Page 25 of Lucky Charm
Carter took Cait’s temperature and then checked her heart rate. “She’s hypothermic, and we gotta get her warmed or we’re going to have serious problems.”
Doogie stood off to the side, taking in Carter’s comments. “More serious than what we have now? We’re standing in a goddamn weapon’s cache.”
“Yeah, well, unless you’re planning on blowing up something, her heart stopping and no respiration are more serious. Get some water warmed. We need to see if we can get her to wake and drink it, otherwise I need to start an IV. We need a fire and to close in this space so we can raise the temperature. Even a few degrees will help. We’re all going to need that, or we’ll have the same problem. Barring that, we need the warmest sleeping gear we have for her, and someone should get in beside her, skin-to-skin.”
“Uh, this wasn’t an overnight mission,” K-Rock stated the obvious, looking between Hunt and Doogie.
Hunt snorted. “Tell me you didn’t bring your space blanket, kid.”
“I did,” Doogie answered.
K-Rock’s grin looked eerie in the subdued ray of the flashlight. “I did, too.”
Hunt dropped his pack and threw K-Rock the gear he’d stowed. “Build a cocoon.”
Doogie’s brow raised, but he diplomatically stayed quiet when he saw the extra extreme cold weather gear Hunt had been carrying.
Carter reached for the zipper of his Gore-Tex jacket, but Hunt stopped him. No way in hell was he letting anyone but him be naked with her. “I’ll do it. We need you able to freely move around.”
He also wouldn’t admit that his back and ribs were not in great shape, and he needed to rest.
Carter nodded. “Do it fast, LT. Her temp is only going to keep dropping. It’s an add-on effect. We gotta get this stopped now.”
He may have more rank than Carter, but he knew better than to argue with the medic. He’d been attached to his team because Hunt had asked for him personally. The man belonged in medical school but stuck with the SEALs because he loved the challenge. That was Carter’s go-to answer when asked.
He stripped off his snow-covered gear, placing it to the side until they figured out a warmup system. He shed his weapons to a separate pile. Carter bent to loosen Doc’s boots, then slipped them from her feet. The three pairs of socks she wore came next. Even in the dim light Hunt could see her toes were blue.
“Dammit,” Carter swore. “Why didn’t she tell anyone she was this cold?”
“Would it have mattered?” K-Rock stretched out Hunt’s blanket.
The knowledge that he was right to include everything he had did nothing to settle him. “K-Rock’s right. We couldn’t have stopped.”
That mission logic didn’t stop him from swearing. He might sometimes wonder about all the violence and killing and how it skewed his moral compass as the bodies piled up on his conscience, but he wasn’t going to sacrifice this woman for the moment.
“We have to deal with what is.” Carter waited while K-Rock finished the last of the bedding, then he lifted Doc to the bed. Hunt shed his own clothes while watching Carter unfasten her pants and slide them down her legs. The sweet, pale beautiful skin on those mile-long legs winked at him. A flash of memory hardened him, but the marble look to her skin squashed it.
It struck him that he didn’t want Carter taking off any more of her clothes. She’d be embarrassed at that. He could only hope that their one night together would help her shake it off when she woke naked with him in a sleeping cocoon. The freezing air hit his ass, and he went into overdrive to shed himself of the rest of his clothes. Naked except for socks, he waited for the jokes. Thankfully, for once, nobody was in the mood for humor.
A quick check of the surroundings allowed him to let go and focus on Doc. K-Rock had moved to help Tommy and Quaid camouflage the entrance of the cave. With the entrance covered, Doogie turned on another small flashlight. The dim light in the cave didn’t make it look any better. Baxter returnedfrom a scour of the cave with a stash of wood. The supply screamed loudly that someone else had used the cave for cover.
“Fire, my friends.” He headed to the front of the cave to jury-rig an exit tube for the smoke and start a low fire.
Flashlight in his mouth, Doogie pulled a sterno can from his pack and tossed it to Hernandez. He lit it to heat what was left of his water.
Carter fussed with Doc’s setup and then glanced up and swore. “LT, shit.”
He looked at his chest and noted the pattern of bruising along his right side and around his back. “We need to worry about Doc first.”
Carter nodded. “But I’m looking at that later.” He proceeded to unbutton her uniform shirt.
“Wait, Carter, let me lift her under the covers first. It’s too cold.” He slipped his arms under her shoulders and knees, lifted her against him, and gritted his teeth against the pain of his back and ribs. A hard shiver made its way down his body. “God, she’s like an ice cube. You sure she’s breathing?” Panic hovered in his gut.
“Yeah, for now.”
Not a reassuring answer.
“Christ, Carter,” he swore.
