If I Should Die_ A Novel of Suspense - Allison Brennan [11]
It’s probably an animal. A large animal.
It was much colder down here than on the surface. How cold did it stay in the summer months? She had no idea. But it was spring now, and if someone had fallen into this pit last year, the body could have frozen and just now started to thaw.
She pulled a more powerful flashlight from her backpack and shined it around the area. There was little except broken wood, some old, rusty tools, and a pitch-black corridor leading off the mine shaft—no telling how long the tunnel was or where it led. But no dead body in sight.
“You’re not thinking of exploring the caves?” Sean said, half-joking.
“Of course not.”
She knelt next to him and stared at his leg.
“It’s just a splinter,” Sean joked without humor. Then he said, “It hurts, but not half as much as my arm.”
She inspected his dislocated shoulder. She wasn’t a doctor, and would have at first thought it was broken. But she trusted Sean’s assessment. “We’ll have to secure it—”
“Just pop it back in.”
Lucy stared at Sean under the flashlight, which made his face appear extremely pale. A sheen of sweat coated him even though it was frigid. “What?” She knew exactly what he meant, but hoped he wasn’t asking her to do it.
“Duke usually helps. You have to—”
“I know what to do, but I don’t want to.”
She sounded childish. Adjusting a dislocated shoulder was agonizing, and she didn’t want to hurt Sean.
“I can’t do it alone, Luce. I need you.”
She let out a long breath. “Okay.” She had no a choice.
“Do it fast.”
“Hold this.” She handed him the flashlight.
“Relax.”
Sean tensed. “Maybe—”
“Relax,” she repeated. “If you’re tense I could damage something. You have enough injuries as it is.”
“Okay.” She felt him try to calm his muscles, but he began shivering. It was cold down here, and his injuries and blood loss could put him into shock.
“Count to three, okay?” she said.
“All right.” She didn’t touch him yet, but positioned her hands so she could push and twist the shoulder back into place in one smooth move. “One,” Sean began and forced his body to relax.
She grasped Sean’s shoulder with one hand and pushed against his chest to hold his body against the cave wall. She pushed and barely heard the bone pop back into place over his sudden scream.
She bit back her own cry. He was right—it had to be done—but she didn’t have to like it.
Sean’s eyes squeezed shut and the muscles on his neck stood out. He’d dropped the flashlight and it rolled a few feet away, casting a ghostly light over their surroundings.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” she said.
Sean was shaking. She took a blanket from her backpack and put it over his chest. She didn’t want to accidentally bump the wood in his leg. He grabbed her hand and squeezed.
“It’s okay,” he whispered through clenched teeth.
“I hate to hurt you.” She held a water bottle to his lips and he sipped.
She sat with him for a long minute. Dislocated shoulders were painful, but putting them back in place was twice as bad. Fortunately, other than general soreness, the pain dissipated quickly.
He swallowed, drank more water, then breathed deeply. “Better.”
“Your head—”
“Yes, I probably have a mild concussion. I was knocked out for a minute or three. But other than a growing bump on the side of my head and a whopper of a headache, it’s fine. Not even bleeding.”
“Much.” She wetted a clean piece of gauze and wiped dried blood and dirt from his scalp and face. Sean was so much like her brothers—take a beating and still get up fighting, even when they needed to lay low for a while. “I’m keeping an eye on you tonight, since I’m pretty certain you won’t let me take you to a hospital.”
“I’d have to be unconscious before you could get me anywhere near a hospital.”
“I need to take care of your leg,” she said. “Drink some