Chapter Twenty-Eight
Alexa
I heard the scream as I flagged down the truck right when I heard the scream. I knew who it was before I turned and saw the moose rush him. I watched as it attacked him again and again.
“Help him!” I screamed at the driver of the truck. He was already out and grabbing his rifle from the back of the truck. It wasn’t hunting season, but not uncommon for people to still have their rifles. Fish and Game wouldn’t be happy, but we wouldn’t get in trouble.
“Shoot the fucker!” I begged, tears starting to drip down my face. This was all my fault. I felt my body freeze. Not just from the cold and snow. But from the fear, I felt watching the man I loved get trampled. I couldn’t take it.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The driver fired quickly, and proficiently. The bull went down, next to Daniel, thank god. I looked between the moose, the driver, and Daniel, not knowing what to do. The driver was already on his phone, probably calling the state troopers, so I ran to Daniel.
“Oh god, Daniel. Don’t die on me. Please, baby! Don’t die.” I begged him, brushing his bangs from his eyes. His eyes flickered, and he moaned lightly as he tried to turn his head to me.
“Alexa.” he gasped. “You left,” he faded back out.
“Miss? I called help. It’s on its way. They are coming in from Fairbanks.” The driver walked toward me, holding his hands uselessly. I felt as useless as he looked as I waited for whoever was coming to help to arrive. The best I could do was hope that Daniel didn’t lose too much blood and leave me.
I couldn’t believe I had walked away from him. If I hadn’t walked away from him we wouldn’t be here. We wouldn’t be waiting for who knows who, me praying for him to stay alive. I couldn’t face the world if he died. I needed him to live.
I found my soulmate. My love. I couldn’t let him go now.
We waited in silence, Brad, I found out was his name, helping me to keep Daniel comfortable as best we could for forty-five minutes before we could finally hear the sirens.
Brad went out to the highway to wave them down so they could come to us. I couldn’t stop blaming myself as the paramedics worked on Daniel. He was barely stable, but they had to get him to a hospital, or they were going to lose him. I begged them to let me ride with them, but there was no room.
They were taking him to Fairbanks. Brad took my arm and guided me to his truck as I sobbed, watching the ambulance drive away with Daniel. So much was left to be said, and I prayed I would have the time left to say it.
We followed them to Fairbanks, but I wasn’t allowed back. I had no way to get ahold of Daniel’s father, to let his family know what was going on with him. I called John, and he promised to let them know what had happened. He also told me he would be on the next flight to Fairbanks he could get a ticket on.
Brad had to leave, but not before he gave me his number, and told me to call him if I needed anything. He told me he lived in town and would be back with something for me to eat in a few hours, but he had to go to Anchorage to get supplies in the next day or two.
Finally, after three hours of pacing, the surgeon came out.
“Please tell me he’s going to be okay.” I ran to her, tears streaming down my face.
The look on her face was grim. She took me over to the chairs and sat me down.
“I am going to be straight with you. He died on the table twice. We almost didn’t get him back the second time. He’s in bad shape.” I gasped, covering my mouth to swallow my sob. I couldn’t believe that I had done this to Daniel. The rest of most of her words were drowned out. “Broken ribs… both legs… wrist… collapsed lung.” The list just went on and on.
“Mrs. Black, most people don’t survive these injuries…”
“Excuse me. I’m not Mrs. Black.” I corrected the doctor.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I just assumed…” she trailed off.
“It’s fine. I’ll need this information for his parents when they get here.” I informed her. “I’m his… I don’t really know what I am right now. We were figuring it out when the moose attacked him.” I broke down again.
“It’s okay. You can see him now if you want.” She stood, offering to bring me back.
“Please?” I almost begged her, aware how petty I must have sounded.
Thankfully she said nothing to me as she led me to Daniel. He looked so frail laying there, tubes and wires attached to him everywhere. He was so black and blue. I couldn’t stand it. Burying my head in my arms I sobbed as I sat beside him. I’m not sure how much later it was when John finally got there, but he took me to get something to eat, and I only poked at it.
The same waitress that had waited on Daniel and me was there, and she gave me a look when I sat down with John. I knew I looked bad, but she didn’t need to look at me like I had committed a sin. Frustrated I took my food to go so I could go back to the hospital. I promised to call John at the hotel if there was any change in Daniel’s condition and he left me for the night.
I listened to the beeping of the machine all night, not closing my eyes once. My guilt ate away at me. I couldn’t sleep, not when Daniel was lying there, teetering on the edge of life and death.
“You must be, Alexa.” The sound of the soft deep voice startled me from my daze. I looked up to see a man, older, in a nice business suit. The woman beside him looked just like Daniel, but her hair was down her back and wavy.
“Hi. You must be Daniel’s parents. I’m sorry we are meeting under these circumstances.” I shook his proffered hand. His mother pulled me into her arms.
“You saved my son. You rescued my baby boy. I am forever grateful. If you need anything, and I mean anything, please let us know.” She held me a second longer before going to her son's side.
Daniel’s stepdad pulled me aside. “John told us what happened. You need to stop beating yourself up, young lady. You were doing what you thought was best. Daniel was doing what he thought was best. He’ll be fine. You hear me?” I nodded as I looked at the older man, tears streaming down my face. I could tell that he loved Daniel like his own son. I could only hope to have a love like that one day.
“Thank you. I must go now that you are here. Please, don’t tell him I was here. I can’t have him focus on me when he needs to focus on his recovery once he’s cleared to start the therapy. He has a long road, and I would only be in his way.” I bowed my head, hiding the tears sliding down my cheeks as I left the room. I ignored their pleas for me to stay as I pulled out my phone to call John to pick me up so I could go home and start over.