Page 11 of Still Afraid

Josh removed the supplies he would need, including a splint, from his pack. He then knelt in front of Eva and began the process of putting the splint in place.

“I have to leave it at the funny angle for now and let the doctors at the hospital take x-rays and set it as perfect as possible. But this will keep it from moving too much and hurting more.”

Chloe stepped back and marveled at the care Josh took of this little girl. The bravery it took to climb up into the tree and rescue her, and now his gentleness in splinting her leg. Watching him work was beyond precious and made Chloe’s heart swelled with love and admiration.

Maybe one day they would have kids. They hoped to, but nothing was guaranteed. Josh would make such a good dad. He was always fun to watch as he interacted with his nieces and nephews or her nieces and nephews. His genuine care for others made her love him all the more.

Poirot came over and nudged her leg. She knelt down and petted the dog. “Boy, you were so good today. You did such a great job.” She praised the canine for not only finding the doll, but the little girl the doll belonged to.

Lance came over and squatted low near Chloe so only she could hear his voice. “How high up was she?”

“Really high. Well, I mean, my judgment isn’t always the best on how high high is, but Josh had to climb quite a bit to get to her. Thought they were going to fall at one point, but praise the Lord they didn’t.”

“Indeed. I’m so glad Poirot led us to her. And that she’s all right.”

“Agreed. Have you heard any more reports on how many people are missing?”

“No. They’re still compiling numbers. People keep checking in. We’re not sure a few of the families were even at the campground when the tornado hit or if they had been off doing something else. It’ll be a while before we have a true calculation of the people who are missing.”

“Any fatalities beyond the one we found?”

“Yeah, I’ve heard the total is three. Not all were here at the campground. I kept my radio low, though, because I didn’t want to upset her parents more.”

“That makes sense.”

“Another team is coming in for retrieval—to lead the parents out. Then we can continue on down through the damage path.”

“Thanks, Lance.”

“Of course.”

It didn’t take long for Josh to finish splitting Eva’s broken leg. The other team arrived to walk Eva and her parents out of the woods, back to base camp, and then get the little girl to the hospital. Hopefully she wouldn’t need surgery.

Once they said their goodbyes to Eva and her parents with promises to check in later, Chloe, Josh, Lance, and Poirot continued their search through the tornado zone, checking in with people they met along the way.

Mostly it was just wreckage at this point, leaving an eerie quiet. Where were the people?

They came to a completely flattened campsite. A pop-up camper was twisted and turned upside down, and a picnic table was in the tree. Chloe called around to see if anyone was nearby.

Was there anybody they needed to help get out of the debris?

No one answered.

Lance called, “Any signs of anyone?”

Chloe shook her head. Josh did the same.

Poirot barked, indicating he was ready to move on.

They continued forward, searching for another couple of hours. Long, tedious walking, searching, praying they found someone they could save. That they wouldn’t find anybody who had lost their life, but people they could get to safety.

Josh heaved his pack off and leaned it next to Chloe’s, against the SAR trailer, and rolled his shoulders. They had searched until well after dark. The walk back had not taken as long, but they’d pushed themselves to move faster than necessary. Now they were truly beat.

Chloe had disappeared into the port-a-potty, and Poirot sat as sentry outside of it. That dog’s loyalty was unmatched.

Josh ducked into the command area under an easy-up. “How’s it going?”

Garson turned to him. “Josh. Good job saving that girl.”