Mia’s foot slipped. She squeaked.
“Mia!”
Her foot hit the water, found purchase on the mushy bottom. Her ankle turned out with the weight, and she gasped at the pain.
Levi was there in an instant. He took her elbow, a frown creasing his brow. “You all right?”
“Your shoes...”
“Are you hurt?”
She shifted her weight, wincing. “I think I might’ve twisted my ankle.”
“Can you walk on it?”
She put a bit of weight on the foot. Pain shot up her leg again, and she sucked in a breath. “I—I don’t think so.”
“Here, let’s do this.” He swept her up in his arms as if she weighed nothing.
She grabbed onto him. “I can’t believe I did this. What if I can’t walk back?”
“Slow down. You might’ve just wrenched it.” He set her on a mossy log and knelt down by her foot. He ran his fingers gently along her ankle.
It was really throbbing now.
“It’s already starting to swell,” he said.
“It hurts pretty bad.”
He looked up at her. “You should get an X-ray just to be safe.”
“I’m not going to a hospital. I don’t want to take that risk.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “Well... I have a buddy who’s an EMT. He could probably stop by the house.”
“That would be great. But... how am I going to get back down? You can’t carry me all that way, Levi.”
“Sure I can. We’ll take it slow.”
She tilted her head, giving him a skeptical look. She might be thin, but at five foot ten she was no lightweight.
“See, I’m going to have to prove myself now.”
Her laugh was pinched off by the throbbing in her ankle.
He looked down and brushed the side of her foot. “It’s starting to bruise. We’d better get you back.”
Levi grabbed her shoes, stuffed her socks inside, then tied the shoestrings together. He draped them around his neck, then squatted in front of the log, his back to her. “Hop on, gimpy.”
***
Clinging to Levi’s back, Mia gritted her teeth against the pain in her ankle. She knew without looking it was swollen and bruised. She couldn’t wait to get back to the house, where she kept a couple painkillers in her purse.
Levi had been trudging carefully along the trail for fifteen or twenty minutes, his arms locked around her knees. But even at this pace the movement jostled her ankle.
“I knew I was supposed to be your transportation this week, but this is taking things a little far.” He sounded winded.
Of course he was. He was carrying her down amountain. “I’m so sorry. This definitely goes above and beyond.”
