“I don’t know. I can’t see anything.” Kaevin coughed as he moved forward, groping with his hands. Alora held onto his back, afraid to lose contact with him. “My knee hit something. Wait… it’s a sleeping platform. I believe he’s here. Jireo! He’s unconscious. Alora, take us out of here!”
Where should we go? She made a snap decision, moving them to the town square, thinking a fire meant they needed to ring the bell.
“Is he breathing?” Alora rubbed her eyes, immediately regretting the action as they watered with stinging pain. Kaevin knelt to examine his unmoving friend by the flickering light of two torches.
“No, I can’t see him breathing.” Kaevin gave him a vigorous shake. “Jireo! Wake up!”
Alora ran to the bell, grasping the cord to sound the alarm.
“You need to do CPR,” she called out as she hurried back to take her place on the cold, hard ground beside Kaevin.
“I don’t know these words, ‘seepee are’. Is this something that will save him? Can you do it?”
“I can’t remember exactly. I’m bringing Beth here.”
Beth appeared before them, her shock lasting only a few seconds before she spied Jireo on the ground.
“I’m sorry, Beth. I didn’t mean to scare you, but I think Jireo needs CPR. And I couldn’t remember what to do.”
“What happened to him?”
“He’s not breathing. There was a lot of smoke in his house.”
Without another word, Beth dropped to her knees, tilting Jireo’s head back and lowering her cheek to his face. After a few seconds, she pinched off his nose and covered his mouth with hers, breathing into his limp body. Alora saw his chest rise and fall twice.
Pounding feet alerted her to Nordamen’s arrival. “Kaevin? Alora? What are you doing here?”
“There’s a fire at Jireo’s home,” Kaevin answered. “The house was full of smoke, and his parents might still be in there.”
“No, Jireo’s parents are traveling to stay with family until the expedition is over. However, other homes may be in danger.” Nordamen called out orders to the townspeople who darted into the square from every direction, and a flurry of activity ensued.
Beth held her hand against Jireo’s neck as she called up to Alora. “His heart is still beating. Get us to Wesley’s house. Dr. Sanders will know what to do.”
As Alora transported them back to Montana, she murmured a prayer.
~ 12 ~
Kaevin pulled Alora against him, wrapping her in his coat. He rubbed her back as he soothed, “Shh… be calm.”
“But if Jireo dies, it’ll be my fault. Why didn’t I take him straight to the hospital?” Why did I bring Beth to us in Laegenshire? If I was going to bring someone, I should have brought Dr. Sanders.” Her muttered words were almost lost to his ears.
“I sincerely doubt Dr. Sanders would have appreciated his first transport being a total surprise. It’s of no consequence. Jireo will recover.”
“You don’t know that.” Alora looked up with red-rimmed eyes. “Didn’t you hear Dr. Sanders just now? He told us Jireo might not make it.”
“Alora—”
“I’ll never be able to forgive myself if that happens. You’ll never be able to forgive me either if I killed your best friend.”
“Be still, Alora.” He lowered his voice, dragging her to the side, away from the listening ear
s in the waiting room. “You’re upsetting Arista and Beth.”
“They’re going to hate me, too.”
“No one will hate you. You made difficult decisions with no time to consider the options. Had we immediately transported to the hospital with Jireo, we wouldn’t have had time to warn anyone of the fire. Would you want the deaths of others on your head?”
“No, but that won’t make me feel any better if Jireo dies.”