Going Gone (3 page)

Suddenly the plane was filled with searchers.

“Radio for a medevac! We have a live one!” Reno shouted while Cameron continued to assess her injuries.

She was burning up with fever, which meant infection and possibly internal injuries. He found the first-aid kit beside her, and when he began examining her body, discovered the ACE bandages she’d wrapped around her rib cage, the gash in her head and the wound on her leg. She’d tried to doctor herself, but it was obvious she was in dire need of more extensive care.

“A chopper’s already in the area. They’ll be here within minutes,” Reno said as he dropped to his knees beside Cameron. “Looks like she was trying to patch herself up.”

“She works for the Red Cross,” Cameron said, remembering all the times he’d seen her working tirelessly, helping others in times of disaster. This time
she
was the one in need.

Reno eyed the nest she’d made of all the clothes, and the little food and water stash beside her.

“Looks like she’s quite a survivor,” he said.

Laura moaned.

Cameron cupped her cheek. His voice was steady, but his hands were trembling.

“Help is coming, baby. Hang on.”

Her lips were cracked and bleeding from the cold, and her long blond hair was bloody and matted, but she’d never looked as beautiful to him as she did right now.

“Help?”

When he heard her voice, he reached for her hand. “Yes, Laura, help is here, baby. We found you.”

Her eyelids began to flutter, and then she opened her eyes.

“Cameron?”

“Yes, honey, it’s me.”

A frown rippled across her forehead.

“Are you real?”

He gave her hand a slight squeeze.

“I’m real, and we’re here to take you home.”

Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes.

“They’re dead. They left without me.”

He leaned down and kissed the side of her cheek, so overcome with emotion his voice was shaking.

“I’m really glad you waited for me to find you.”

She blinked so slowly that he thought she was passing out again, and then all of a sudden her eyelids flew open.

“The wolves...have to hide.”

“No, baby, they’re gone,” Cameron said.

She clutched his arm in sudden panic. “No. They dig. They’ll find me.”

Cameron looked over his shoulder, then shouted at Reno, “Where’s that chopper?”

“On approach,” Reno said.

Cameron cupped Laura’s cheek. “The medics are here. They’re going to take you to the hospital.”

A visible surge of panic swept through her as she clutched his sleeve tighter.

“Might die. Need to tell you—”

Cameron’s stomach rolled. “You are not going to die, do you hear me, Laura?”

“—to tell you I love you.”

He swallowed past the lump in his throat, then leaned down and whispered in her ear, “I love you most.”

The familiar words brought tears, and then her eyes rolled back in her head.

“They’re here!” Reno called, eyeing a pair of medics as they came through the trees carrying a backboard and a stretcher.

Cameron patted her arm and then began looking through the stuff she’d gathered around her. He saw her purse and put it beside her so the medics would take it. Laura knew her job well and always traveled with a copy of her medical history and prescriptions. When he moved it, he saw four cell phones lying beneath it and groaned, imagining her panic and frustration at having so much technology in her hand and none of it working. He tossed her cell phone in her purse and left the others behind.

Then all at once the medical team was there. He moved aside, watching as they stabilized her neck, started an IV to push fluids and then rolled her onto the backboard, taking precautions even though it was obvious she had been mobile. After Cameron’s insistence and a brief explanation, they strapped her purse on with her.

“Where are you taking her?” Cameron asked as they headed out the door.

“University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora,” an EMT said.

Cameron followed them out. Unwilling to let her go, he helped carry her through the snow to the open meadow where the chopper had landed. He wanted to go with her, but once he saw how small the chopper was, he didn’t even ask.

She was still unconscious when they strapped the stretcher down inside the chopper. As they began lifting off, the air filled with wasplike shards of icy snow. Cameron turned away to protect his eyes, and when he looked back again, they had gained enough altitude that they were already heading back.

He watched until the chopper was little more than a speck, and then ran to catch up with the others. The search teams were in the process of leaving. The bodies and the wreckage belonged to another kind of team. Armed guards were standing by until the authorities came to remove the bodies. Then the NTSB would show up to recover the plane.

He looked around for Reno, saw him standing near their snowmobile and moved as fast as he could to get there. “Are you getting ready to leave?” he asked.

“Yeah. We need to hurry. Night’s coming, and we don’t want to be out here on snowmobiles after dark.”

“When we get back to camp, will anyone be going back down the mountain?”

Reno shrugged. “They may wait until morning to break camp, but we can ask.”

One thing at a time, Cameron thought, and climbed on.

Three

I
t was after dark when Cameron caught a ride with a van load of searchers on their way back to Denver. The ride down from the mountain staging area was even more treacherous at night, but about halfway down he got a cell signal and was finally able to send Sarah a text. Ever conscious of losing the signal, he kept details brief.

Laura alive. En route to University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora.

Her answer to him was just as abbreviated.

On my way. Between planes at airport. Thank you forever for giving Laura back to me.

He wouldn’t begin to take credit, but he understood what she meant.

When they finally saw the lights of Denver in the distance, everyone breathed a little easier. By the time the van reached the community center where the initial search and rescue had been set up, it was almost eight o’clock.

Cameron unloaded his gear with the others and headed into the community center to change back into street clothes and get the rest of his belongings.

He came out a short while later, his stride long and hurried as he crossed the parking lot. It felt like snow, but so far the overcast sky was holding whatever it carried. He tossed his bags in the trunk of his rental, entered the hospital address into the car’s GPS and took off through the city.

His belly growled as he pulled up at a stoplight, a reminder that he hadn’t eaten since the sweet roll this morning. After all that had happened today, that felt like a lifetime ago.

When the light turned green he accelerated through the intersection, then swung into the first fast-food drive-through he came to and ordered. He ate as he drove, washing his meal down with a cold Pepsi and wishing he’d asked for coffee instead. But he had to admit it was a smart move, because he felt less shaky, which was good. And once he got there, he wasn’t leaving Laura’s side.

Still, the closer he got to the hospital, the more anxious he became. By the time he pulled into the parking lot, a sense of finality was setting in. He’d done all he could have done by helping find her, and whatever was happening now was out of his hands. He had to trust she hadn’t survived all that horror for nothing.

As he headed toward the entrance, he felt a raindrop, then another, but before he got into the building it had turned into snow. He lengthened his stride.

Learning she was in Intensive Care wasn’t surprising, but it amped up his concern. Visiting hours in ICU were on the hour, every hour, and brief. He glanced at his watch and headed for the elevator. It was almost nine.

* * *

Laura moaned as pain pulled her out of her semiconscious state. Something was beeping. The plane! The alarm! The plane was going down.

I don’t want to die.

Tears rolled out from beneath her eyelids as she waited for impact. Instead, she heard the muffled sound of soft voices, a faint cry of pain and then a woman’s soft, reassuring voice. But it wasn’t until she homed in on the sharp click of footsteps coming toward her that she tried to open her eyes, because she recognized the stride.

Cameron.

Something brushed against the side of her cheek, followed by the warmth of a breath and the sweet sound of a familiar voice near her ear.

“Hey, baby,” Cameron said softly, and leaned over the bed just long enough to kiss her forehead and slip his hand in hers.

It
is
Cameron! He found me.

“You’re in a hospital, honey. Your plane crashed. Do you remember?”

Images flashed behind her eyelids. The pilot’s face obliterated. Marcy’s eyes frozen open in death. Dragging Dan’s body across the door to keep it closed. Her fingers curled around his hand, his presence anchoring her to reality. “They died.” The tone of her voice reflected her horror. His grip tightened.

“I know,” he said softly.

Panic shifted within her. It was hard to accept she’d been saved.

“I prayed for you to find me,” she whispered, then licked her lower lip where it had cracked from the cold.

“And we did. Lots of people were looking for you,” he said.

She finally managed to open her eyes. Cameron’s face was blurry, as if it was melting. It took her a few moments to realize she was still crying.

“I hurt.”

“I know, darlin’, with good reason. You have a concussion, three broken ribs, a buttload of stitches on your leg and you’re fighting pneumonia.”

“Am I dying?” she asked, then watched his eyes darken and a frown spread across his forehead as he leaned closer.

“No. You’re getting well and coming back to D.C. with me to live happily ever after.”

Breath caught in the back of her throat.

“With you?”

He ran a finger lightly down the side of her cheek.

“I had planned to say all this on Valentine’s Day, which happens to be next week, but sometimes plans change. I love you, Laura, more than I thought it was possible to love anyone, and almost losing you just made me more certain of that fact. You have to hang in there, baby.”

The room was spinning, or maybe it was all in Laura’s head. She grabbed hold of his wrist, trying to stop the motion so she could focus on his voice, but things were turning faster and faster, sucking her down with them.

“I’m going to pass out,” she mumbled, and proceeded to do exactly that.

“Sir, visiting hours are over,” a nurse said as she approached the bed.

Cameron lifted Laura’s hand to his lips.

“Be strong and get well, sweetheart. I’ll be back,” he promised, and reluctantly walked away.

* * *

Time dragged for Cameron as he waited between visits. Exhaustion finally caught up with him as the waiting room cleared out. The quiet washed over him as he changed his chair for the sofa. The soft leather pillowed his body when he turned and stretched out. It was just for a few minutes, he told himself, grateful to be off his feet. But at six feet three inches tall, his long legs had nowhere to go except over the arm of the sofa. He fell asleep with one arm flung over his eyes to keep out the light. He’d set the alarm on his watch, though, and when it went off, his feet hit the floor before his eyes were fully open. He turned and staggered to the bathroom.

He was still wearing jeans, which had been part of his traveling clothes, but after the first hour in the waiting room he had made a trip out to his car for a fleece jacket to pull over his shirt. The waiting room, like the hospital, bordered on cold, and he was glad for the added layer. The thought of coffee was enticing, but there was no time. He wanted to see Laura again.

There were others in line with him, waiting for the doors to the ICU to open. Even though they all shared the experience of having loved ones with critical health issues, no one seemed inclined to talk, looking instead at the floors or the walls, anywhere but at each other.

Cameron was worried. The last time he’d seen her they had put her on oxygen, and she’d slept all the way through his visit. He knew she needed rest to heal, but seeing her motionless and so vulnerable scared him. He needed to reconnect, to hear her voice and see recognition in her eyes, to know she wasn’t getting worse.

There was a nurse beside her bed when he walked up.

“Everything okay?” he asked softly.

The nurse recognized him from prior visits.

“She’s been crying out in her sleep,” she said, and injected the contents of a syringe into the IV port.

“What’s that for?” Cameron asked.

“Antibiotic. Her fever is still high.”

He frowned. “The wound on her leg was bad. Is it infected?”

The nurse hesitated. “Doctor Rector usually begins rounds about 7:00 a.m. He’ll be able to answer your questions then.”

Cameron didn’t push the issue. He knew nurses weren’t free to share medical information about their patients. As soon as the nurse left, he moved closer to the bed.

Laura moaned as he touched her forehead. Her skin was hot and dry.

“Shh, shh,” he said softly. “You’re safe, baby, you’re safe.”

Her lips were moving.

He leaned closer, caught just enough of what she was saying and sighed. She was still talking about wolves.

“They’re gone, Laura, they’re gone.”

She grabbed his arm. “Cameron?”

He took her hand. She still knew him. Thank God.

“Yes, it’s me.”

“Found me?”

“Yes, we found you. You’re in a hospital in Denver. You are safe, and you
will
get well.”

“Stay.”

“I can’t stay, baby. You’re in ICU. But I’m right outside the door, and I’ll be back when they let me.”

Her eyes opened. “Cameron?”

“At your service,” he said.

“Sarah?”

“She’s on her way.”

“Love you,” she said, then closed her eyes.

She was already out when he answered, but it didn’t matter. He said for himself as much as for her, “I love you, too.”

The time went all too quickly, and soon he followed the other visitors out. But as they headed for the elevator, he went back to the waiting room alone. He was too wired to go back to sleep, and after digging through his wallet for some singles, he headed for the snack machines.

* * *

Sarah Doyle was holding Cameron’s last text close to her heart, counting on its truth.

Laura in ICU. I spoke to her. She knew me. Injuries severe, not life threatening. Worried about pneumonia. I’m in ICU waiting room.

Laura was all the family she had, and if she lost her, she would be as alone in the world as a person could be.

By the time her plane landed in Denver it was well past midnight, and the ground was dusted with snow. She caught a cab to the hospital and then texted Cameron to let him know she was on the ground, but he didn’t answer. She glanced at the time. One in the morning. He was probably in the ICU with Laura.

Her eyes burned from the bouts of crying she couldn’t seem to stop, and she caught a glimpse of herself in the cab window as they passed through the city.

Both sisters were blondes, and while the family resemblance was noticeable in their features, she was older and taller. Laura’s chosen path in life had gone nonprofit and led her to the Red Cross, while Sarah had gone the corporate route. And oddly enough, as Laura’s personal life had heated up, so had Sarah’s career; something she had yet to share.

The ride to the hospital was long, and the heater blasting in the front of the cab never quite raised the temperature in the backseat high enough to keep her comfortable. Even though the cranberry wool slacks and gray sweater she was wearing were warm, and her winter coat was good protection from the cold, she was shaking.

She paid the driver upon arrival, grabbed her bag and got out on the run.

* * *

Cameron was kicked back on the sofa checking his messages. The pretzels he was eating were all he’d had since dinner, along with the can of Pepsi at his elbow. Wade and his wife, Jo, had sent a text earlier wishing Laura well. He smiled, thankful for good friends. He was still scanning messages when he got a text from Tate. It was after three in the morning in D.C. That guy kept seriously late hours. He began to read.

How’s Laura?

Cameron popped another pretzel in his mouth and then answered.

Fighting infection and pneumonia.

So sorry. Nola sends her love. Keep us in the loop.

Will do and thanks.

He left the other messages for later, finished off the pretzels and washed them down with the last of the Pepsi. He was tossing away the trash when Sarah Doyle walked in.

The moment she saw him, she dropped her bag and started crying. Seconds later she was in his arms.

Cameron patted her on the back as he gave her a hug.

“It’s going to be okay, honey. She’s alive, and that’s a damn miracle in itself.”

Sarah grabbed his wrist. “Is it bad? Tell me the truth. Did she get worse? I’ve been scared through this whole freaking trip, afraid I wouldn’t get here in time, and at the same time, afraid to get here and learn the whole truth.”

“Come sit,” Cameron said, and filled her in on the extent of Laura’s injuries, then glanced at the clock. “The next visitation is at 2:00 a.m. You take it.”

When he suggested visiting Laura, she almost panicked, afraid of what she would see.

“We can’t go in together?”

“They do allow two visitors at a time, but I’ve been in several times already. She asked about you, and her attention span is brief, so having two of us there will only be confusing. You go alone, and once you see her, you’ll feel better, I promise.”

Sarah smiled through tears. “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to our family. I hope you plan on staying around for a very long time.”

Cameron managed a lopsided grin. “It’s definitely my plan, but Laura has the last word on that, doesn’t she?”

“You’re a shoo-in,” Sarah said.

“Want some coffee, or something to eat?” Cameron asked, using the mundane question to hide how moved he was by her words.

“Coffee would be wonderful.”

“Black, right?”

“Yes, please.”

He got up for another trip to the snack machines, and came back with coffee and a bag of M&M’s.

“I seem to remember this is a favorite in the candy dishes at your house,” he said.

“Thank you so much,” she said, took a quick sip of the coffee and then tore into the candy and popped a couple in her mouth.

Cameron answered a new text, giving Sarah some space while she ate.

When the candy was gone, she settled back with the coffee, holding it between her palms as welcome warmth.

“Cameron?”

He dropped the phone in his pocket and looked up.

“Was it bad at the crash site?” she asked.

He grimaced. “Yes, and you need to know two things. There were wolves trying to get into the wreckage, probably from day one. She’s still dreaming about them.”

Sarah clasped a hand over her mouth, too horrified to speak.

“The other thing is that she saved her own life. She managed to tend to her injuries with next to no supplies and kept herself warm enough not to succumb to hypothermia. She is one tough, amazing woman, and I am in awe.”

Sarah was crying all over again. “I don’t know what to say.”