Page 102 of Mountain Void

Before she could think better of it, she was crouching in front of him. Her gloves—his gloves, really—had disappeared. Her fingers were numb with cold.

“Lorenz. Stay with me, please.”

His eyes opened again.

“Don’t worry, Charlie,” he said. “This is nothing.”

It wasn’t nothing, but he was feeling well enough to lie, so she was going to consider that a good thing.

Ry pointed to the seat next to Lorenz. “Buckle up, Charlie. Put that headset on, and I’ll be right there to check on your oxygen levels.”

28

Charlie

The emergency entrance exploded into motion the second the helicopter touched down.

Charlie barely had time to step aside before the stretcher carrying Lorenz disappeared through a set of heavy sliding doors, surrounded by nurses and doctors moving at frightening speed. A voice called out numbers Charlie didn’t understand.

“BP dropping slightly—“

Through it all, Lorenz remained unconscious. He’d been that way for the last part of the flight.

“He’s going to be okay,” Ry tried to reassure her.

But he’d lost a lot of blood. What if—

“I mean it, Charlie.”

The doors swung shut between them.

Gone.

She wanted to run after them. Wanted to demand updates, refuse to be separated from him, even though there was no reason they’d tell her anything. She wasn’t his wife.

Not anymore.

Or not yet.

Beside her, Théo made a small sound. He stood next to Tristan, wrapped in a blanket that was too large for him, soot still smudged across his face.

“How was the flight?” Charlie asked, forcing herself to focus.

The boy let out something that sounded like a whistle. “When I grow up, I want to be a helicopter pilot. Just like Tristan.”

Tristan laughed. “What can I say? Théo has excellent taste.”

A doctor crouched in front of them, introducing himself as a pediatrician. He spoke softly in French to Théo, explaining that he wanted to make sure the boy’s lungs were okay after all the smoke.

Théo nodded automatically, but his fingers reached for Charlie’s sleeve.

She took his smaller hand in hers at once.

“I’m here,” she said quietly. “And I’ll stay until your mom gets here. She’s already on her way.”

The doctor brought over a wheelchair for Théo, which delighted the boy to no end. “That’s for me?”

“It is,” the doctor confirmed. “Very important transportation.”