Allison Brennan - If I Should Die

He closed his eyes again. He thought he heard Lucy talking, but it was far away.

“Sean? Hang tight. Okay?” Kneeling at the edge. Lucy braced herself when she heard no answer. She squeezed back tears. She was usually so much better at closing off her emotions, but Sean was in a bad way and she was pretty certain he’d passed out again.

From behind her, Tim said, “Lucy, let’s get my gear.”

She didn’t want to leave Sean, but the faster they gathered the equipment, the faster she could get down there and check out his injuries. A dislocated shoulder she could fix. But there was more. No one could fall that far unscathed. His arm or leg could be broken. His back. He could have a concussion. He wasn’t responsive, and that worried her more than the shoulder.

Tim’s truck wasn’t far, and he had plenty of rope and mountain gear. “I only have one harness,” he said. “I’ll lower you down, and you strap Sean in and I’ll pull him up.”

“How can you do it alone?”

“Alone?” He patted his truck. “I have a winch.”

She tried to smile, but it felt unnatural and forced.

Tim squeezed her arm. “We’ll get him out. He’s going to be fine.”

She had to believe it.

Lucy watched Tim’s vehicle cautiously approach the mine shaft. There weren’t many trees blocking access, but the bushes and fallen branches left over from winter storms made it cumbersome even for the large four-wheel drive. Finally, the truck was in place.

Tim called down. “Sean? You doing okay?”

“Yep.” His voice was faint.

Lucy checked Tim’s equipment. The harness was simple and lightweight, primarily used for rappelling, not rescue. But it had a metal ring to attach the rope, essential to Sean’s release since he wouldn’t be able to pull himself out.

She strapped on the harness, attached the rope, and checked all the buckles.

“You’ve done this before.” Tim handed her a small flashlight.

“Only in training. My specialty is water rescue, not getting-my-boyfriend-out-of-a-mine-shaft rescue.” Her attempt at humor was weak, but Tim smiled.

She quickly rappelled down the side of the mine shaft. She landed hard, but kept her balance.

“Impressive,” Sean said, his voice strained.

“I live to impress you,” Lucy said as she removed the harness. She wasn’t one for playful banter, especially when she was so tense, but it relaxed Sean. Little light made it down this far and she turned on the flashlight.

He’d pulled himself into a slumped position against the rock and dirt wall. She smelled blood, and looked at Sean. Wood protruded from his leg, and his jeans were soaked in blood. She averted her eyes, just for a second, to gather her strength.

“You smell like smoke,” Sean said.

“I got a little dirty putting the fire out.”

“You okay?”

“Much better than you,” she said. “I think-” She hesitated, a familiar smell flitting under her nose. She breathed in, smelling mostly soot and her own sweat. She exhaled and breathed in deeply.

Then she identified it.

A decomposing body.

Lucy had worked for a year in the morgue; she knew what a dead body smelled like. This was subtle, but still putrid, likely from the dampness in the tunnels as well as bacteria and molds that feed on body tissue and organs in such an environment. It smelled like cold storage, when organic matter breaks down extremely slowly.

It’s probably an animal. A large animal .

It was much colder down here than on the surface. How cold did it stay in the summer months? She had no idea. But it was spring now, and if someone had fallen into this pit last year, the body could have frozen and just now started to thaw.

She pulled a more powerful flashlight from her backpack and shined it around the area. There was little except broken wood, some old, rusty tools, and a pitch-black corridor leading off the mine shaft-no telling how long the tunnel was or where it led. But no dead body in sight.

“You’re not thinking of exploring the caves?” Sean said, half-joking.

“Of course not.”

She knelt next to him and stared at his leg.

“It’s just a splinter,” Sean joked without humor. Then he said, “It hurts, but not half as much as my arm.”

She inspected his dislocated shoulder. She wasn’t a doctor, and would have at first thought it was broken. But she trusted Sean’s assessment. “We’ll have to secure it-”

“Just pop it back in.”

Lucy stared at Sean under the flashlight, which made his face appear extremely pale. A sheen of sweat coated him even though it was frigid. “What?” She knew exactly what he meant, but hoped he wasn’t asking her to do it.

“Duke usually helps. You have to-”

“I know what to do, but I don’t want to.”

She sounded childish. Adjusting a dislocated shoulder was agonizing, and she didn’t want to hurt Sean.

“I can’t do it alone, Luce. I need you.”

She let out a long breath. “Okay.” She had no a choice.

“Do it fast.”

“Hold this.” She handed him the flashlight.

“Relax.”

Sean tensed. “Maybe-”

“ Relax ,” she repeated. “If you’re tense I could damage something. You have enough injuries as it is.”

“Okay.” She felt him try to calm his muscles, but he began shivering. It was cold down here, and his injuries and blood loss could put him into shock.

“Count to three, okay?” she said.

“All right.” She didn’t touch him yet, but positioned her hands so she could push and twist the shoulder back into place in one smooth move. “One,” Sean began and forced his body to relax.

She grasped Sean’s shoulder with one hand and pushed against his chest to hold his body against the cave wall. She pushed and barely heard the bone pop back into place over his sudden scream.

She bit back her own cry. He was right-it had to be done-but she didn’t have to like it.

Sean’s eyes squeezed shut and the muscles on his neck stood out. He’d dropped the flashlight and it rolled a few feet away, casting a ghostly light over their surroundings.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” she said.

Sean was shaking. She took a blanket from her backpack and put it over his chest. She didn’t want to accidentally bump the wood in his leg. He grabbed her hand and squeezed.

“It’s okay,” he whispered through clenched teeth.

“I hate to hurt you.” She held a water bottle to his lips and he sipped.

She sat with him for a long minute. Dislocated shoulders were painful, but putting them back in place was twice as bad. Fortunately, other than general soreness, the pain dissipated quickly.

He swallowed, drank more water, then breathed deeply. “Better.”

“Your head-”

“Yes, I probably have a mild concussion. I was knocked out for a minute or three. But other than a growing bump on the side of my head and a whopper of a headache, it’s fine. Not even bleeding.”

“Much.” She wetted a clean piece of gauze and wiped dried blood and dirt from his scalp and face. Sean was so much like her brothers-take a beating and still get up fighting, even when they needed to lay low for a while. “I’m keeping an eye on you tonight, since I’m pretty certain you won’t let me take you to a hospital.”

“I’d have to be unconscious before you could get me anywhere near a hospital.”

“I need to take care of your leg,” she said. “Drink some more water.”

“Bossy nurse, aren’t you?”

She smiled. “I’m sure you’re not a model patient.”

“I’ll be a great patient. Especially if I’m bedridden with you.”

She snorted. “One-track mind.”

“We’re still on vacation, Princess.” He paused and gave her a half-smile. “We were on vacation, until someone nearly burned down the lodge. You know what this means, right?”