Page 66 of Double Exposure

Chapter Eighteen

Jade Choi

The sound of metal smashing into bone is gut wrenching. Carter moved with such speed it was hard to understand what had just happened. One minute I’m standing in the center of some hell and the next, I’m pushed out the way, flung four feet from metallic jaws. I landed hard on the snow and mud, in time to see the trap fly from the ground and snap his leg.

He just stood there for a moment, panting. I scrambled to my feet.

You promised nothing would happen. And then I realized he told the truth: he promised nothing would happen to me.

Just getting Carter to sit down feels like a victory. If I glance at the trap that mangled his leg, I’ll lose focus, so I don’t look.

The amount of blood is terrifying and it happened immediately. The ground under him is crimson.

Though trained, I’ve never had to tourniquet anyone before. All I know is you can bleed out before you can suffocate.

That fact alone keeps me sitting right by his side. I feel like a machine, going through the motions. When I call Brock a second time, my hand only shakes when I press the phone to Carter’s ear and I know they are talking about him bleeding out.

I get it. The worst thing we could do is remove his leg from the trap. But Brock drives it home during the second call.

“Do not try to remove the trap. I know it looks bad, but the bleeding will be uncontrolled. Is the GPS turn on?”

I glance at “Setting.” “Yes.”

“We’ll be there in ten minutes. You are doing good, Jade,” he says.

I slip the phone back into my pocket and turn to Carter.

“Eight minutes, I say.”

He nods. He keeps his head up and sets it against the back of the tree. He swallows and his Adam's apple moves. “I'm so sorry. What a fuckup.”

“There’s nothing you could have done.” I kiss him again, trying very hard not to touch him, not to jostle anything. “You promised me I would be okay. I didn’t know that meant you were going to literally step in for me.”

“It wasn’t the plan.”

I know if it had been me, my leg would have been snapped in half.

His breathing suddenly grows erratic and he slumps forward. I push him back against the tree. I squat down in front of him and check the cell phone. Five minutes to go. To my relief, his eyes open but they are not focusing—they’re glazed. This, coupled with the intense pallor of his skin, makes my heart leap.

“Hey,” I say, grabbing his head again. Finding his gaze, locking mine to his, is hard. He keeps slipping away, closing his eyes, mumbling things I can’t quite understand.

I don’t want to take off a glove to check his pulse—I’m afraid I won’t be able to get it back on. Instead, I unzip his coat and sneak a bare hand under his shirt. I feel the muscles and skin of his chest and then, slightly, feebly, the flutter of a heartbeat.

It’s fast. Too fast.

I kneel next to him and zip him up again. His lips are blue. Then his eyes open. He’s breathing in short, shallow breaths and his stubble stands out from his face. I tell myself pain can make someone go into shock.

“IsBrockcoming?” His voice is thick, the words garbled.

“Yes. Three minutes now.” I hear the whir of the helicopter in the distance.

His pants are soaked with blood. I know I should release the tourniquet straps and let blood circulate for thirty seconds, but I’m afraid to. The snow smells like heated iron.

When I hear voices, I stand up too fast and half to take a step back. When my vision clears, there is still no sign of them. And I can’t hear the helicopter. What if they missed us? I told them about a tenth of a mile past the metal box. There was a lag on the phone when I delivered this news.

I’m the sixth person to know about their box and this was not lost on Brock. I check again to make sure the emergency GPS is turned on. I kneel one more time and slip my hand against his chest. In the two minutes since I last checked, his skin has turned to ice. His heart skips, trembles, flutters beneath my fingertips. I hold my breath, forcing the terror I’m feeling down to some other part of myself. I can only hope that his brothers get here in time.

He moans and his face tips into my hair. “Iloveyou Jade Choi.”