“Copy that, O’Neal.”
He ended the call, walked back to Shanti, who sat where he’d left her, watching him. “On your feet. We’re heading west to the border, hoping to make good time before the villages in the area wake up. Keep the robes on. We might need them later.”
She stood, shouldered her handbag. “I’m ready.”
He chuckled, kissed her forehead. “You are amazing.”
Walking near a river at night came with its own risks. Elephants weren’t the only animals that came down to the water to drink.
They followed the river until it bent northward then slipped into a stand of trees and made their way around a small village heading due west. Then the moon slipped behind clouds, and the world went dark, Connor unable to see the tip of his rifle barrel. There were no streetlights, no headlights from cars, nothing to show the way.
Yeah, he was going to demand that NVGs make it into their emergency gear.
Despite the risk, he took out the flashlight once again, but it flickered out within a half hour, the batteries spent. He would add spare batteries to his list of changes.
More than once, Connor raised his rifle just to use the scope, trying to pick a safe path. “Let’s slow down. I don’t want—”
Shanti cried out.
Connor turned to find her on the ground, her foot trapped in a jumble of tree roots. He dropped his pack, knelt to see.Fuck. “Can you pull it out?”
She nodded, her teeth clenched. But when she tried, her eyes went wide with pain, and she sank against him, stifling a scream in his robes. “I can’t! It hurts too much.”
“It’s okay.”
It wasn’t okay. They’d gone maybe six of those sixteen kilometers and had a lot of distance to make before dawn.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Hey, it’s not your fault.” He cupped her face between his palms, saw panic and desperation in her eyes. “You couldn’t see. We were moving too fast. It could’ve been me. I’m still going to get you home whatever it takes. Do you hear me?”
She nodded. “I trust you.”
He made short work of sawing through the roots then put the tool away and took Shanti’s ankle into his hands, doing his best to be gentle.
She winced. “It really hurts.”
“I believe it. It’s broken. Your tibia snapped right above your ankle.”
“How am I going to walk?”
“You won’t. I’m going to carry you.”
He pulled out the first aid kit and took out the flexible SAM splint. “I have to leave your boot on, but I think I can make this work.”
He set her foot down in the center of the splint. “This might hurt.”
“Oh, good, because it totally doesn’t hurt now.” She still had her sense of humor.
He wrapped one side across the top of her foot and around her ankle, then did the same with the other half, going in the opposite direction, her gasp of pain cutting at him.
Goddamn it!
When the splint was in place, he took out a rolled bandage and wrapped it around the splint to hold it fast. “I’ve got morphine, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen for pain. The morphine will take it all away, but it might make you sick or knock you out.”
“No morphine. Let me try to walk.” She struggled to stand.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He helped her up.