Chapter Four
As Carrie was enjoying being held in Malcolm’s arms, she suddenly shot straight up.
“Do you hear that?”
Malcolm looked at her with bewilderment. “Hear what, love? I don’t hear anything.”
Carrie stood. “You don’t hear someone yelling for help?”
“No, honey, I don’t hear anything.”
Carrie quickly put her clothes back on. “I am telling you, Malcolm, someone out there needs help. I can hear him.” She took off running, Malcolm following close behind her.
Carrie came upon a mound of firewood, and there lying in the middle of it was a young man. It looked like he had been cutting firewood and had accidentally cut his leg with a hatchet. He bled profusely from the wound and was falling in and out of consciousness from shock or blood loss or both. Carrie quickly pressed her hands against his leg to help slow the bleeding.
After seeing Carrie had things in control, Malcolm yelled that he was going to get help. Dragon shifters were much faster than humans. They weren’t far from town, and he would be there in a matter of minutes.
Shortly after, Carrie heard three-wheelers heading her direction. There was no road nearby, so it made sense they would be used to get around in a forest. The first to arrive was Malcolm and the town doctor. Malcolm came to a stop and the doctor quickly got off, running to the young man.
It looked like an artery had been cut, judging by the amount of blood he saw. He knew if Carrie hadn’t found him when she did, this young man would have bled to death. The doctor quickly put a tourniquet on the man’s leg, making sure to let some blood flow from the wound. He didn’t want to make it so tight that it would totally stop the flow and cause the young man to lose his leg.
Two more three-wheelers with a stretcher attached pulled up beside them. If each machine kept at the same rate of speed, the stretcher would still be stable. Carrie assumed they had done this kind of thing more than once. She had faith they would be able to get this boy to the hospital. They carefully loaded him onto the stretcher and took off heading toward the hospital. The doctor climbed onto one of the three-wheelers with his young patient. Malcolm and Carrie were right behind them. She needed to make sure he was going to be okay.
Once at the hospital, Carrie and Malcolm both headed toward the waiting room outside the emergency room. He was eighteen-year-old Bobby Adair, explained a nurse. The doctor was working on him. He had lost enough blood that he needed a transfusion and thirty-six stitches on the calf of his leg. The nurse kept them informed about what was happening. No one had been able to find Bobby’s parents yet. Carrie wanted to stay until she was sure he was going to be alright.
As they waited, Malcolm asked her the question that had been hovering on his lips since she found Bobby. “Carrie, how did you hear him, lass?”
Malcolm should have been able to hear him since dragon shifters have acute hearing, as well as sight. If she had heard him, Malcolm should have been able to also.
Carrie tried to explain how she heard him, hoping Malcolm would be able to understand. “It wasn’t his voice I heard. It was his body calling out. It’s hard to explain. It’s like the life force of someone calling for help. It isn’t an actual voice I hear. It’s like my body is being spoken to by another body, a type of energy force going from one person to another. The energy from my body picked up the energy going from his, and I followed the energy trail. I know this might be hard for you to understand, but this is the only way I know how to explain it. It’s like what I felt with my grandmother. The only difference is, her accident hadn’t happened yet.”
Malcolm had heard about gifted people talk about the energy surrounding them and being able to tap into it. He didn’t understand how it worked, but he wasn’t going to question it. He saw for himself. It really worked.
It seemed like an eternity passed before Doctor MacWilliams finally came out of the emergency room. He smiled, and Carrie felt an overwhelming sense of relief.
“Bobby’s going to be fine,” he said. “It’s a lucky thing you found him when you did or we would have lost him. He has you to thank for saving him, lassie. He is sedated right now, but I’m sure when he wakes up he would like to thank you himself.”
Carrie had been so afraid he was going to die. There was so much blood when she got to him.
“Thank God he is going to be okay,” she said. “I don’t know how to thank you.” The doctor gave her a hug. “He’s going to be fine, thanks to you.” A look of concern spread over his face. “While I have you here, I’d like to check you out. You’re shaking like a leaf. I want to make sure you aren’t in some kind of shock.”
Before Carrie could argue that she was fine, the doctor had her in the examination room closest to the waiting room. He listened to her heartrate. It raced so fast it sounded more like a race car engine than a heartbeat. She had been there a couple of hours and was still shaking. She couldn’t seem to stop it.
The doctor looked at Carrie and said, “I’m sure you’re suffering from the after effects of an adrenaline rush. I’m going to give you something to bring your heartrate back to normal. After it slows down, you can go home, have a nice cup of tea, and have a rest.” The doctor patted Carrie’s hand as he left to order the medicine propranolol to slow her heart rate. The nurse came in and gave Carrie a shot and said the Doctor would be back in fifteen minutes to check on her.
Beside Carrie, Malcolm was berating himself. He should have noticed Carrie was suffering from shock. He was sure he could have slowed her heartrate himself with the bond they shared. It just hadn’t occurred to him until now. Malcolm put his arms around her. He could feel her heart racing, her body shaking.
“Shh, love, it’s all over,” he said. “Bobby is going to be fine, thanks to you. Try to relax. Don’t think of anything except being held in my arms, keeping you safe.”
Malcolm felt Carrie relax. He wasn’t sure if it was him or the medication, but he wasn’t letting her go until her heart slowed and she was back to normal.
Carrie snuggled into his chest. As her heart returned to normal, the after effect left her exhausted, but the comfort of being in Malcolm’s arms felt like heaven. She did feel safe. She never wanted to leave Malcolm’s arms. Carrie fell into a deep sleep while he held her.
Malcolm picked Carrie up and sat in a recliner. When the doctor came in to check on her, she wasn’t aware of anyone or anything around her. The doctor told Malcolm it was possible she might sleep the entire day. Her heartrate was back to normal, so he told Malcolm to take her home.
Malcolm had called earlier for someone to bring a car to the hospital, and he carried the sleeping Carrie out of the hospital and into the waiting car. She never stirred.
John Kerr sat behind the wheel while Malcolm sat in the back seat, holding Carrie close to his chest. After John broke Malcolm’s nose, he felt justice had been served, and they had remained close friends. John noticed the protective way Malcolm held Carrie, and he raised an eyebrow but felt it wise not to say anything. The drive back was quiet. Neither man spoke, not wanting to wake the sleeping woman Malcolm held so close.