Chapter Fifteen
Connor had onlythought he was worried before he saw Sierra go down. He believed she’d hit her head when the chopper slid, which was borne out by the fact she wasn’t moving or responding when he called her name. “Are we stable?” he asked Bart.
“Don’t know. To be safe…don’t move.”
To hell with that. “Sierra hit her head. I think she’s out.” He’d been struggling with his seat belt, trying to go to Sierra, but he was still stuck. He kept a pocketknife in his pocket so he pulled it out and sliced through the seat belt. He managed to get out of his seat but cursed when he tried to put weight on his left ankle. He didn’t think he’d broken it, but it hurt like hell. He grabbed a blood pressure cuff, then basically crawled to Sierra. Reaching her, he felt for her pulse, and said her name loudly. No response. “She has a pulse and her breathing isn’t obstructed,” he told Bart as soon as he checked Sierra. “I saw her go down. She must have hit her head. She’s out cold.” He put the cuff on her and checked her blood pressure. It was high, which wasn’t surprising given what had happened. “Bart, can you hold on until I can get to you?”
“Yeah. Still trying to reach someone.” He paused between each word and Connor knew he must be in bad pain.
He waited, willing Sierra to wake up and be all right.
The two and a half minutes she was unconscious seemed like an eternity. He asked Bart again if he needed help immediately, not wanting to leave Sierra but continuing to worry about Bart.
“Not…going anywhere.” His voice was weaker and his words even slower than they’d been. And they’d been plenty slow.
“Any other injuries? Are you bleeding?”
“Yeah, windshield broke.”
“Shit. How bad is it?”
“Don’t know. Everything hurts.”
Connor heard him trying the radio again, but there was no response. He hoped like hell the damn thing wasn’t broken.
“How’s…Sierra?”
Her eyelids fluttered. “Her vitals are good. I think she’s coming around.” She opened her eyes and looked at him, puzzled.
“What happened?” she asked, sounding groggy.
“The helicopter crashed. You were going to help Bart. We think you hit your head.”
“What helicopter? Why is your face bleeding?”
Oh, shit. Not a good sign. “Be still and let me check you out.” He heard Bart using the radio but this time someone responded. He heard Bart giving the man their coordinates. “Are they sending someone?”
“Ski patrol. No one else…can get here. Landed on…the ski mountain. In the trees.”
Connor had to strain to hear him and understand him. “How long?”
“No idea. I hope…not long.”
“Stay there,” Connor told Sierra sternly as she tried to get up. “I’ve got to get to Bart and see what I can do for him.” If the pilot had as many broken bones as he feared then Connor couldn’t move him. A moot point since his chances of getting Bart out of his seat by himself without injuring him worse were somewhere between slim and none. He’d obviously have to wait for the rescue team. But he could at least take Bart’s vitals. And if he could get to it, splint his arm if necessary.
“How’s your pain?” Connor asked as he examined the pilot.
“Bad.”
He looked terrible, his face ashen, extreme pain written all over it. Connor hoped he wasn’t hurt worse than the obvious. Bart could easily have internal injuries, but he couldn’t be sure. In fact, given his other injuries, internal ones were not only possible but likely. “You allergic to anything?”
“No.”
“I’m going to get you something for the pain.”
He crawled back to get a painkiller and checked on Sierra. “How are you doing?”
She was sitting up but at least she hadn’t moved otherwise. “I’m fine. I can help you.”
