He slid, and slid, until his momentum finally gave out, then ignoring the sting on his posterior, he quickly detached himself from his chute, and bundled it up against the slightly blowing wind, so he wouldn’t have to go chasing it around half the lake.
“Looks like you made it,” Jett said amusedly in his ear.
“Yup. And remind me not to go down ass-first, ever again.”
“Oh, do yaw widdow cheeks huwt?” she snickered. “Welcome to my world, sir, when my ass is beneath yourverystrict hand.”
She laughed and laughed.
Trask winced. “Don’t sound so pleased that I’m getting a little of my own medicine,” he grunted. “And don’t get too cocky. Payback’s a bitch.”
“I can’t wait,” she responded with a chortle. “Now stop making me hot, and go check on our man.”
It was amazing how Jett could beguile him away from business. Normally, he’d never be susceptible to distraction, but here he was.
She’d pay for that, too.
“On my way,” he told her.
Attempting to keep his feet underneath him, he carefully crossed the ice toward the shack which looked…abandoned.
Normally, there would be some wavering fumes emerging from the chimney from a propane powered heater inside, but Trask spotted nothing.
He picked up his pace and finally made it to his destination without taking a tumble.
For that he was grateful.
“Richard,” he called out.
Getting no reply, he pushed his way in, to?—
“Man down. Man down,” Trask barked into his comm, going immediately to his knees beside the prone Richard, ripping off his coat and covering the man to give him extra warmth. Trask’s gloves were also thrown aside in order to feel for a pulse at the man’s neck.
Jett responded. “Is he…?”
Trask let out a relieved breath. “He’s alive, but his pulse is weak and thready.”
Richard stirred beneath Trask’s touch.
“Richard. Can you hear me?” Trask asked. He needed to find out what had happened to the man, if that was possible.
“Jaw. Hurt,” the man responded from between blue lips. “Left arm. Thinking…heart attack.”
“It sure sounds like it,” Trask told him solemnly.
“Coughed. Breathed deep. Internet tricks,” the man weakly chuckled.
“Good job,” Trask praised, even though he knew those methods were bullshit. They’d been widely debunked by the medical community, and could even make things worse.
Trask reconnected to his brothers as well as to Jett.
“Possible heart attack, here,” he barked out. “Spence, Buck, are you anywhere close?”
“An hour before we get to the parking area,” Spence told him. “Then we still have to hike in.”
“That’s not good,” Trask rapped. “We need to get Richard out of here, immediately. I think the cold has actually helped him stay alive, but I’m, uh, not sure if time is still on our side.”
He turned his attention to Richard, who had closed his eyes again.
