Page 9 of SEAL's Temptation

Chapter 4

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RYAN LEAPT TO HIS FEET, instantly on alert for any danger.Once again, he’d been so wrapped up in Avery, he’d lost track of everything around him.Avery immediately stood at his side, and while he felt the urge to pull her behind him, ensuring her safety, he could see a mother and father rushing through the water to their injured child.

The little girl was holding her arm, screaming in pain, and his chest clenched.While he didn’t like seeing anyone hurt, there was something about an innocent child in pain that gutted him.“I think she broke her arm,” Avery said in alarm, suddenly all business.“I’ve got a first aid kit in my backpack.”

“Same here,” he murmured, realizing again how very much alike they were.Ryan knew she was dedicated to her nursing career, but she’d come prepared for their hike this morning as well.Some women might show up expecting him to do everything.He wouldn’t have minded, especially given that he’d been the one to invite her, but he admired that she was self-sufficient enough to arrive ready for the day’s adventure.

“Mommy, Mommy, it hurts!”the little girl wailed.Tears streamed down her cheeks, and other people were turning toward the scene.

“I know, baby.I know,” the mom said, looking slightly pale.“Let’s get out of the water.”

“Damn it,” the father was muttering before yelling for his other kids to be careful.

Avery was already pulling out supplies, and together, she and Ryan rushed toward the family.The father was carrying the child toward dry land, while the mother rounded up their other children.

“I’m a nurse,” Avery said in a clipped tone as they approached.

“She slipped and fell on the rocks,” the father said, looking slightly frazzled.“I told my kids to be careful, but—”

“My arm hurts!”the girl cried.“Daddy!”

Avery nodded, her gaze glancing between the father and the child.“There’s a gash on her head, too.Look at the blood.”

“Shit.I didn’t see that.”The man laid his daughter on the ground, and Avery and Ryan knelt down beside her.Ryan was already pulling out gauze to apply pressure to the head wound as Avery assessed her.He’d grabbed a towel as well, and they wrapped it around the girl since she was soaking wet.Avery was already in full nursing mode, ignoring the commotion going on around them as other people came to see what was happening.“Her pupils aren’t dilated.Breathing seems normal.Possible broken arm,” she said, gently moving her hands over the child.“Does it hurt anywhere else?”

“My head hurts,” she said, her lower lip wobbling.

“I know, sweetie,” Avery said.“You took quite a tumble.It’s just your head and your arm that hurt?”

“Yes,” she said, crying harder.

“The bone hasn’t broken through the skin,” Avery said in a low voice to the father.“We can splint her arm, but she needs X-rays.A cast.The hospital will be able to assess and determine if it will require surgery.”

“I’ll call 911,” Ryan said as he and Avery exchanged a look.“We can have an ambulance meet us at the parking lot.”It would take longer to wait for EMS to hike down to the waterfall and retrieve the child before bringing her back to the waiting emergency vehicles.If they splinted the girl’s broken bone, they could get her out of here much faster, getting her the medical care she needed.

They worked quickly, stabilizing the arm while the girl continued to cry.She wasn’t screaming like before but appeared to be in shock.“Do you have any dry clothes for her to wear?”Avery asked.“Or we could wrap her in more towels.”

“Yeah.Maybe.My wife packed the kids’ stuff,” the man said, glancing over to the mom, who was currently gathering up all their things while tending to their other children.“Do we have dry clothes for her?”he called out.

The mom began yanking things from a backpack, and Ryan rose, going to grab the zip-up hoodie from her.They wouldn’t slide the girl’s broken arm through the sleeve but could keep her somewhat warmer with it.

“We never got to eat lunch,” their little boy wailed, starting to cry.

“I know, but we’ll eat later and come back for a picnic another day,” the frazzled mom told him, rushing to stuff their remaining belongings into their backpacks and tote bags.

Ryan exchanged a glance with Avery.“We’ll help you get to the parking lot,” he told them.

Avery continued tending to the child, and Ryan swiftly moved toward their makeshift picnic to pack everything up.He was slightly disappointed by their abrupt departure but wouldn’t leave the family to fend for themselves with all those young children.He knew Avery wouldn’t either.

Aaron had told him a story once about a friend of Avery’s getting hurt when they were kids.Avery had made Aaron carry the little girl home.He shook his head as he hurriedly gathered their things.That sounded just like Avery—always quick to help someone who needed it.He just hoped she knew her limits when she traveled to Panama.Bad things could happen anywhere, but there weren’t exactly armed drug cartels in control of the hiking trails here in Oahu.The Darien Gap, however?He shuddered.

***

RYAN SET THE LITTLEboy he was carrying on the ground near the ambulance.The father had carried the injured girl as they hiked back to the parking lot, and the mother had been with their youngest child.The adults had all agreed it would be faster to transport the kids given their young age, and fortunately, the little boy Ryan held seemed okay with a stranger carrying him through the woods on an adventure.

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