Only Her Smokejumper Firefighter - Cami Checketts Page 0,42

firefighters cheered as they saw him, but they sobered quickly when they took in Bruce’s mangled and charred leg. Curse words filled the air.

Ren cut them off. “Let’s focus on helping him.”

Their eyebrows shot up, but he didn’t wait for a response. “Tyler, do what you can with his leg and to stop the bleeding. Jed, take half your team, your fastest runners, to the ridge and direct a medical evac team to us as quick as possible. Joshua, use whoever you need to dig a protective barrier around us in case the fire comes back.”

Everyone moved quickly to obey orders. Jed called out some men’s names and his team took off double-time up the canyon. They’d be the most motivated to get help to their buddy quick, and for selfish reasons, Ren would rather have his own medic and his trusted team near him. He said a prayer of gratitude that they’d all survived.

Joshua started barking orders as well and the men moved quick, fear and stress fueling their tired bodies.

Ren pushed burning debris away with his feet and gestured to Tyler who thankfully had his medical kit. The outside of the fireproof bag was charred with the intense heat from that fire. Tyler pulled a knife out and cut it open. Ren cleared a spot for himself on the other side of Bruce’s body and knelt.

“Okay, Bruce,” Tyler said calmly. “Let’s tourniquet that leg and then I’ll get you a shot of morphine. We’re going to rotate you to your back.”

Ren liked that Tyler didn’t lie or sugarcoat it. Bruce knew his leg was gone and they didn’t have time for even a morphine shot before they got the tourniquet on. At this point, the fight was to keep him alive.

“Let’s go,” Bruce got out between panting breaths.

They both worked together to cut the fire shelter away from Bruce’s body and leg. Their team hacked and dug and pushed the fire away from them, building up a barricade to keep them safe if the fire returned from either direction. If it came as fast as it had last time, Bruce wouldn’t survive with his fire shelter hacked apart. Ren felt an urgency to get out of this canyon, but they weren’t going anywhere with Bruce like this. It would kill him.

The shelter was scorched into his leg around the back of his knee joint. Everything below that was just dripping flesh. Ren had seen some gruesome injuries, but this might be the worst. He swallowed over and over again at nausea rising in his throat. Bruce was quietly moaning and panting through the pain. He was tough, Ren would give him that.

Together, he and Tyler gently rolled Bruce onto his back. The man screamed out in agony, his face pinched white as they maneuvered his mangled leg with him. He let out a string of profanity. Ren didn’t say anything about it.

Tyler worked quickly and with Ren helping him lift Bruce’s thigh, he tied a tourniquet around the leg, on the border between the healthy and charred flesh. Tyler put a dry, sterile dressing over the mangled, burned parts and then he was finally able to give Bruce the morphine. Ren hoped it would take effect quickly.

Joshua brought them each a water bottle. Ren helped Bruce drink and then took a long swallow himself. The warm water tasted like heaven. Tyler treated Bruce for other burns created by his shelter not being snug where the leg had poked out. Ren waited for more instruction.

He felt Bruce’s gaze on him. “Tell me about you, Supe,” Bruce said between clenched teeth.

“Me?”

“Talk to me. Distract me from what he’s doing and from what it felt like to have my leg burn.” Bruce nodded to Ren. “You saved me. Risked your own life when I flipped.” He looked away. “You seem like a good guy. I bet you ain’t spent no time in prison for beating your girlfriend.”

Ren winced. “No,” he admitted.

“You got a girlfriend?”

Ren managed a nod. He did not want to talk to this man about Mavyn. Could he even call Mavyn his girlfriend? If it was up to him, they’d be talking about forever, but something was holding her back. If only he could get off this burning mountain and back to her.

“Bet she’s pretty.”

“She is,” he admitted.

“Describe her for me.”

Ren looked around. All his men but Tyler were distracted, working hard to build a barrier so they weren’t sitting ducks if the fire changed direction and came back