The Best Of The Year - Medical Romance. Carol Marinelli

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      It was as if Jack had heard her thoughts. “It reminds me of an undertow. It just drags you down and carries you with it.”

      She nodded. She’d never been around the ocean very much but she could see how the two might be similar in nature. Whether you suffocated in the snow or drowned, it was the same death. The same terror.

      The man beneath them began struggling in earnest. “You need to lie still. You might have injuries we can’t see.”

      His sister shushed him and gave him a fierce frown. Whether he was just exhausted or had realized what he was doing, he did as they asked.

      “Can you zip his jacket back up?” Mira asked. “I don’t want him to get any colder than he already is.”

      EMS arrived on the scene—several squads of men from the looks of it—swarming toward them, stretchers either in tow or folded into packs that were strapped to their backs. It was slow going, though, because this section of the ski resort boasted steep inclines geared toward the most experienced of their guests. But the rescue workers were prepared, the snow cleats attached to their boots grabbing at the surface, whether snowy or slick, with each step they took.

      Jack climbed to his feet and made his way over to one of the workers, probably giving him an abbreviated version of what had happened.

      A moment later a megaphone sounded through the group. “If you’re with an avalanche victim, please raise your hand, and one of us will make our way to you.”

      Seven hands went up in all, including hers. Everyone was alive, from what she could tell.

      Mira glanced anxiously at Anson to see if they were having any luck. She’d assumed there were only seven victims. Had she missed one somehow?

      One of the emergency workers reached her. She recognized him. “Hi, Mike. Thanks.”

      “No problem. What’ve you got?”

      She quickly went through the rescue and then helped get a fresh set of vitals and stabilize the patient’s neck. Mike took the pack off his back and unfolded it into a kind of stretcher-sled combo that could be eased down the hill.

      Jack helped with another victim, while a handful of ski instructors helped with some of the others.

      From around a hundred yards away Anson’s dog gave a quick set of plaintive barks that sent a shiver through her. He’d found someone. She glanced down at her watch then closed her eyes and said a short prayer. Twenty minutes.

      It had seemed like no time at all, they’d all been working so hard, and yet for whoever was buried it had been an eternity.

      Jack reached Anson first and they went to work, shoveling snow. Mira cleared her current patient and got to her feet, giving the victim’s sister a quick smile of encouragement to hide her own anxious heart. She made her way toward the pair, who’d now stopped digging. They’d located whoever it was.

      Jack hopped down into the depression in the snow and did some quick maneuvering before his head disappeared as he knelt. In less than a minute he climbed back out again. Even from there she could see his tight jaw. The way he shook his head at Anson.

       Oh, no!

      She stopped where she was, her eyes shutting for a second or two. Then she wrenched her lids apart. There was still time. The snow could slow body processes down for a while. Jack knew nothing about the mountains, he could assume things that weren’t necessarily true.

      Surely Anson wouldn’t give up that easily. Anger unfurled within her and she moved quicker, her boots slipping a time or two as she tried to run through the drifts.

      They were wasting time!

      When she reached the pair, she snarled at them, “Help me get the victim up.”

      “It’s too late.” Jack grabbed her arm.

      “It’s not. The snow sometimes lowers the body temperature so that...” She glanced down at the victim and her words caught in her throat.

      Snow-clouded eyes stared up at them from about three feet beneath the surface. And his neck...

      She swallowed. Jack was right. There was nothing they could do.

      The dog whined a time or two and pawed at the snow as if he didn’t understand what they were waiting for. Anson dropped a hand onto the animal’s head and gave him a quick scratch behind the ears, although when his eyes met hers they were grim. How often had the rescuer gone in search of a live person and come back with a body instead?

      “Damn.” She scrubbed her palms over her cheeks, surprised to find them moist and cold. “Let’s get the others out first.” She lowered her voice. “No one has mentioned not finding someone, and by now everyone at the resort must know about the avalanche. He’s either here alone or someone’s waiting back in one of the guest rooms. We’ll need to see if he has some ID.”

      Jack came over to stand beside her. “Even if we’d found him sooner, it wouldn’t have changed anything. You know that, right?” He put an arm around her and squeezed her shoulders. “There wasn’t enough time to clear the slopes before it hit, even if we’d started across right after you noticed the first movement.”

      “I know.” She couldn’t stop herself from leaning a little closer, and then glanced over at Anson. “Thank you for coming.”

      “Any possibility that anyone else could be under here?”

      “I tried to keep count as the avalanche came down. I thought there were only seven people buried, but...” she motioned toward the victim “...this makes eight.”

      Anson nodded. “I’ll go ask at the lobby to see if anyone is missing and then do one more sweep of the area.” He paused. “I don’t want to leave until we’re sure everyone is out.”

      “Agreed,” Mira said. “While you’re at it, can you ask Security to start contacting the guests to make sure everyone is accounted for? My dad should be back by now.”

      “No problem.”

      “Thanks again.”

      As she watched Anson and his dog head down the slope, a shudder swept through her body. She was freezing cold, even with all her gear on.

      Jack pulled her closer and eased her several yards to the right, away from the poor avalanche victim. Most of the other patients had either been transported or were in the process of being loaded onto stretchers. “You need to get back to the lodge.”

      “Not before everyone is out. It’s part of my job—and it’s the right thing to do.” She straightened. “But you go ahead. Thanks. You’re not having much of a vacation, are you?”

      “That’s okay. Wasn’t my idea to take a vacation in the first place.”

      He’d mentioned that before. Who came to a ski resort against their will?

      A horrible thought came to her. “Are you married?”

      He pulled back, dropping his arm from her shoulders and meeting СКАЧАТЬ