Vasily moved toward her, but Malik stepped in.
“I’ve got her.” He scooped her into his arms and carried her into the elevator.
And then they were moving, machinery humming.
“You’d better not die on us, Viking,” Lev said.
The words brought Samantha’s eyes open. “Thor?”
Please, let him survive!
When the doors opened, it was organized chaos.
Malik lay Samantha down on a stretcher, concern on his face.
Someone covered her with a heated blanket.
“Stay awake, Samantha!” Ryan seemed to be in charge. He was talking into a radio. “They’re both hypothermic, but it looks like Isaksen has a bleeder in that GSW. Tell Decker to prep for emergency surgery. We’re on our way to medical.”
“He’s A positive.” That was Malik. “Do you have blood?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure we’ve got enough.”
Their words swirled around Samantha, but she understood, panic trilling through her. “Thor! Is he… Will he be okay?”
She couldn’t lose him—not Thor, too. She loved him.
“You’re going to be okay, Samantha.” Malik was there, one of four men carrying her stretcher toward the infirmary, the lights of the hallway sliding by overhead.
The next thing she knew, she was lifted onto a bed, something warm beneath her.
“You came to the right place to be treated for hypothermia. That’s one thing we do well here at the South Pole.” Ryan covered her with another warm blanket. “I’ll get an IV going for heated fluids. Start warmed oxygen.”
From nearby, she heard Decker. “Open those fluids wide. Warm all the A and O we have on station. Let’s prep for surgery.”
“Thor!” She couldn’t lose him.
Then her eyes closed, and her awareness faded.
22
Thor opened his eyes, fluorescent light above his bed making him blink, an oxygen mask on his face, the pain in his shoulder sharp.
“Thor?”
Samantha.
“Hey.” Warmth swelled in his chest at the sight of her, the sound of her voice.
She sat beside him, her hand resting on top of his, a blanket around her shoulders, a woolen hat on her head. One cheek was bruised and swollen, and there were patches of red on her face from frostbite. “How do you feel?”
“Det gøre fanden ondt.”It hurts like hell.
“In English maybe?”
“It … hurts.”
“I bet it does.” She raised her voice. “Kristi, when can he get more morphine?”