“Silas, take a deep breath,” I say firmly.
He glances at me but then he’s right back to looking around for an escape.
I keep talking in an attempt to soothe him and get him to focus, but even when I put my hands on his face, his eyes roam.
“Silas, I’m an emergency responder, a rescuer. I’m here to help you. Your friends are waiting for you. Listen to me and I’ll get you back to them,” I say.
“Right, I have to get you out of here,” he replies like he only heard half of what I said.
My next words are cut off, and I squeak as he stands up abruptly, pulling me with him.
Silas wades through the debris, dragging me behind him,awayfrom the hole and deeper into the darkness.
I use all the verbal techniques I know to help an agitated patient. He doesn’t listen except, still talking about saving me and telling me to follow him. I can’t get him to acknowledge that he’s injured or thatI’mthe one who’s here to help him.
The next step is to physically subdue an unstable patient, but Silas shot up so quickly, I left my medicine case behind with the calming sprays.
We stumble out of the wood shavings, and I dig my feet into the dirt to slow him down, pulling on the hand he has wrapped around my wrist. Except I can’t get any purchase, so I just stagger after him.
It’s not like I can win a tug of war with an alpha anyway, but if I could just get him to stop and think for a second, I can reason with him.
I barely notice my teammates’ voices coming through the radio. The receiver is set to on, so they’re hearing our scuffle.
Silas is moving too fast for me to catch up, and I can’t see much past him. He’s obviously not thinking clearly enough to realize he can’t see well either, his large form blocking most of my flashlight.
My light is bouncing around wildly, but I thinkI make out a tunnel up ahead. If this is some kind of cave network, I need to do something before Silas drags us out.
Ihaveto stop him before we end up falling into another hole or getting hopelessly lost.
I’m still talking, but I’m not even sure what I’m saying at this point. Silas isn’t listening anyway.
I don’t want to hurt him, but I might have to, at least a little. The shock of it could get through to him, and it’s better than risking further injury or death.
I hesitate.
Silas stumbles, and my light flashes over rocks and twisted metal.
I lunge forward and grab his wrist.
I have no plan, I don’t know what I’m doing. I just know I don’t want to hurt him, so I channel everything, everything I’m thinking, everything I’m feeling, into my voice. I have to make him listen.
“Silas.”
He stops.
The light is wedged between us, leaving us mostly in the dark, but I hear his heavy breathing.
“I’m here to help you. I’m a rescuer, and your friends asked me to get you. You fell down a hole, and I’ve given you what medical attention I can. We need to return to the shaft so my team can pull us out. Please follow my instructions so both of us get out of here safely,” I say.
There’s some kind of connection flickering between us. I feel what he feels, the aches in his body, the stress and fear, his innate instinct to protect others first.
He doesn’t say anything, but I can tell he’s listening.
“Take a deep breath, inhale.” I count to three before telling him to exhale.
Everything releases when he lets out his breath, andwhatever hold I had over him dissipates. But he’s calmer now, his raspberry scent sweetening, though still bruised.
Silas finallyreallylooks at me.
