In Harm's Way (Heroes of Quantico Series, Book 3) (41 page)

"The first half hour after the rescue is critical:" Kevin scooted
onto the bench seat beside Rachel as the helicopter lifted off.
"But we're doing all the right things. Hypothermia protocols are
much better than they used to be"

"Are you saying the prognosis is good?"

Kevin checked the cardiac monitor before he replied. "I've
seen people in worse condition survive"

The paramedic's cautious response did nothing to quell Nick's
anxiety.

And as the helicopter churned through the dark air, the fierce
turbulence it left in its wake was like a gentle breeze compared
to the roiling in his gut.

The noisy ride to the Level 1 trauma center in St. Louis was
the longest of Nick's life. And once there Rachel was whisked
away, leaving him alone in the waiting room.

During the next forty-five minutes, he visited the intake
desk five times. But no one told him anything. He wasn't
family.

The only thing they'd done for him was offer an ice pack.

Shifting on the cushioned seat of a wood-framed chair, he
tipped his head back against the wall and wedged the compress
against his eye. This whole setup reminded him of the vigil he'd
held with Mark the prior summer.

They were not good memories.

But Emily had survived. And Rachel would too.

She had to.

"Nick!"

He jerked upright. Rebecca burst through the door, Mark on
her heels. He was on his feet instantly.

"How is she?" Rebecca asked.

"I don't know. They won't tell me anything. You have to
be family to get any information" He cast a dark scowl at the
middle-aged nurse seated behind the counter. She ignored
him.

"You saved her life. That ought to count for something." Rebecca marched over to the desk. "I'm Rachel Sutton's sister. I'd
like an update on her condition."

The nurse peered over her glasses at Rebecca, then at Nick,
who had moved behind her. "I'll get one of the doctors:"

She rose and disappeared through an inner door.

"Not exactly Miss Warmth;' Mark noted, joining them.

"You'd think they'd have someone with a little more empathy
in the ER," Rebecca said, irritation nipping at her voice.

"Where's Colin?" The ice pack was numbing his fingers, and
Nick shifted it to his other hand.

"One of the agents dropped him and Megan off at the hotel.
I bummed a ride with Mark:" She rubbed her eyes, calling his
attention to the smudges underneath. She was dead on her feet.
"How was she when you arrived, Nick?"

"No change that I could see"

A door to one side of the desk opened, and a woman of about
fifty wearing a white coat stepped through. "Are you the family
of Rachel Sutton?"

"Yes, Rebecca answered for all of them.

"I'm Dr. Kent:" She shook hands with each of them. "Let's
sit for a minute:" Surveying the deserted waiting room, she
gestured toward a grouping of chairs and led the way. "Slow
night. I guess no one felt sick enough to venture out at two in
the morning on one of the coldest nights of the year. Except
Ms. Sutton:"

"How is she, doctor?" Rebecca leaned forward, twisting her
hands in her lap.

Nick's fingers clenched around the arms of his chair as he
braced himself.

"Holding her own. Her core temperature has risen two degrees, to ninety-one. We're rewarming as aggressively as we can
without putting her at further risk. We've done a chest X-ray, an
electrocardiogram, and we're running blood work now. We've
seen no evidence of arrhythmias, meaning her heart doesn't
appear to have been overly stressed by her exposure, but we'll
be keeping a close watch on that for a while. She also suffered
a concussion, has various contusions and bruises-including
some nasty ones on her neck that appear to be the result of
an attempted strangulation-and a few fingers and toes have
second-degree frostbite."

"What's the prognosis?" Nick asked.

"If all goes well with the rewarming, she'll regain consciousness soon and begin talking not long after that. The concussion shouldn't cause any major problems. We've already rewarmed
her fingers and toes in warm water. That can be quite painful,
so in a way it's a blessing she's not conscious. I expect to see
some blisters and edema-swelling, in lay terms-on them in
the next twelve hours, and she'll have some discomfort for a
while, but we can treat that with pain medication. She could
also have some longer-term tingling or loss of sensitivity in the
affected fingers and toes, though. Other than that, by tomorrow there should be little physical evidence of her traumatic
experience beyond her bruises. Hypothermia puts the body
into a safe mode that protects the vital organs. It's really quite
amazing."

For the first time in almost ten hours, the tension in Nick's
shoulders eased a fraction. "Can we see her?"

"Two of you can come back. Don't be alarmed by all the
equipment. She's doing well."

As they rose, Mark spoke in a low tone to Nick. "I'll wait.
And I'll take Rebecca back to the hotel whenever she's ready to
go. She's about to fold. What are your plans?"

"I'm staying"

"That's what I thought. I'll have Emily follow me into work
in the morning and I'll drop your car off."

"Thanks"

"No problem:"

The doctor and Rebecca were waiting at the door to the ER,
and Nick hurried to catch up, following them to a curtained
alcove.

As the doctor swept aside the draping to allow them to enter,
he was glad she'd already given them a positive report on Rachel
and warned them about the equipment. Because if he'd stepped
in here unprepared, he'd have panicked. An oxygen mask covered her face, IVs were positioned on either side of the bed, a
cardiac monitor was displaying continuous data, and there were several other pieces of equipment he couldn't identify. She was
also covered with an odd blanket.

"That's a warming blanket. It contains heated air," the doctor
explained as Nick placed a tentative hand on top of it. "We're
also giving her heated, humidified oxygen to speed the core
rewarming"

As she spoke, he moved closer to the head of the bed. "What's
the tape on her cheek?"

"It's securing the tube for the esophageal probe. That's the
most accurate way to monitor her core temperature"

"May we stay with her?" Rebecca asked, moving to the other
side of the bed.

"Yes. It will be good for her to see a familiar face when she
begins to regain consciousness. But it's obvious you've both
had a tough night too. One of you might want to try and get
some sleep. Nothing much will happen here for at least an
hour:"

"There's an empty couch in the waiting room; Nick said to
Rebecca. "Why don't you stretch out for a little while? I'll call
you as soon as she starts to stir"

"I don't know ... I feel like I should stay here" Rebecca tucked
her hair behind her ear and moistened her lips as she cast an
uncertain glance at Rachel.

"I second the gentleman's recommendation; the doctor joined
in. "No sense everyone losing sleep"

With a sigh, Rebecca capitulated. "Okay. But you'll call the
minute she begins to wake up?"

"You have my word; Nick promised.

"I'll walk you out. And round up a pillow for you;' the doctor
told Rebecca.

With one last lingering look at her sister, Rebecca exited. The
doctor pulled the drapes back into place, leaving Nick alone
with Rachel.

For several minutes he stood unmoving, watching her, saying a silent prayer of thanks. Then he leaned over and traced a
gentle finger around her hairline, over skin that was still too cool,
stopping when he came to the bruised bump on her temple. As
he thought about how close he'd come to losing her, his throat
tightened and his eyes misted.

Blinking to clear his vision, he slid his hand under the warming blanket until he found hers. Covering her fingers with his,
he eased a hip onto the edge of her bed and settled in.

Because he intended to stay put until she opened those velvet
brown eyes and he knew she was back. For good.

Someone was holding her hand. And it felt good.

Sighing, Rachel burrowed deeper into the warmth surrounding her. That, too, felt good. Yet even enveloped in this balmy
cocoon, she felt chilled to the bone. How odd. And why were
her fingers throbbing? She tried to flex them. Frowned. That
hurt worse.

All at once the hand holding hers disappeared. She immediately missed the comforting pressure-and the warmth.

She tried to lift her heavy eyelids. Once. Twice. When both
efforts failed, she let herself drift.

Some time later ... a minute, an hour, she had no idea ...
the murmur of voices pulled her back. She felt someone take
one hand in a gentle grasp. The other hand received the same
treatment. She tried again to lift her eyelids. Managed to drag
them open.

"Rachel, can you hear me?"

Nick's voice. At least she thought it was his. But he sounded
hoarse. As if he'd caught a cold.

She blinked, trying to focus. Realized her glasses were missing. She attempted to ask for them, but could get only a hoarse
croak past her aching throat.

"It's okay, Rachel. Don't try to talk" Nick leaned in close and
gave her hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze. Though the pressure was slight, she winced. He loosened his grip at once. "Don't squeeze her hand:' Nick aimed that remark at someone to her
right. "The frostbite must be painful:"

Frostbite. She had frostbite?

Another figure leaned in, looming over her. Rebecca.

Rachel looked from one to the other. Now that they were
closer, she could make out their features. Sort of. Everything
looked fuzzy. But she could see enough to set off alarm bells in
her mind. Rebecca's face was way too pale. Nick was sporting
a shiner worthy of a bar fight.

She tried to speak again. Couldn't form the words.

"You're okay, Rachel:" Despite Rebecca's encouraging message, a tremor ran through her words. "Nick found you in time.
Megan too. She's safe. The nightmare is over."

Her sister's words registered, but Rachel began to drift again.
It was so hard to concentrate. She wanted to ask questions. But
she couldn't muster the energy. Or get the words out.

She knew one thing, though. If Nick and Rebecca were with
her, she was safe. She could let herself sink back into oblivion.
And maybe the next time she surfaced her mind-and tonguewould be functioning again.

Nick took a sip of black coffee as he stood at the foot of Rachel's
bed. After she'd awakened forty-five minutes ago, he'd convinced
an exhausted Rebecca to go back to the hotel and get some sleep.
Now, at 3:45 in the morning, as the tension in his body slowly
eased, he, too, was fighting to stay awake. He couldn't remember
ever being this tired, not even on his longest stakeout.

The doctor had urged him to go home and get some sleep. But
she'd also said Rachel could awaken at anytime. Her temperature
had risen to ninety-seven, and as far as the medical folks were
concerned, she was pretty much out of danger. They'd taken her off the heated oxygen a few minutes ago, and the staff wasn't
hovering as much. While the doctor wanted to keep her in the
hospital for twenty-four hours because of the concussion, plans
were being made to move her to a regular room. It was possible
she'd sleep through the night.