Using his knife, he made a small cut in his pants so he could reach in and squeeze both sides of his kneecap, angling it just right…pop!
Gage hissed, but his knee was back where it should be. Deep breath and a “thank God” later, he was up and walking. Sore and with a limp, but he’d worry about that later.
He called out again. “April? Can you hear me? Say something, honey, so I can find you.”
“H-help,” a soft voice squeaked out. Gage moved toward the sound, and in twenty paces, he found the small girl with her knees pulled to her chest, crying next to a tree.
Relief enveloped him. “April.” He crouched next to her. “My name is Gage. Are you hurt?”
She shook her head. “No. I can’t find my mom, but she’s looking for me. I heard her earlier, but I couldn’t find her.”
Gage nodded. April must’ve run off, and her parents went looking for her and got themselves lost as well. Which meant they could be anywhere and were probably split up.
“Do you remember the last time you heard your mom’s voice? Was it recently?”
She shook her head. “It was a long time ago.”
And Gage had been yelling and gotten nothing from either parent, which meant they were out of earshot. But he had to get the girl back and checked out.
“I’m going to take you to the doctor, okay?”
Her eyes widened. “But my mommy and daddy!”
“I have a lot of friends looking for them right now. We need to make sure you’re okay.”
April hesitated, then nodded.
He radioed his team. “Found the girl. Require a medic once we reach the campsite. On the way back now. Status on male and female adults?” He said it lightly so April hopefully wouldn’t worry.
His radio rang out with the crew leads.
“Nothing yet.”
“Nothing.”
Jesus. What good would it be to save the girl if he couldn’t save her parents, too? Gage picked her up and stood—his knee screamed with pain. He knelt back down and cursed.
“Don’t leave me,” April whispered. “Please, don’t leave me.”
He brushed his hand against her face. “I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart.”
Gage needed to get April to the hospital, then go back out there to help find the parents.
After a half hour walk back to the main site, darkness had fallen and East was waiting with another medic and ambulance to see to the girl.
He set the girl down, and the medic looked at her while East checked out Gage.
“Jesus, we need to get you to the hospital.” East examined his leg and the hole he’d cut in his pants to get to his knee. Which was now settling with a nasty bruise over it.
“It looks worse than it is,” Gage said.
East crouched down and lifted his pant leg. “You could have a major tear in your ACL,” he said. “Come on, you’re going to need X-rays.”
“I’m good,” Gage insisted. “My damn knee just comes off the track now and again.”
“Which is not normal,” East said bluntly. “So go get it checked out.”
“Can’t,” Gage said. “The parents are still missing.”