Page 91 of The Seducer
Caressing her face, I smiled. “Maybe it will speed up the integration between our countries. All I care about right now is keeping you safe.”
A gasp escaped Athena. “Oh Mother Nature, Karina and the children. Are they all right?”
“Easy,” I warned when she tried to sit up.
“Do you know?”
“No. I came straight here for you.”
Sitting up and brushing her hair back, she pointed to the cockpit. “Please tell the drone to take us to their family unit.”
“What about your leg?” I asked. “I don’t want you moving around on that injury.”
She frowned and looked down. “It doesn’t hurt much.”
I signaled for her to take a seat and strapped her in. “That’s because I pumped you up on painkillers.”
“Finn,” she said in a pleading voice. “Karina and the children might be hurt.”
She was right. I had flown over this area on my way here and seen the destruction.
“Let’s go!” I said and got in my own seat.
Athena started crying as we flew over the area, pointing to collapsed houses and mentioning names of people I didn’t know. She wanted to check in on all of them but I made her go to Karina’s house first.
It was hard to understand that this was the family unit that we had visited last week. Three of the walls had collapsed and everything was in a shamble.
With an arm around her waist, I supported Athena from the drone. A group of people stood huddled together inside the ruins, their heads bowed.
“What happened?” Athena cried out, limping toward them with my help.
They turned, and I was relieved to see Tristan between Karina and another woman I hadn’t seen before. Their faces were all gray from dust, and dark lines revealed that they had cried.
“She’s dead.” Karina’s face cracked into a sob that had her shoulders bobbing up and down. Marita was in her arms and the baby began crying with her mother.
“Who’s dead?” Athena exclaimed and looked down to the person that the group had been gathered around.
“Jo…Joseline,” Karina stammered between the sobs, and was comforted by the woman I hadn’t met before.
Tristan looked at me and with a sad voice he explained. “Joseline was one of the mothers at the family unit where Karina grew up. She was visiting us for a few days.”
Part of the older woman’s body was covered in the rubble from the wall. I didn’t need to examine her closer to see that she had passed on. “Did anyone else get hurt?” I asked.
“Yes.” Tristan pointed ahead to another group of people. “Martin, is keeping the younger children away from Joselin’s body. Some of them have cuts and scratches. Samuel might’ve broken his arm, I’m not sure.”
“Did any of you get hit in the head?”
“Yes, Martin did and he threw up before.” Karina was hard to understand because of all the crying.
“Look, the hospitals are probably overflowing at this point,” I pointed out. “I’ll see what I can do.”
I treated several of the children for minor injuries. The only man in the family unit, Martin, had a concussion and was pale. I gave instructions to some of the older children on how to care for him. My last patient was Samuel who insisted his arm was broken. It wasn’t. He was in shock and cried a lot, so I took time to comfort the boy and distract him a little from the horrible situation they were in now that their home was destroyed.
Later, when I saw Athena, Karina, and Tristan working to remove all the debris from the dead woman, I hurried back to them.
“Here, let me do that.” I made sure Athena sat down and rested her leg. “What were you thinking?”
“What’s wrong with your leg?” Karina asked Athena. “You don’t look too good, and you’re limping.”
