Page 9 of Hearts Under Fire
“I’ll be done with him soon. I suspect Cassidy has a broken wrist, but I’m letting Garcia deal with his bullet wound for now and check him over. Once I've stabilized the issue with Cassidy, these two,” Kate pointed at Krantz and Andrews before returning to the wound and continued, “should be ready to go within the next thirty to sixty minutes. The meds will only dull their pain, not keep them out. All three should be able to walk to the exfil. The amputation is serious, but we have it contained for now, and as long as Andrews doesn’t slip into shock, we should be able to get them out of here relatively soon.”
The smell of burning flesh wafted up from where Kate worked, and she heard a small gag next to her. She quickly glanced at Alexis, hoping the other woman wasn’t going to be sick.
“If it’s too much, swap out with Sgt. Rivera. There’s no shame in it.”
From the corner of her eye, Kate saw Lt. Cole shake her head.
“No, no. I’m okay. I’m sensitive to smell, and I wasn’t expecting it.”
Kate finished cauterizing the wound and accepted the dressing from Lt. Cole’s outstretched hand. Securing it over the wound on the front, Kate and Alexis repositioned Bowie so she could apply another dressing to the exit wound, as well. They lowered him gently to the floor, and Bowie curled up on his side, a smile covering his face.
“He’s all set. I’d say we give these two another fifteen minutes to sleep off some of the drugs. I should be able to get Sgt. Cassidy sorted out in the meantime. Get the team ready to leave, call our ride, and let them know our ETA.”
Alexis rose to complete her requests, and Kate joined Garcia in attending to Sgt. Cassidy. Turned out he’d dislocated his left shoulder and broken his left wrist. Kate was just glad his dominant hand was uninjured.
They set his bones and popped his shoulder back into place, ignoring Cassidy’s yowling cry of pain. They’d already given him what pain medication they could, and there was nothing more they could do for him but work quickly. When they were finished, Kate patted Cassidy on the right shoulder.
“You did well. I’m not going to immobilize your shoulder yet. We can secure it on the helo. I want you to continue to use full range of motion if you can. It’s going to hurt, but it’ll keep your muscles from locking up and we may avoid another dislocation.”
Kate rose and scanned their faces in search of Lt. Cole. She was stationed at the cave entrance, keeping watch.
“We’re ready. Can we make the southern extraction point before sun up?”
Alexis turned, unaware of how close Kate had gotten. Their chests nearly touched, noses mere inches apart. Checking to make sure no one was watching, a small grin tucked into the corners of her mouth as Alexis reached out to ruffle Kate’s hair. Kate felt thrown by the intimacy of it.
“Yep. Good work, Little Lieutenant. You managed to patch them all up in record time.”
Kate thought to snap and correct the nickname, but felt the magnetic pull between them as Lt. Cole leaned in closer, studying her face.
“How are you doing? You look tired.”
Kate shrugged. “It’s been a long two days.”
Alexis grunted her agreement and Kate stared into her eyes, unable to pull away as she leaned in closer, her eyes locked on Kate’s lips.
Behind them, Bowie coughed and stirred, waking from his morphine-induced nap. Kate stepped back immediately, glad for the cold bucket of water he’d dumped over her head. Her unease multiplied at her growing inability to hold the dreamy Alexis Cole at a distance.
Lt. Cole cleared her throat and rounded up the team in preparation to depart as if nothing had happened between them. Kate frowned. It seemed Alexis wasn’t as affected by their proximity as she was. Kate tossed the thought out and focused on getting her patients up and moving.
The ruck out was far slower and more grueling than their hike in. Bowie shuffled along in front of Kate, no outward sign of distress evident, but she could hear his rasping breaths and the gasps emanating from him. The journey was hard on his wound, and Kate grew concerned that her cauterization work might come undone. If he threw a clot, they were fucked. Unease skittered through her. Kate liked Bowie. He reminded her of a cousin she’d once met but didn’t know well. While some men were intimidated or even openly hostile toward women in charge in the military, Bowie had clearly immediately taken a liking to Kate, and the feeling was mutual.
Kate dropped back slightly to walk next to Alexis.
“We have to increase our pace and get Bowie out of here. Andrews and Cassidy are stable, but if Bowie’s clot bursts, he won’t be.”
Alexis's eyes flitted over the men. “We’re not splitting up. We’ll have to increase our speed.”
Kate hadn’t wanted to split up either, but she chose not to examine her motives too closely.
Alexis trotted to the front, and Kate heard her soft, lilting voice giving orders before the group picked up speed. The fastest runners shifted in place, taking up the rear and positioning themselves behind the wounded.
Sergeant Rivera murmured to each of their patients, “Go at the briskest pace you can maintain for a longer period of time. If you’re ready to fall out, throw up a hand, and we’ll carry you.”
Kate monitored from behind as Lt. Cole led the way up front. Surveying their surroundings, Kate’s neck prickled in awareness. The hills and rocky crags took on familiar shapes, and she recognized the area from her maps and their arrival. They were closing in on the extraction point and were making good time. Kate’s awareness spiked abruptly, and she glanced around again. Fear skittered down her spine and she instinctively knew they were being watched. It had all gone too well up to that point, and Kate wondered if this was when trouble arose.
“Alexis”, Kate called in a subdued tone, just loud enough for Lt. Cole to hear.
The use of her first name alerted Lt. Cole that something was wrong. She held up a fist to signal them to stop and they took cover behind the crumbling ruin of a building.