Unmanned equipment lined both sides of the narrow road, left there by a crew who all lived close enough to go home for lunch.
“Here.” Without that voice in her ear, she might have rushed right past the prone form nestled in the tall grass on the other side of the newly-opened earth, so well was it hidden. As it was, she had to retreat and go around the raw hole in the earth to reach the spot where the body lay.
At a dead run now, Adriel called out, “Are you all right? I’m coming.” There was no movement or response, and that worried her more than anything. The only sounds she heard were the buzzing of insects and the sharp caw of a crow flying overhead.
Nearing the prone form, Adriel dropped to her knees. The field grass closed in around her with a shushing noise, and above the earthy smells of soil and plants, she caught the coppery tang of fresh blood. Dread at what she might see filled her as she reached out to move the waving stalks away from the injured person’s face
A disordered cap of hair stained with red framed a small, gently-lined face. A pair of over-sized glasses with dark frames knocked askew by her fall rested on the bridge of an upturned nose.
Adriel gently tested the tender spot at the victim’s throat, hoping to feel the flutter indicating life still flowed. When she detected a single heartbeat, remnants of her angel instinct took over. Adriel knew exactly how little time left to the injured woman. With divine intervention, there was a possibility, however slim, she could be saved. In the past, if it was within the will of providence, Adriel’s healing ability would have been more than sufficient. Now, she could only mourn the loss of that power.
“Try.”
Ingrained by an eternity of listening to that small voice, Adriel laid hands alongside the prone woman’s face and let her body remember what had once come so naturally. Energy channeled through trembling hands to funnel into the bleeding head wound. At only a portion of her normal strength, Adriel knew it probably wouldn’t be enough. The woman’s injury was so grave it absorbed every ounce of her healing power and still needed more.
All Adriel could hope was what she had was enough to stabilize the poor victim until help could arrive.
“Ma’am if you can hear me, I’m going to get help. Don’t move.” Confident she had done everything she could for the moment, Adriel sprinted back to the cabin to call 911. With help on the way, she pulled a blanket from the bed and raced back to tuck it around the injured form. While they waited, Adriel kept up a running commentary that earned no response. She only hoped it eased the woman’s mind.
“Stay with me, help is on the way.”
It was only a few minutes before the sound of wailing sirens soared across the air, and moments later Adriel abandoned her charge in order to meet the first responders and lead them toward where the injured woman lay in the grass.
When a county cruiser pulled up behind the ambulance and Zack Roman stepped out onto the newly-churned gravel to stride toward her with purpose, Adriel got the second shock of the day. His eyes widened with surprise, then narrowed with some other emotion as Zack recognized her. Later, his look said, there would be some explaining to do.
Leaving him unconscious on the floor, arms clutched around the love of his life—the woman he had crossed the rainbow bridge to save—had not been Adriel’s finest moment. The past had now come to roost, and she was afraid no explanation for abandoning him or the rest of the group would satisfy.
“Galmadriel,” he greeted her tersely, then turned his attention to the scene before him. “That’s Lydia Keough.” The name rang a bell in Adriel’s memory. Pam had mentioned the woman with some venom, if she recalled correctly.
For the next few minutes, Zack listened while the paramedics discussed Lydia’s condition. He asked a question or two, and was answered with technical jargon.
While work continued on her head and neck, Zack’s keen eyes took in the position of Lydia’s body, and when careful hands turned her to get a better look at the wound on the back of her head, they narrowed. Adriel saw the same thing he did. A bloody rock had been positioned to make it look as though a simple fall was the cause of Lydia’s injuries, but he was not fooled. Zack was good at his job and could spot a staged scene when he saw one.
Using his cell phone camera, he snapped several shots of Lydia and the rock before pinning Adriel with a look and ordering her in a low voice to stay put while he pulled gloves and an evidence bag from the trunk of his car.
He worked quickly collecting evidence from the scene, and didn’t stop until Lydia was already on her way to the hospital.
“Well, it seems you survived our little ordeal. There are people who have been worried about you. It might have been polite to let them know you were okay.” The words were mild, but Adriel felt the rebuke.
“There were circumstances,” she knew it was a lame excuse; the lift of his left eyebrow told her he felt the same. “Is everyone okay? Kat?”
“She’s fine. Her trip to the other side had…” He trailed off to find the correct word. “Consequences. Or maybe perks. I guess it depends on how you look at it.”
Of course; Adriel should have realized something
