“I do. Always. Find me. After.” Linc had to yell to be heard.
“Always.”
And then Jacob was gone, rushing over to the others as the chopper swooped low. Garrick was loaded first, two uniformed medics taking charge of his stretcher. Next Linc was transferred to a second gurney, leg strapped up. They were airborne almost before he had a chance to grab a breath, Jacob a pale dot on the creek bank, Linc’s heart left right there next to him. The crew working on Garrick kept up a constant chatter of medical jargon, but all Linc could focus on was the smoky canopy beneath them. If the fire took Jacob...
God, he couldn’t even finish that thought. Not before they talked. Not before he made things right. Not before he said all the things. Every thought Jacob hadn’t let him finish and all the others rattling around in his increasingly foggy brain. So much left unsaid. All he needed was a chance. A chance for Jacob and the crew left behind. A chance for himself. And a chance for them, a chance that maybe everything wasn’t already lost.
Chapter Twenty-One
Jacob hadn’t let Linc complete any of what he’d wanted to say. He’d had good reasons for not wanting to hash things out in the middle of a crisis, not wanting Linc to say things he’d later regret. However, as he watched the chopper leave, all those missing words loomed large in his mind.
Be okay, Linc. We’ll talk later, he promised the ashy sky as the helicopter disappeared over the horizon, and the rest of them settled in to wait for the second evac attempt. And for all he’d been short with Linc, he did intend to have the sort of lay-it-all-out conversation they were way overdue. He wasn’t giving up Linc without a fight, but he also couldn’t deny that he was still hurt and angry and frustrated and not sure he could trust heat-of-the-moment apologies. If Linc said what he most wanted to hear and then took it back...
Well, he simply wasn’t sure he could cope with that. The thought alone made his wrist ache worse and made his stomach churn to the point that when he was offered a protein bar he had to decline. He’d let his fears keep Linc at bay, and now that he was faced with the very real possibility of never hearing what he’d been about to say, he was almost sick with longing. Fucking fickle brain.
The helplessness of the wait got to him too. There was not much any of them could do to increase their chances of rescue. They were at the mercy of the wind and the fire, and they had to trust the other crews to do their best with the unpredictable conditions. After two aborted helicopter landing attempts, he wasn’t surprised when the call came down from Command to pack out farther, another long slog of hoping Linc was okay and that Garrick was alive. Everyone was similarly somber, not much small talk as they pressed on.
At the second extraction point, word came that Garrick had been stabilized in Bend and was on a life flight to Portland for further surgery. No word whether he’d lost the leg—Jacob knew he’d done the right thing with the tourniquet but it also increased the risk of amputation and permanent damage the longer it was in place. And no word about Linc’s condition either. Jacob presumed he wasn’t on the life flight, but there was a wide range between life-threatening beyond what the regional hospital could handle and out of danger entirely. He’d promised Linc he’d go to him, and he intended to keep that promise, but it was another two evacuation tries before he was en route to base on a bumpy ride over a fire that was increasingly contained, no thanks to the wind.
Then after the world’s fastest shower and clothing change, he had a debriefing with Sims and Alder about what had gone so wrong.
“Any new word on Nelson?” he asked cautiously as their questions came to an end.
“Touch and go.” Sims’s face was grave, her usual sternness blanketed with a heavy layer of concern. “His family’s been reached. We’ve got a retired jumper driving his father up to Portland, and his mother and sister are coming from Eugene.”
“And Li—Reid?”
“At the hospital in Bend. Ray’s family is seeing to his dogs. Speaking of Bend, we need to get your wrist x-rayed, no matter what you say about it being minor. It’s too late for the urgent care here in town. I’m heading to Bend to check on Reid. I’ll drop you at the ER.” She nodded like this plan was entirely reasonable, which it was, but hell if Jacob could rush to Linc with his boss on his heels. He’d have to actually go through the motions of getting his wrist looked at and hope for a sliver of quiet moment when he could see Linc.