Read Online The Alaskan Rescue by Dominique Burton - Free Book Online Page A

you please go get Ranger Powell for me? I don’t want to
leave my patient.”
    “I’ll go now.” Joe took off in the darkness.
    Cole took a deep breath and leaned over so he could get a
closer look at Sashi. Her face was covered with mud and blood. But even that
wasn’t enough to hide her classic beauty.
    Don’t lose your focus, Stevens. He
had to make sure she was hemodynamic for transportation to a hospital. Amazing
she’d survived the night. How many times had they found people who hadn’t
survived? He didn’t envy Trace making the call to Kendra’s family.
    “New York?” he said to her. “You must lie still so I can
examine you thoroughly. All right?”
    Her breathing evened out, and she nodded.
    Cole felt her neck and began to examine it for spinal cord
damage. He couldn’t find any. Just in case, he put her neck in a brace to keep
it immovable. Later she’d be given an MRI scan and looked over by a radiology
team.
    Sashi reached for his hand and held on. The strength in those
slender fingers surprised the hell out of him.
    “Sashi, you’re safe,” he said.
    “I know. You’re here now. It’s going to be okay.”
    Cole felt a huge mantle of responsibility as she said those
words. He’d always taken his job as a doctor seriously, but in that moment he
felt accountable for Sashi. He’d never felt like that before.
    He radioed the rescue operation. “Stevens here. I’ve found
Sashi Hansen alive and talking.”
    “Captain Hunter here. Do you need backup?”
    “I’ve sent out Joe Running Bear to bring in backup.” There were
audible cheers in the background over the two-way radio. “I need Captain Powell
to provide assistance.”
    He looked at Sashi as he explained the noise over the two-way.
“Can you hear that? Everyone is so excited you’ve been found.”
    She looked at him and nodded her head. “I just want to leave
the cave.” She rewarded him with a smile.
    “That’s what I want, too.” He gave her a wink.
    “I’m on my way, Cole. Over and out.” CJ clicked off.
    “I need you to tell me where you hurt the most.” He began
looking in her ears, mouth, nose and then he pressed on her stomach to check for
internal bleeding. She seemed okay.
    “Where do you hurt, Sashi?”
    Cole examined her left arm, removing the makeshift bandage and
looking at the gash. He used his stethoscope to make sure there was still a
pulse in the hand. “Can you move your fingers for me?” She wiggled them. She
would carry a scar on that arm the rest of her life, but the wound would
heal.
    “How can I assist?” CJ was in the cave ready to help. Joe was
with him.
    Relief flooded Cole. CJ Powell had just relocated to Alaska to
be a fire ranger and was a newly retired captain from the San Francisco Fire
Department. He still kept up on his paramedic skills to aid in search-and-rescue
operations. It was just the kind of help Cole needed to get Sashi out of here
alive and in good form.
    “Sashi, this is one of my best friends, CJ. He’s a great
paramedic, and you can trust him completely.”
    “Hello” was all she said.
    “CJ, why don’t you get over here and help me out with this
prima ballerina.”
    Sashi looked at him seriously. “What if I can never dance
again?”
    “Sashi, look at me.” She did so. “Never stop believing in
miracles. You are alive, miracle number one.”
    “How many miracles are we allowed in this life?”
    CJ jumped in. “A lot.”
    “Isn’t that greedy?
    “No,” Cole said. “I’m a doctor. I see miracles every day.”
    “Miracles surround us,” Joe chimed in. “Just look around.
You’ll see miracles everywhere. I never stop believing and never should
you.”
    “I’m going to ask you again where you hurt.” Cole was more
assertive this time.
    “My right lower leg,” she whispered. “I think it’s broken.” She
was agitated as she looked into Cole’s eyes. He saw a flash of determination. He
liked that. Despite her condition, she still had spunk.
    In one