Rock and A Hard Place (Cascade Brides Series) (20 page)

Faith found a reprieve in action. She needed the time to deal with
the truth burgeoning in her heart. Not the sparkly kind of truth,
but the scary, edge-of-the cliff variety.

The trail to the side of the lake was strewn with dead wood from
past storms, pushed into the dirt banks. Sunlight picked its way
through cloud breaks to dapple the water while a light breeze
skimmed the surface. On the other side of the water, she saw a doe
flit through the trees.

“Are you going to want to get some more shots?”

Faith nodded, thankful for the respite from his...persuasion,
whether it was his eyes or lips. Just because she kissed him didn't
mean she knew what in the world she was doing. A life as a veritable
hermit meant she didn't have much of a filter to sort out her
feelings.

Faith gulped. Talk about leaving her comfort zone. This was diploma
plus job worries plus sister issues squared. Or cubed. And what if
she went forward with what he was offering and it failed? Could she
deal with the consequences? Of not having Shane in her life?

Or even more terrifying—life with Shane. Her heart stood at the
edge of that cliff, and naturally she was more aware of the jagged
rocks below than the pretty birds soaring above. Faith's respiration
ramped up. This could get bad.

“Let me get a picture of you in front of the water.” Shane held
out his hand for her camera.

“Okay,” Faith said, jerked from her melodramatic thoughts—for
about three seconds. Maybe they could do that whole kissing thing
again. That might help.

Backing against a low ledge of flat rock and dead branches, he held
the camera up to his face. “Say cheese.”

“That's it? 'Say cheese'?” Faith felt a measure of her
self-imposed tension ease. “I thought Mr. Metaphor would have
something a little more original than that.”

“I can only hope I live up to your high expectations, Faith.”

She shook her head at his words, but couldn't suppress a smile.

He sent her a look that warmed her to her bones. “After this we'll
set the timer on this thing and get one of us together.”

The sun came out in a blaze of golden light. Faith looked up and saw
that the cloud front was moving away from the lake.

He looked up at the sky. “Looks like we'll have a sunny day after
all.”

“Yeah,” she said, distracted by the sight of him standing near
the bank, a happy smile on his face. Her metaphorical toes crept
closer to the crumbling edge. One swift wind might just knock her
all the way over...

Shane's brow furrowed and he twisted around. “Hold on, these
sticks are poking into my leg.” When he turned back to her, his
eyes appeared even darker in a face that had suddenly paled.
“Uh...we have a problem.”

Faith stared in confusion at first, then hurried to where he was
standing, alarmed by his stark expression.

Shane put his arm out to stop her. “Don't. They're rattlesnakes.”

Chapter Seventeen

Faith's heart seized up at his words. She went around the side of
him, shocked to find not one, but two Pacific rattlesnakes dangling
from his lower pant leg, their fangs caught in the fabric. Without
looking away from the snakes, Faith crouched down and scrabbled on
the ground for a branch. “Are...are they still in your skin?”

He shook his head, his face a grim mask. “I don't think so.”

She approached him with a stick and flung the snakes one by one into
the pile of twigs.

“They must've come out of the dead wood to sun themselves,”
Shane said in a hollow voice. “And they were probably so close to
the water because of the lack of rainfall.”

Faith ignored his rambling and grabbed his hand, leading him away
from the bank toward a tree surrounded only by bare dirt. No place
for snakes to hide.

She dug in her pocket and pulled out her phone, desperate to stifle
the panic mushrooming within her. When she opened the phone, the
display told her what she already suspected. No signal.

“Get my backpack,” Shane said, now beginning to perspire,
whether from shock or fear she didn't know. He leaned against the
tree.

Faith ran to his pack. “Don't sit down, Shane. You've got to stay
still and standing for the moment.” She unzipped his bag and
pulled out the first aid kit. Inside was a snake bite kit but the
small plastic pieces looked futile against the venom from a double
bite now coursing through his veins. Unless the bites were dry. She
scrutinized Shane's face. It was by turns pale, then red, all
covered in a sheen of perspiration. “Shane, you need to stay calm.
If you panic, it will only increase the speed of the venom in your
circulatory system.”

He nodded. “It sounded a lot easier when I read in it my first aid
manual.”

Faith hurried to his side and rolled up his pant leg. Two already
inflamed wounds, one in his calf, the other near his ankle, leaked
blood.

Oh, God
. She closed her eyes for a brief moment.
God, God,
God...amen
.

She looked up at him. “We're going to handle this, okay? I know
we're both scared, but between your uber-bravery and my baby steps,
we'll handle this.”

He smiled in acknowledgment but there was no humor in his eyes. What
she saw was something she'd seen too often reflected in her own.

Worst-case scenario.

With trembling fingers she pulled off his boot and begin the slow
process of suctioning the venom with the plastic bulb. Her mind
raced with implications of her each and every action. Why hadn't
they heard the warning rattle sound? The wind sighing through the
trees wasn't silent by any stretch, and maybe they'd been too
distracted.

Summer, not spring, was the breeding period. Rattlesnakes didn't
tend to congregate. This just had to be pure dumb luck. And being
next to a primo snake hiding place.

I have to get him back to the trail head where there's a chance
of a signal to call an ambulance
. But activity would make the
venom spread. And yet there was no getting around that. And even
though she knew death from snakebites was rare, it was absolutely
plausible to lose a limb.

Faith mashed her lips together when she realized the swelling was
increasing up Shane's leg. She pulled out the constrictor cord and
gently tied it above his knee, then swabbed the wounds with
antiseptic. It was all she could do for now.

“I gotta sit down,” Shane said.

She looked up at him, hoping the abject fear she felt did not appear
in her eyes. “We have to get back to the trail head.”

He stared at her, then blinked heavily. “I know.”

Faith replaced the kit in his backpack, then hoisted it and hers
onto her shoulder. She nudged him away from the tree. Torn between
wanting to run up the trail or breaking down in tears, she put her
arm around his waist, more for emotional support than physical, and
together they walked as fast as they dared.

As the trail ascended at a steep incline, Shane's heart had to pump
all that much harder. She was relatively familiar with the effects
of a single snake bite on a grown male, but two? It must be so much
worse because now and then, he stumbled heavily against her. She
gritted her teeth and urged him onward, all the while knowing the
activity sped the poison toward his heart. Step by step they
slogged, over roots and branches, pushing tree limbs out of the way.
Faith gulped oxygen as silent prayers sped heavenward. The trail
head was only about a hundred feet away when Shane collapsed,
pulling her down with him.

Breathing hard, she scrambled to her feet and grabbed at him. “You
have to get up! We're almost there!”

Shane's head sagged back, his eyes drifting closed. “Everything's
spinning too fast,” he rasped, sweat pouring off his forehead.

Faith retrieved her phone. Still no signal. Biting back a scream,
she grabbed him under his arms and pulled with all her might until
he was upright. In fits and starts, muscles straining, made it the
last hundred feet, the trip frantic and surreal. When she saw the
Jeep, she cried out in relief. One more check of her phone.

Service!

With Shane leaning hard against her as he struggled to stay upright,
Faith dialed 911. When the operator answered, she gripped the phone
hard. “I have a snakebite victim—Pacific rattlesnake. I need an
ambulance at the Strawberry Lake Basin, trail head 375. Hurry,
please, and make sure the ambulance has antivenin!” She wasn't
even sure they would have such a thing on the emergency vehicles,
but every second counted.

The operator asked her a few more questions, then ended the call.
Faith marshaled the last of her strength and pulled Shane the rest
of the way to the Jeep. She couldn't lay him down—the wounds had
to stay below his heart as much as possible, but her arm muscles
were in agony from her burden.

Once she opened the door and got him propped up on the floorboard of
the Jeep, his body leaning against the seat, she checked his pulse.
Despite his labored respiration, it only fluttered under his
fingers. No doubt he was in shock, which could be more deadly than
the venom. Faith found a blanket in the cab and covered his body,
grinding her teeth for every moment that passed without the sound of
an ambulance in the distance.

Shane groaned suddenly and struggled to open his eyes. He took in
his surroundings, confusion etched into his features. He turned his
bleary eyes on her. “You're so beautiful.” Then he leaned
forward and vomited.

Luckily the blanket took most of the hit. Faith folded it inward
when she was sure he was done, and after balling it up tight, tossed
it into the back of the Jeep. Was it the double dose of venom or
shock that affected him worse? She wracked her brain for first aid
knowledge.

If it was shock, he needed to be covered. Faith dug through the
first aid kit and found a space blanket. She spread it over Shane's
prone form as he watched her with bloodshot eyes.

“If that was your attempt at comic relief, then you failed,” she
said, desperate to keep the anxiety out of her voice.

Poor Shane couldn't even muster a smile. She wrung her hands and
fought back desperate tears.

Finally she heard the wail of the sirens, but whether they were near
or far, she couldn't tell by the way the sound ricocheted off the
mountains. Faith checked her watch. It had been approximately ninety
minutes since Shane had been bitten. They still had a long trip to
the hospital. Would her efforts be in vain?

It was now obvious there was something a whole lot worse than
contemplating a serious relationship with the man.

***

Faith watched the ambulance speed in front of her, the numbers and
letters on the back blurring as she struggled to keep pace in
Shane's Jeep. What were the EMTs doing inside? How was Shane? A
dozen different scenarios played out in her mind, from paralysis to
heart failure. Had the medics administered the antivenin in time?
Was Shane still unconscious? Had she done all she could? The details
were as fuzzy as the writing on the back of the ambulance.

At long last it pulled into the parking lot of the local hospital.
Faith knew she couldn't follow it into the emergency bay, so she
swung around and took the nearest parking spot to be found and
lunged from the cab. The bright sunlight and clear blue sky felt
like a jarring contrast compared to the dark fear swirling within.
After hurrying into the hospital lobby, it was time to wait. She'd
already passed on Shane's information to the EMTs. At this point,
she could only find a chair and sit. But she couldn't.

Pacing the waiting area, she pulled out her phone and called Merle.
It took forever for him to answer. But after giving him the
information, it seemed only moments later he was striding into the
lobby and pulling her into a hug.

“How are you holding up?” he asked, his blue eyes full of
concern.

“I'm fine,” she said, anxiety making her tone sharper than she
meant. “How soon do you think they'll let me see him?”

“Depends on how serious his injury was.”

“Two snakes, Merle,” she said grabbing his arm. “Who gets
bitten by two snakes at the same time?”

“I'm sure you did everything you could. And he's receiving
excellent care.”

“But what if—?”

He took her hand and pulled her to a chair. “Sit, and then we'll
pray.” Settling next to her, he bowed his head. After a long
pause, he spoke in a low voice. “Father, your word says that
whether we're in the depths or heights, we cannot flee from your
presence, that your right hand holds us fast. Please hold Shane in
your hands, heal him, and allow him to feel your presence. Give the
doctors wisdom. And help us hold onto You as fast as You hold onto
us.”

Faith opened her eyes and stared at him, wondering if the prayer was
more for her than Shane. “Amen,” she whispered.

Merle squeezed her hand before dropping it. She curled up in the
chair, trying to remember the moment Shane had kissed her by the
lake. Instead, his perplexed expression as he stood next to the
branches had seared itself into her memory. She should've said
something about avoiding piles of wood which were a favorite hiding
place for snakes—had she been thinking about their surroundings
instead of being solely focused on him. And so her thoughts went
round and round as the hours passed.

A nurse approached them about three hours later. “Miss Conrad?”

Faith nodded, studying the woman's face for any clues of the news to
come, but she hid any hints well, no doubt due to long years of
practice.

“The doctor has stabilized Mr. Zadopec and he needs to rest now.
But he's been asking for you, so we can allow you a few moments.”

Faith was already on her feet, followed by Merle, as they hurried
after the nurse. After traversing a maze of shiny halls, the nurse
ushered them into a room. Faith's breath hitched in her throat when
she saw Shane's usually tall, strong form diminished under yellowish
lights and a thin blanket. She ventured close to his bed and wrapped
her fingers around his hand. At the contact, his eyes opened.