Page 37 of Out of the Shadows
“Your leg’s not broken, and — feral sheep? The most dangerous wildlife you’ll encounter in these woods is a badger.”
“Badgers are big bastards, I’ve seen them on the telly.”
His lips twitch.
Don’t you laugh at me, don’t you dare…
Daniel balances himself on his haunches. “Let me have a look.”
He eases my hands away and probes around my ankle. It hurts like hell, and I can’t help but wince and flinch, but I’m surprised at how gentle his fingers are.
“I think it’s just twisted.”
“Kyle and Saffron are supposed to be around somewhere, shouldn’t we call out to them for help?”
“Good point, and they’ll have a first aid kit too.”
We both shout, yelling their names over and over, but the only answer we get is the whistle of a breeze through the trees. At least the rain has stopped. For now.
I glance at Daniel, whose face is tight with anger but for once I’m not the cause. Kyle and Saffron will be lucky if they’ve got jobs by this time tomorrow. I almost feel sorry for them.
“Looks like it’s just us. See if you can put any weight on it. I’m going to help you up.”
Daniel does just that, taking one of my arms around his shoulder and holding me tight by the wrist. His other arm slips around my waist. It’s awkward because he’s a fair bit taller than me, but he manages to hoist me to standing.
“Test your weight on it.”
I do and almost cry. There’s no way I can walk.
“I can feel it swelling by the second.” I could make a dirty joke, but I’m in too much pain to even consider it. “I think I need a stretcher. Seriously.”
“I can’t call up the centre because we had to leave our mobile phones behind, remember? And anyway, I doubt we’d even get a signal. The best thing to do is to get back as soon as possible so it can be iced and bandaged up.”
“And how do you expect that to happen? I can barely walk.” My irritation is rising, getting stronger than the pain. “Can’t you get back to the minibus and tell them what’s happened? It’s agony and I won’t get more than a few feet without collapsing.”
“Look around you. It’s getting dark. By the time I’ve got back, rallied those two idiots, and retraced my steps, it’ll be pitch black. Do you really want to be left to the mercies of feral sheep?”
“You didn’t mention the big bastard badgers.”
Daniel snorts. “Didn’t I tell you? There aren’t any because the sheep have eaten them all. Come on, we’re going to have to try.”
I collapse against him.
“Daniel, I’m not kidding. I can’t walk.”
I’m crying, the tears are streaming down my face, and my nose is snotty. It’s pathetic but I don’t care. I’ve never been good at handling physical pain and this is absolutely killing me.
He’s staring at me, seeing me at my worst, but in this moment I couldn’t give a damn. The light might be fading fast, but as I meet his eyes I don’t see annoyance or irritation or even the contempt I expect to find there. Instead, there’s something that looks a lot like care and concern. I look away, sweeping my hand across my eyes and sniffing up hard. I’m fooling myself, because there’s no reason why he should care.
A bunched up tissue is thrust into my hand. “Thank you,” I mutter. Now I’ve got feeling shitty to add to the pain. Daniel’s trying to help me, and I should help him do that.
“Okay, I’ll try my best but it’s going to take hours.”
“There’s another way. Brace yourself.”
“Excuse me?” I’ve been told to do that before, but never by my boss, and never in the woods. Or maybe once, in the wooded area of a park.
“The quickest and easiest way is for me to carry you.”
