Page 76 of Trusted Instinct
The next thing she pulled out was her small, rough, and highly absorbent camp towel while she eyed the contents of the bin. There was a MOLLE bag that she knew contained a change of clothes, which she could use for Brandy.
First thing was to get Brandy out of her wet outfit.
With shaking hands, stiff with cold, Auralia battled with her bra clasp, finally feeling it give way; it was full of mud when she dropped it to the ground at her feet.
She pulled the phone bag lanyard over her head and set it in the bin before sliding off her panties. She’d call as soon as she could get herself and Brandy stabilized from the wet and cold.
Lifting the liter bottle of water, she let it drizzle down her body. With her free hand, she swished and swiped over her skin to remove as much of the sand and grit as possible. When she dressed, Auralia wanted all her attention to be on keeping the woman alive until rescue could reach them, and she didn’t need the distraction of her clothes rubbing against her like sandpaper.
Her mentor, Remi, had talked to her on many occasions about how taking care of things at the front end would keep her safe and comfortable enough to keep their focus on the story. She had learned that things like rinsing off might seem like a time suck, but functionally, it was more along the lines of a “stitch in time.”
Using her camp towel, Auralia rubbed herself vigorously not only to absorb the water that helped the wind wick away her body heat, but also to generate some warmth back into her system. Her teeth were chattering, she was goose-fleshed, and her feet were purple with cold.
The extra panties and bra that she carried with her in her day pack were chosen for “shit hits the fan” scenarios, figuratively, of course. Covering, supportive, modest, and comfy, all Auralia needed to do was pull it over her head and adjust the girls into position.
Wet as she was, the bra rolled itself tight, and she was struggling to get it into place.
Note to self, front closure next time.
Knowing that she planned to dress Brandy in her emergency clothes, Auralia pulled the tactical pants she’d been wearing that day from the black plastic leaf bag and sat on the lid as she got her socks and boots on.
And that’s when a little black nose shoved under her arm. “Rougarou, you startled the crap out of me, girl.” She saw a rope tied to the handle of Rou’s vest and traced it along the emptyshoreline. Her eyes searched up, and she found Creed on a rope system, walking himself down the slippery incline.
Without Brandy, she could have gone up that line and left this mess.
Without Brandy, this could be over.
She cupped her hand around her mouth. “About damned time you got here.” She tapped the side of her head. “I’ve been calling you for a while now. I thought you or Gator would come. Good thing I wasn’t twiddling my thumbs waiting to get rescued.”
“I heard,” Creed called back with a tap to his own head. “I saw you get out onto the beach and called Gator, who, by the way, dropped everything to race to you. I turned him around.” He continued to walk himself down the slope, jumping the last couple of feet.
“You call this a beach? The ground is only about five feet wide.” She caught his eye. “Thank you to you both.”
“You find an extra person?” Creed twitched the rope and released it. “Was she with you in the car?”
Auralia pushed Rou away and asked her to sit on a box top before pulling on her shirt and fleece.
“She was in the SUV under me. This is Brandy Morrison. Mom’s still under there. I can’t figure a way to get her out.”
“Brandy came through the window?”
“Yeah. And mom won’t fit. I didn’t try. She’s breathing in a pocket of air. That can’t last much longer. It’s mostly carbon dioxide by now. I made sure her tongue wasn’t obstructing her airway, and then I brought Brandy up.”
“You need help with her?” He coiled around his hand and elbow.
“If you can just help me get her over onto the tarp, I think I have it from there if you can figure anything about Sheelah.”
“Sheelah’s unconscious?” Creed asked as he crouched by Brandy, moved the rocks, and scooped her into a fireman’s carry, Mylar and all, and moved her as requested.
“She could be dead,” Auralia said. “I don’t know.”
He placed objects from the bin on the Mylar to hold it in place. “The good thing is, Sheelah can’t haunt you if she didn’t turn and look at you.” He strode the short distance between them.
“Please let’s not with the dark humor.” Auralia pulled on her jacket and tugged a beanie over her wet hair and down over her ears. “I don’t need you to jinx me today.”
Creed reached for her. “I just need to feel you in my arms for a second. Woman, do you know how many times you’ve stopped my heart today?”
It felt so good to be wrapped warm and safe in Creed’s arms. It felt so good to know that he had indeed known when she was in trouble and had come running. He said he saw her come out on the shore. He must have gone after the equipment to get her out of there. She had been so focused on what was happening down here that if he were calling, it would have been a completely useless effort. Adrenaline had a tunnel-vision design that could harm as much as it could serve.
