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“Keep going, Jack,” her teammate, Eddie, yells. “You’ve got this.Just like sweet-talking the water out of a well!”
That one’s a head scratcher, but the kid’s on a roll with these quips.
The guy on the other team, whose name escapes me, sprints ahead to grab his rope from the stump. When he reaches it, he screams out, barrels toward the ground, and grabs his ankle with a huge groan.
“Nathan, are you okay?” The team rushes over to him, and I follow.
“Let’s get his boot off,” someone from the group shouts.
“No,” Jack shouts. “The boot will help keep the swelling down until we can figure out what’s going on.”
Nathan rolls on the ground and moans once more. He’s in a lot of pain.
“Emma!” I call, because I’m way out of my element when it comes to first aid.
Jack kneels beside Nathan and shoos everyone else back a couple of steps. “Take some deep breaths.” She breathes along slowly as she reaches for his shoulder. Amazingly, Nathan begins following her instructions.
Emma runs over with the first aid kit, but it seems like she’s a little too late to the party. Jack helps Nathan to reach a sitting position and then starts feeling around his ankle.
“Does it hurt when I press here?” she asks him.
Squatting beside the scene, Emma opens the kit.
Nathan winces but then answers, “No, the pain is lower.” His voice doesn’t sound like he’s doing very well, and his face steadily drains of color.
Jack moves a finger to the tip of Nathan’s boot toe and presses lightly. Her patient hisses in a breath through his teeth. Jack puffs her cheeks and blows out a steady stream of air as she shakes her head. She reaches into the first aid kit and brings out a wrap. “We need something more rigid to immobilize the ankle.”
She looks up me. “Would you or someone else find some thin tree branches? I want to create a brace that will restrict movement.” She glances at Nathan then, and her brows creep toward her hairline. “Heya, Eddie, can you grab me a blanket?”
Eddie skips into a run toward the horses.
I hesitate, surprised by Jack’s confidence in what she’s doing. I thought for sure Emma would need to jump in on this one. I point my thumb over my shoulder. “Yeah, I’ll see what I can find.”
But I can’t seem to tear myself away from the scene, so I grab Sean’s arm. “Would you mind finding a couple tree branches? Thin, but not too thin. Four or so?”
Jack has eased Nathan into a horizontal position by the time Eddie returns. “Under his head,” she instructs him and calls after Sean, who’s already heading toward the copse of trees, “Hey, Joe?”
He turns, and she continues, “Make sure they’re around the same length.” Then, to Eddie, she orders, “Keep him talking. Ask about his family or whatever.”
Eddie follows her lead without question.
I crouch beside Jack.
She doesn’t focus on my presence but continues working the scene while she narrates what needs to happen next. “I’m going to slide his boot off so I can get a better view of what we’re dealing with here. I just need to see if anything’s visibly broken and if he’s getting blood to his toes and then we’ll put it back on. That’ll be the tougher part for him. Emma?”
“Yeah?” she answers without pause.
“Anything for pain in that thing?” Jack asks.
“Tylenol or Advil’s the best we got.”
“That’ll do. Give him four if you have ’em. It’ll help with the swelling and the pain.” She pauses. “You know what . . . give him a couple of Tylenol too.”
“What can I do?” I ask softly from beside her, but she doesn’t answer immediately. She’s too focused on the situation.
Jack is gentle in her touch as she unties Nathan’s boot and slides it off of his foot. She presses on the outside of his ankle and the inside. She delicately moves his toes. All the things Emma would have done.
“I think it’s just a sprain,” she says, “but it’d be best if he had an X-Ray.” She turns to me then, and her eyes have an intensity about them that’s undeniable. She pauses, and her mouth works for a second before she finally asks me, “Any way we can get him to the hospital?”
