Page 18 of Mountain Struggle

“Unfortunately my phone wasn’t in my backpack,” Damien said, patting his sodden pocket.

“Then we need to go now.”

She shivered, wrapping the blanket tighter around her body.

Damien looked around them, narrowing his eyes. She didn’t know whether to feel relieved or worried that he was taking her seriously.

“I agree. We can’t stay here. But I’m going to need your help.”

“What do you need?”

“I’m going to need you to maneuver my humerus back into position,” he said, watching her eyes.

“You’re kidding,” she hissed. She’d almost failed her A-Level Biology exam because she hadn’t been able to complete the frog dissection.

But Damien doesn’t know that.

And this may not the time to bring it up.

“I’m not kidding,” he said kindly. It didn’t escape her notice how tightly he was holding on to his shoulder. “I can’t run like this, and I can’t protect you. I can feel the muscles spasming—the longer we take to reposition the bone, the more difficult it’s going to be.”

“Okay,” she said, and she realized she meant it. He’d just gone off a cliff for her—she could do anything he needed her to do.

“Okay?”

“Tell me exactly what you need me to do.”

“Normally we’d start by icing it, but I think we can skip that step in this case,” he joked.

She raised an eyebrow at him.

How can he joke at a moment like this?

“Right. I’m going to lie down, like this,” he said, demonstrating. “You’re going to grab my hand and pull on my arm slowly. Don’t let go, no matter what. You’ll probably feel it when the head of the humerus slides back into the socket.”

“Probably?” she asked doubtfully.

“Pull until I tell you to stop, Tess,” he clarified, holding out his hand.

Tess reached to grab the proffered hand. It was cold, like her own, but somehow still managed to warm her inside.

Damien’s hand was powerful, with long fingers, a calloused palm and closely clipped nails. Tess had stared at his manly hands before—at the dinner table or while he played Lego with Jamie—it was part of her fascination with her boss, which she seemed to have no control over.

“You okay, Tess? If you’re not okay with this, I can try to—”

Shit. He’s in pain, and you’re here ogling his hands.

“Tell me something. What happens if I do it wrong?”

“I’ll probably scream. Then we’ll try again.”

“Okay. But I’m not going to break your arm, right?”

“You’re not going to break my arm,” he confirmed.

“Let’s do this, then. One. Two.”

Tess braced herself against the ground and started pulling slowly on Damien’s hand. She kept her eyes firmly on his face. A muscle ticked behind his jaw but he didn’t make a sound.