“Get Angela onboard first,” instructed Ryan, cradling Tara’s head in his lap.
He eased her upright to clear her lungs. She coughed so hard he felt the pain. She blinked her eyes partway open.
“Tara, can you hear me? Do you know who I am?” Ryan cupped her chin. He turned his ear to her mouth to listen for response, since whirring rotors drowned all other sound.
“Ry—Ryan,” she whispered in his ear. She closed her eyes and her head rotated to the side.
“Tara, honey, stay awake. Stay with me, baby, stay with me.” He checked her pulse. Heart still beating.
He would give anything for a saline drip. Ryan unsnapped his canteen from his belt and poured water in the cap. Dipping his finger in the water, he moistened Tara’s lips, then tilted the cap to dribble it in her mouth. Her tongue ventured out to lick her bottom lip.
Ryan bent to kiss her. “Good girl. Breathe, honey breathe.” He dribbled in more water.
Gunnar returned and squatted next to Ryan. He placed a hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “Angela’s on board. Time to load Tara. You okay, buddy?”
He nodded. “Be careful with her,” he said gruffly as he pushed to stand.
Gunnar, Silva, and Stu carried Tara to Juliet, ducking under spinning rotors. Ryan climbed on board and cleared space on the floor between the front and rear-facing seats. He pulled out a space blanket and knelt to ease Tara into the helo head-first, with Silva and Gunnar holding her legs. Ryan pulled her inside and laid her on the blanket. Unconscious, but she still had a heartbeat. She’d stabilized. He kept a close eye on the rise and fall of her chest as he sat on the floor with her head in his lap.
Gunnar hopped in to help Angela into a back-facing seat and sat next to her. Stu rode shotgun and Silva climbed in back and sat on the other side of Angela. Gunnar knelt on the floor to wrap her swollen, broken ankle and the knee she’d dislocated and somehow managed to pop back in place.
“All souls on board and buckled in!” Ryan called out to Mel.
“Ryno, oxygen in left compartment. Get the mask on her,” shouted Mel, ramping up Juliet’s rotors.
Ryan reached behind him to open the compartment. He pulled out a small tank and applied the mask to Tara’s nose and mouth. He turned on the flow and closely monitored it, keeping an eye on the rise and fall of Tara’s chest.
“Go like hell!” he shouted to his pilot buddy, relieved someone else was in charge for the moment.
He tried to uncurl Tara’s fingers, but she’d gripped the shelter so hard her muscles had seized in that position.
Ryan sat and contemplated the woman of his dreams, who not only saved her crew but her own life and Angela’s. He admired her. Sudden unworthiness washed over him. She’s a better person than I am. If she makes it, I have some apologizing to do.
Did he imagine Angela saying that Tara loved him? Possibly. The entire time he worked to revive her was a blur. He kissed her forehead and whispered in her ear, willing her to respond.
Glancing up, Ryan caught Silva studying him with sad eyes. For a split-second he almost felt sorry for him—almost. He gave Silva a nod of thanks.
A tear crossed Angela’s cheek and she blew Ryan a soft-hearted kiss.
Melbourne lifted Juliet, swung her sharp to the northwest, and flew maximum speed to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.
Chapter 38
Tara walked away from the flames. A vibrant rainbow beckoned with all colors of the spectrum. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
“Punkin.” A figure came toward her.
“Dad? Oh Dad, I’ve missed you so much!” Tara ran to his arms. Her father was as handsome as she’d remembered. “You’ve come back. I thought you were dead. It was awful. I was so lonely.”
Her father put his knuckle under her chin, as he always did. “I’m sorry. It was my time to go.”
“No, it wasn’t. I love you. I want to stay with you.”
“I want to be with you too, but you must go back.”
“But I was prepared to die. I must have because you and I are together now. Please let me stay.” Tara stood with him in tall, lazy grass mixed with a dazzling array of purplish, magenta flowers waving in a soft breeze.
“Oh, sweetie. How do I explain this?” He bent to pluck two of the bright flower stems and held up the fully blossomed one. “This is fireweed. My bloom reached the top because summer has ended for me. This one’s mine.”
He offered her the other. “This one is yours. It’s partially bloomed because your summer hasn’t ended yet.”
Tara took the stem and looked up at him. “Dad, please don’t leave me again. I have so much to tell you. If not for you, I wouldn’t have been able to get my crew out—or get Angie up that mountain.”
“You were determined to be a firefighter and I couldn’t talk you out of it. I helped you that day with the rolling stump. Called your name so you’d get out of the way.”
“I knew it! I knew it was you. But I still failed. I couldn’t save Mom. Or you. Or the man in Montana. Not even Angela…or myself.”
He lifted a hand to cup her face. “You’ve always thought you must prove yourself. You don’t. Not to me. Not to anyone. You haven’t failed because you put others first and have a generous heart.”
Tara looked away at the bright field of magenta. “But I have failed, especially you. And I’ve failed Ryan.”
“You’ll fail him if you don’t go back. Go to him, he loves you. Almost as much as I do.”
Tara looked back at her father but he was gone. “No…please, come back, come back…” Why does everyone leave me?
“Tara.” A familiar voice called out to her.
She turned toward a brawny figure strutting toward her. “Travis?”
“Hi, gorgeous.” Travis
