“Pulse weak.”
“BP dropping.”
“Need to move now.”
One medic started bagging oxygen and another adjusted the IV.
McKayla made another small broken sound beside me.
I pulled her against me automatically and she folded right into my chest.
Not weak.
Not helpless.
Just done.
Too many weeks of wondering if her sister was dead.
“She’s alive,” I said quietly into her hair.“You found her.”
“But barely,” McKayla whispered.
I didn’t know what to say to that because she wasn’t wrong.
The medics finally rolled the stretcher out.Erin looked even smaller strapped onto it.Fragile.Like she could disappear if somebody breathed wrong.
The oxygen mask covered most of her face now and the machines beeped softly beside her.
The medics moved fast toward the ambulance.Too fast.That was what scared me most.
McKayla stumbled forward automatically.“Erin!”
One of the paramedics stopped briefly.“You family?”
“Yes.”
“Follow behind.We’re gonna be moving fast.”
“Okay.”I answered at the same time she did.
The medic nodded once and jogged to the ambulance.
McKayla turned toward me.Her face was wrecked, and tears were everywhere.I stepped in front of her and cupped the side of her face.“She’s in good hands, baby.”
Her mouth trembled.“She has to be okay.”
“She’s gonna fight.”
McKayla leaned into me fully, then for a second.
“You guys gotta go,” Anchor called.“We’ll be right behind.”
The sirens screamed back to life, and we ran to my motorcycle.
We found Erin, and now she just had to stay alive.
Chapter Twenty-Four
