Page 49 of Healing Fate

“Just a broken leg. I almost have it healed.”

She gave me a weak smile and I looked around for Kyle, but he was working with a group to pull boulders away. I could see a foot sticking out through the mud.

“Shit. He didn’t tell me it was this bad.”

“Another collapse just after he spoke with you. There’s three men still buried over there. I’m trying to get to them as quickly as I can. Where’s Lucy?”

I paused for a moment not sure how to answer that. “At home with Vada.”

It sounded like something normal to say. I didn’t need Kelsey worrying about my state of mind or knowing how strenuous things were between us at the moment.

“When did you last eat?” I asked her.

“I don’t know. Breakfast I guess.”

I pulled out a protein bar and gave it to her.

“You’ll be no good to any of us if you wear yourself out.”

Kelsey was what we call a witch. Not like something you’d see on TV or even someone who practices witchcraft. A witch in the shifter world simply meant someone with extra powers. No one could explain why or how certain people obtained them. I assumed they were just born that way.

My Pack Mother had multiple gifts which were unheard of. I’d heard the stories of how she was born a triplet and inherited her sisters’ powers after their deaths. She was fiercely powerful. I would never wish to showdown with her.

One of her many talents was healing. Healers should be celebrated as far as I was concerned. At times like this she certainly made my life a whole lot easier. I could set a broken bone and with our expedited healing powers it would be good as new in a few days as long as I did my job right, but Kelsey could mend it in a matter of hours, sometimes even less.

It took a lot out of her physically though. While I was more than happy to accept her help, it was also my job to ensure she didn’t overdo it. Too much exertion of her powers always weakened her, sometimes for moments, sometimes for days. We had to maintain a balance.

The most critical cases I sent to Kelsey to stabilize. The things that weren’t life threatening came to me. We made a good team.

“You’re okay?”

“Fine. Go see Kyle. He’ll fill you in.”

“Don’t overdo it,” I warned her.

I ran over to discuss the situation with Kyle.

“Hey man. I just called Bravo team in to help, but I forgot they were leaving on a mission this morning and are already in the air. Delta team is about two hours out, but I’m not sure we can wait that long.”

He went on to explain how they had found one of the boys but as they were pulling him out, another rockslide came down trapping the boy again and several others as well.

There are two almost out here, and at least four plus the kid up where the others are working.

I could see them steadily moving boulders and tossing them to the side.

“All rocks are being thrown to the right.”

“Okay. Kelsey is stabilizing the last out here, so where can I help?”

Before Kyle could answer, someone in the upper section yelled down. “We need Doc. Got one, but he’s not breathing.”

I took off running before Kyle could give the order. I slipped a few times on my way up and I was covered head to toe in mud, but I got to work the second I saw my patient.

I never stopped to let it register who I was working on in a traumatic situation like this. It should never matter. My biggest priority was the patient in front of me. There weren’t enough victims to warrant a triage approach, so one at a time.

I took a deep breath, assessing the situation. His airways were blocked. I opened his mouth and saw it was packed with mud. I was horrified by the site but I couldn’t let myself react to it. Calm and steady. I cleared his mouth and checked his vitals. They were weak, but there. I immediately began chest compressions. He sputtered and choked as I rolled him to the side filled with relief.

This one had been easy. I only prayed the other cases would be as well.