She couldn’t believe how calm she sounded. Inside, she was screaming.No, no, no! This cannot be happening again!Her heart was beating so rapidly against her ribs that she felt faint. But she sealed the fear away. She could not afford to let it affect her now.
Placing her fingers on Kai’s wrist, she felt his pulse. It felt strong and steady.
“Any pain anywhere?” she asked, running her hands quickly over his torso and arms.
“Only my head,” he muttered. “Feels like I’ve been on a drinking binge for a week.”
“Track my finger,” she said, holding it up in front of his eyes and moving it from side to side. He followed it perfectly. “What year is this? What’s your name?”
He frowned at her. “Have ye gone daft, lass?”
“Just answer the questions!”
“It’s 1495 and I’m Kai Stewart. Why?”
She breathed out a sigh of relief. He didn’t seem to have a concussion. She looked around at the carnage, at the flattened stalls and debris. At the people scattered around like blown sticks. It was...incomprehensible.
Taking a deep breath, she climbed to her feet and allowed her training to take control.
“Stay here,” she said to Kai. “Don’t move.”
She staggered into the devastation and reached a cluster of people, most of them injured and wailing in pain. Caitlin knelt beside them and began to assess their injuries. Most seemed only to have cuts and bruises from flying debris. They would have to wait. The walking wounded would come last, after the most serious were treated.
A heavy hand settled on her shoulder. “Lass,” Kai said. “What are ye doing?”
His color was returning, although he still looked a little unsteady on his feet. “I need you to organize these people,” she told him. “Anyone who isn’t injured needs to start looking for those who are. Anyone who’s bleeding out or unresponsive, you call me straight away.”
Kai shook his head. “I need to find my men. Then we need to leave. We have to go before—”
“I’m not going anywhere!” she snapped. “You go if you must, but I have to help these people.” She pointed at a tent that was miraculously still standing. “There. We’ll use that as a triage station.”
“A what?”
“A place where I can assess injuries,” she said. “Start taking people in.”
He frowned, looking like he was going to argue, but then gave her a curt nod and set off to follow her instructions.
When she reached the tent, Caitlin was pleased to find it stocked with rolled up rugs. Finally, a bit of luck. She quickly laid them out on the ground to use as beds for those in need of help.
Kai returned shortly after, along with Conall and Magnus, who seemed unharmed, bringing several people with them. One of them was a woman called Bella who introduced herself as a healer. Caitlin was relieved; having a healer would make this so much quicker. She set Bella to work assessing the injuries and sent Kai out to look for wood to use as splints and clean cloth for bandages.
Caitlin moved around the tent, checking on each patient in turn, offering words of comfort where needed, staunching blood and splinting broken limbs where she could.
“Caitlin!” Kai’s cry brought her running from the tent.
He was crouched over a woman lying in the dirt. Caitlin went running over to them.
The woman’s chest was heaving and blood gushed from a wound on her thigh.
Caitlin ripped off the hem of her dress and wrapped it tightly around the woman’s leg to stem the bleeding.
“Stay with me,” Caitlin murmured. “You’re going to be okay.”
The woman’s eyes fluttered open and she gasped for air. “My husband,” she said weakly. “Is he...?”
Caitlin looked around. She saw a man lying not too far away, his chest still, his eyes staring at nothing.
“He’s fine,” Caitlin lied. “We need to get you fixed up and everything will be okay.”
