Page 29 of Mountain Impact

His expression, as he looked up at her, was so bleak, that for a moment she wasn’t sure what to do. Then her instinct kicked in―she ran towards him and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

It wasn’t quite the comforting embrace she would have wanted to provide, since she only came to his shoulders, but he leaned down and returned it.

“Thank you for coming. I’m sorry I called. I shouldn’t have―”

“Of course you should have. Are you okay?” she asked, running her hand along his back and arms.

“Me? I’m fine,” he said. He inhaled sharply. “But I could have killed half of my team today, Isolde.”

“What happened?” she asked. His skin had a level of pallor to it she’d never seen before.

“We were sent out to rescue a climber. Gael went down first. The storm was raging, and then Jens―”

His voice broke into a strangled sob.

For a moment she feared the worst. But Drake wouldn’t have been standing outside the restricted emergency area if―

“Is he going to be okay?”

Drake nodded. “It looks like it, but he could have died. It’s only because Kat is such a fucking amazing pilot that Jens is still alive.”

Drake turned towards the wall. Isolde knew he was considering putting a dent in the wall with his fist.

“Punching that wall is probably the easiest way to get yourself kicked out of the hospital, Drake,” she said gently, taking his large hand in hers.

“Remember what you said to me, Doc? About the failed hero complex?”

She nodded, not liking where he was going with this.

“You’re taking it out of context, Drake. What I was trying to say is that you can’t save everyone. Failing to save someone is not failing them, Drake.”

“Fuck. I don’t know what I’m saying. I didn’t call you here because I needed your professional help. I just wanted to―”

Isolde drove her body tighter against his.

“I understand.”

As each and every time they touched, the feeling was electric. Her curves and his hard lines simply fit together.

“Hey, Isolde,” Kat said, strolling towards them. Isolde broke the hug, taking a step back from Drake. She didn’t know what Kat would think to see them like this, but Kat didn’t look surprised or particularly curious.

Isolde and Kat weren’t close friends, but they were two women in a largely male office, so they had crossed paths before.

“Kat. I hear you did some pretty incredible flying today.”

“Is that what he told you?” Isolde said, taking a sip of her coffee and grimacing. “I don’t understand why hospitals have to serve such dreadful coffee. It’s like adding insult to injury, literally.”

She placed the cup gently on one of the plastic seats behind her. “Did he also tell you I clipped the wall? Almost single-handedly destroying a three hundred thousand euro machine?”

Isolde smiled at Kat’s attempt to lighten the tone.

“How did Jens get hurt?”

“While I was trying to get control of the helicopter, Drake winched him back into the machine. He hit his head as he was being dragged in, but he never said anything―just continued working until he collapsed as we got back into town.”

Isolde shook her head.

“It looks like you all did pretty much everything right.” Her eyes shifted to Drake. He clearly wasn’t buying that message.