehicle,” Enrico commanded, then called over his shoulder. “Levi, you set the pace. I’m just going for it. If you need me to push harder, I will. If you need me to slow, just say the word.”

And with that, the team raced for their vehicle below.

Every step he took, every single step, meant they were closer to getting Tess to the hospital and the medical attention she needed. He’d just keep putting one foot in front of the other.