His Motherless Little Twins by Dianne Drake Page B

should a search become necessary.
    â€œDr. Ramsey called us. His ETA is two minutes,” Redmond informed her.
    â€œHow?” she said, then looked up as Redmond pointed to the helicopter coming into view.
    By the time it had landed on the east lawn, which had been cleared of guests by another one of the lodge workers, Dinah had Troy’s feet propped up, and had him well tucked into his blankets. His pulse was still too fast, too thready, and he wasn’t responding at all to her attempts to rouse him by calling his name or by pinching him. It was a serious head injury, possible fracture, with bleeding and swelling. She was convinced of it.
    â€œAny change?” Eric shouted. He was running hard in her direction, carrying a medical bag.
    â€œNo response.”
    He dropped to his knees, and handed his medical bag over to her. Immediately she went for the blood-pressure cuff. Thirty seconds later, she looked over at him. “It’s ninety over sixty.” Too low.
    â€œPupils are responsive, but very slow,” Eric said.
    Bad sign. But not the worst-case scenario by a long shot.
    â€œSo was he coherent when you found him?”
    â€œHe was walking…more like staggering up the trail.” She pointed to the south end of the lawn. “I watched him for a while because he seemed to be moving so slowly. But I didn’t know he was injured. Then as he made the clearing, even though I couldn’t tell, I had the feeling that something wasn’t right. So I ran down there, and he…he collapsed. Wanted me to tell his brother and dad. At least that’s what I thought hewanted. But, Eric, I might be wrong. I have this hunch that his dad and brother are out there somewhere, and he was the one who was coming for help.”
    â€œDamn,” Eric muttered. He looked up at Redmond. “Does anyone here know for sure? Has anyone seen his family?”
    â€œWe’re tracking them down now. Nobody’s at the cabin, but one of our guests saw the mother and daughter go off together earlier. Didn’t see the father and sons, though. So I’ve got my people knocking on doors right now.”
    â€œThen they could be out there?” Dinah asked, looking out to the vast expanse of woods around her, and the never-ending mountains beyond that.
    â€œI’m going to send him down to the hospital right now, go down there with him, then I’m coming back, getting Neil up here with me, and we’re going to start a search and rescue, unless I hear something different in the meantime.” He motioned over two of the hotel workers, instructed them to retrieve the stretcher from the helicopter then he made a phone call to the hospital. Two minutes later Troy Dawson, who’d yet to regain consciousness, was on his way to the helicopter, while Eric lagged behind for a moment. “I think I may have to take a rain check on that dinner later on,” he said, grabbing his medical bag and spinning away.
    â€œI want to do this,” Dinah said, practically running to keep up with him. She was tall, but her strides didn’t come close to matching Eric’s, especially when he was in a hurry.
    â€œWhat?” he shouted, the noise of the helicopter getting louder the closer they got.
    â€œHelp with the rescue,” she shouted back. “I want to be part of it.” Because she felt obligated. Because Troy had been trying to tell her something and she hadn’t been able to keep him conscious long enough to find out what. Hadn’t been able to hold on to Molly long enough…
    â€œCan you find the trail he came up on?” he yelled, then motioned her away as he climbed into the helicopter. “That could get us off to a faster start if we know where to start looking.”
    She was still nodding when the helicopter lifted off, watching it disappear over the older Sister in a matter of seconds. She had to find the trail… First thing she did was run to