I started to speak, but Ian put his fingers on my lips.
“All right,” Doc agreed. “I’ll tie him down, if you want.”
“If we have to. Is it okay to move her?” Ian glanced toward the tunnel, his face anxious.
Doc hesitated.
“No,” I whispered, Ian’s fingers still touching my mouth. “Walter. I want to be here for Walter.”
“You’ve saved all the lives you can save today, Wanda,” Ian said, his voice gentle and sad.
“I want to say… to say good—goodbye.”
Ian nodded. Then he looked at Jared. “Can I trust you?”
Jared’s face flushed with anger. Ian held up his hand.
“I don’t want to leave her here unprotected while I find her a safe place,” Ian said. “I don’t know if Kyle will be conscious when he arrives. If Jeb shoots him, it will upset her. But you and Doc should be able to handle him. I don’t want Doc to be on his own, and force Jeb’s hand.”
Jared spoke through clenched teeth. “Doc won’t be on his own.”
Ian hesitated. “She’s been through hell in the past couple of days. Remember that.”
Jared nodded once, teeth still clamped together.
“I’ll be here,” Doc reminded Ian.
Ian met his gaze. “Okay.” He leaned over me, and his luminous eyes held mine. “I’ll be back soon. Don’t be afraid.”
“I’m not.”
He ducked in and touched his lips to my forehead.
No one was more surprised than I, though I heard Jared gasp quietly. My mouth hung open as Ian wheeled and nearly sprinted from the room.
I heard Doc pull a breath in through his teeth, like a backward whistle. “Well,” he said.
They both stared at me for a long moment. I was so tired and sore, I barely cared what they were thinking.
“Doc —” Jared started to say something in an urgent tone, but a clamor from the tunnel interrupted him.
Five men struggled through the opening. Jeb, in front, had Kyle’s left leg in his arms. Wes had the right leg, and behind them, Andy and Aaron worked to support his torso. Kyle’s head lolled back over Andy’s shoulder.
“Stars, but he’s heavy,” Jeb grunted.
Jared and Doc sprang forward to help. After a few minutes of cursing and groaning, Kyle was lying on a cot a few feet away from mine.
“How long has he been out, Wanda?” Doc asked me. He pulled Kyle’s eyelids back, letting the sunlight shine into his pupils.
“Um…” I thought quickly. “As long as I’ve been here, the ten minutes or so it took Ian to carry me here, and then maybe five more minutes before that?”
“At least twenty minutes, would you say?”
“Yes. Close to that.”
While we were consulting, Jeb had made his own diagnosis. No one paid any attention as he came to stand at the head of Kyle’s cot. No one paid any attention—until he turned an open bottle of water over Kyle’s face.
“Jeb,” Doc complained, knocking his hand away.
But Kyle sputtered and blinked, and then moaned. “What happened? Where did it go?” He started to shift his weight, trying to look around. “The floor… is moving.…”
Kyle’s voice had my fingers clenching the sides of my cot and panic washing through me. My leg ached. Could I limp away? Slowly, perhaps…
“’S okay,” someone murmured. Not someone. I would always know that voice.
Jared moved to stand between my cot and Kyle’s, his back to me, his eyes on the big man. Kyle rolled his head back and forth, groaning.
“You’re safe,” Jared said in a low voice. He didn’t look at me. “Don’t be afraid.”
I took a deep breath.
Melanie wanted to touch him. His hand was close to mine, resting on the edge of my cot.
Please, no, I told her. My face hurts quite enough as it is!
He won’t hit you.
You think. I’m not willing to risk it.
Melanie sighed; she yearned to move toward him. It wouldn’t have been so hard to bear if I weren’t yearning also.
Give him time, I pleaded. Let him get used to us. Wait till he really believes.
She sighed again.
“Aw, hell!” Kyle grumbled. My gaze flickered toward him at the sound of his voice. I could just see his bright eyes around Jared’s elbow, focused on me. “It didn’t fall!” he complained.
CHAPTER 34
Buried
Jared lunged forward, away from me. With a loud smacking sound, his fist hit Kyle’s face.
Kyle’s eyes rolled back in his head, and his mouth fell slack.
The room was very quiet for a few seconds.
“Um,” Doc said in a mild voice, “medically speaking, I’m not sure that was the most helpful thing for his condition.”
“But I feel better,” Jared answered, sullen.
Doc smiled the tiniest smile. “Well, maybe a few more minutes of unconsciousness won’t kill him.”
Doc began looking under Kyle’s lids again, taking his pulse…
“What happened?” Wes was by my head, speaking in a murmur.
“Kyle tried to kill it,” Jared answered before I could. “Are we really surprised?”
“Did not,” I muttered.
Wes looked at Jared.
“Altruism seems to come more naturally to it than lies,” Jared noted.
“Are you trying to be annoying?” I demanded. My patience was not waning, but entirely gone. How long had it been since I’d slept? The only thing that ached worse than my leg was my head. Every breath hurt my side. I realized, with some surprise, that I was in a truly bad mood. “Because if you are, then be assured, you have succeeded.”