Breaking Her No-Dating Rule. Amalie Berlin
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to do besides tingle and lust after Ole Yeller.
A specific list of things, in fact, to look for when checking these people out.
As the group gathered around the fireplace and the hats and goggles came off, she got a good look at how beaten down they all were. Exhausted. Weak. All of them, both the rescuers and the rescued. But those who didn’t do this for a living, the ones who’d been helpless and still had a missing friend, looked blank. It was the same shell-shocked expression she’d seen on the faces of victims of natural disasters—earthquakes, mudslides, and floods. Being lost in a snowstorm probably counted …
Her people stood around, waiting for her. Follower to leader for one day—no wonder they didn’t know what to do. She was supposed to be leading them. Her list of things had hypothermia at the very top as the most important situation to remedy.
“Okay, guys, we need to help everyone get out of their snow suits and boots. Get the hot blankets on them. And hot beverages. Hot cocoa …” she corrected. Everyone liked cocoa, and it was loaded with calories they no doubt needed after their harrowing day.
While the employees did as she asked, Ellory backtracked to the Angry Dog Man. He seemed much more leader-like than she felt, so he got the questions.
In hushed tones, she asked, “Where is the other one?”
He frowned, his left hand lifting to his right shoulder to grip and squeeze through the thick coat he wore. “The other one tried to get back to the lodge when these four wanted to stay put.”
“Where were they?”
“South Mine.”
Ellory winced. The terrain around the mines was left rugged on purpose in the hope of discouraging exploration by guests. The mines weren’t safe, and signs announced that, but they could serve as shelter in a pinch. A very dangerous pinch.
“Did you see a trail or any sign of him?” Mira would want to know everything, so she tried to anticipate questions.
“There is a trail, but it’s the one that they followed in. If he’s wise and we’re lucky, he’ll follow it back. There’s still a chance that he’ll make it back to the lodge while we’re out looking for him. If he does, I need you to call on the radio and let me know. It was impossible to take the snowmobiles directly along that trail, but we’re going to go back out and look. We’ll take a quick peek in the mines between here and there, and hit South Mine again in case he went back to where they all were.”
“After the storm?”
“No.” He looked back and called to the group, all of whom had dove into the drinks and stew to fortify themselves. “Ten minutes and then we’re going back out.”
“You can’t!” Ellory said, much louder than she’d intended. She tried again, quieter, calmer than she felt. “The storm is going to get really bad.”
“We have some time.” His voice had a gravelly sound that sent warm sparks over her ears, almost like a touch. That kind of voice would sound crazy sexy in whispers, hot breath on her ear … Raspy and …
“I’m sorry, what did you say? I think I misheard you.” Or hadn’t heard him at all. God, she had to do better than this.
“Are you a doctor?” he repeated.
“No.” It was time for him to figure out she wasn’t important, or capable of handling this.
“Where’s Dr. Dupris?”
She noticed him looking back at the people in front of the fire, all out of their suits now, which meant time for step two.
Ellory spun and headed for the guests, expecting him to follow. “She’s here, but I’m like triage or something. I have a list of things to wake her up for. And we have water heated in case there were any frostbite cases. Also I read that heating the feet would help get the body temperatures up fast. Actually, I have the saunas roaring too if that would help. I just wasn’t sure whether or not that would be a bad thing or a good thing, and it wasn’t in the books. Do you know?” She didn’t stop, just threw the question out and then went on.
Since the staff had handled her warming requests, she headed for the smallest member of the party, a petite, pixie-like woman who wasn’t drinking her cocoa … and who held her hands above her lap as if they were hurting.
His stride longer, he overtook her and scooped up a stethoscope as he passed the tray of first-aid and examination supplies she’d laid out and slung the thing around his neck. Catching it caused a brief flash of pain on his handsome features. He ignored the pain, but Ellory noticed. That was her real job: Physio and massage therapy. Just not today.
He wasn’t the concern right now. He’d been mostly warm when out there in it, though his cheeks looked chapped from the winter winds …
She reached down to gently lift one of the woman’s arms to get a better look at her fingers. “What’s your name, honey?”
“Chelsea,” she answered, teeth chattering. “My fingers and toes burn. Like they’re on fire.”
“Socks off, everyone. Time to check extremities.” Chelsea’s fingertips were really red. Ellory didn’t want to touch them, but she didn’t really know enough about medicine not to investigate fully. Maybe frostbite started with redness?
Gingerly, she wrapped her hands over Chelsea’s fingertips, causing the freezing woman to gasp in pain but confirming that they were indeed hot. This wasn’t frostbite. Though that was probably going to be the next stage. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, and let go of the hands, her gaze drifting down to where Angry Leader had knelt at Chelsea’s feet, which he now examined. Her toes were exactly the opposite in color from her fingertips: an unnatural, disturbing, somewhat corpse-like white.
That might be a good reason to call Mira …
“Is that—?” She hadn’t got the question out before he nodded and looked Chelsea in the eye.
“My name is Dr. Graves. Anson, if you prefer. I’ll even tell you my middle name later if you need some more names to cuss me with … This isn’t going to be pleasant. We have to warm your feet fast,” Anson said, his raspy voice much gentler with the woman. “You have the beginning stages of frostbite.”
Chelsea’s gaze sharpened and she blurted out, “Are my toes going to fall off?” She sounded so stricken every head in the lobby turned toward her.
Ellory’s heart skipped.
Anson looked grim and his wind-burned cheeks lost some of their color, but he shook his head. “It’s going to feel like it. It will hurt like probably no one but you can imagine right now, but that’s how you get to keep them.” He didn’t sugarcoat it, not even a hint of the usual discomfort nonsense doctors liked to say.
Chelsea nodded, her eyes welling.
Anson looked at Ellory again. “Get her pants off. How hot is the water?”
“One hundred and ten on the burners.” Ellory answered. That she knew.
He looked surprised they’d been using a thermometer on it. “A little too hot. Add a small amount of cold water to it to get it to one hundred and five and then pour. It’s got to be between one hundred and one hundred and five degrees Fahrenheit all the time. Dip out water, pour more in, or swap out the containers to keep it within range. I know that’s going to be hard to do in buckets, but it needs to be done as exactingly as possible for a full half-hour.” Anson said this to Ellory, who nodded and relayed the orders to her kitchen helpers, then helped Chelsea out of the bottom half of her suit.
By the time Chelsea was down to her thermals, the water had been sufficiently cooled and poured into a large rubber container. Ellory pushed the cotton cuffs to Chelsea’s knees and guided the woman’s feet into the water.
It hurt. She could tell by the way Chelsea’s lower lip quivered, though admirably she didn’t cry out.