2. Prescription For Love

“I can’t,” Flann said. “I can’t move.”

Abby’s throat closed. Oh God. Harper’s face blanked, her body freezing in place. Evaluate, assess, act.

Abby crouched and peered into the tunnel. “Can you feel both legs?”

“Yes, it’s—”

“Any numbness or tingling?”

“It’s not my spine. I’m pinned by something.” Abby heard Harper start breathing again.

“Any other injuries?” Abby said.

“I don’t think so. Something’s bleeding, but not a lot.”

“Jesus,” Harper said. Her face paled, and for the first time, Abby saw panic in her eyes.

“Harper,” she said sharply, “it’s not serious. But we need to get her out of there.”

Harper shuddered, and her gaze cleared. She let out a long breath. “We need to make sure the tunnel doesn’t collapse. I’m going to get her.” “It’s not big enough for you,” Abby said.

“Then we’ll make it bigger.”

They went back to work, widening the path into the depths of debris, shoving blocks of wood under canted uprights to keep the structure from shifting. Abby followed Harper, holding the light. An endless time later, Flann’s face appeared, ghostly and pale.

“Hey.” Flann grinned and the cold, hard fist in Abby’s chest eased.

“Hey, yourself,” Harper said. “Abby, I need a two-by-four about five feet long.”

“Right.” Abby braced the light between two boards in the rubble, called out to Presley what they needed, and backed out.

“Here,” Presley said a moment later, passing her a wet length of wood. “Is she all right?”

“I think so.” Abby crawled back in with the board. “Harper—here.”

“There’s a big beam across your left leg, Flann. I’ll lever it up and you need to crawl toward me.” “If you move things,” Flann said, “this whole thing might come down.”

“We’ll go slow.”

“Leave me. When you get more people, you can take this thing apart from the top down.” “It’ll be a day. I’m not leaving you in there.”

“It’s not gonna help for both of us—”

Abby’s frayed nerves snapped. “The two of you, hush. Harper, how long before you can get more help?”

“Twelve hours minimum, maybe a day.”

“What’s the chance this whole thing might come down before then?” “Fifty-fifty, maybe worse.”

“Get her out.”

Flann cursed. “Look—”

“Risk assessment, Dr. Rivers,” Abby pronounced. “This is the safest course.”

“Then at least you should get out of the way so you can pull Harper out if it goes bad.”

“I’ll take that under advisement.” Abby murmured, “Be careful, Harper.”

“Yeah.” Harper jammed the two-by-four under the beam pinning Flann’s leg and pushed another hunk of wood under it.

“Get ready to move.”

“I’m not sure my leg will work right away,” Flann said.

“Just get close—we’ll take it from there.” Harper pushed down on the lever and the pile of wood groaned. Abby watched from the mouth of the tunnel, ready to grab Harper and pull her out if the pile started to shift. Endless moments later, Harper eased aside and an arm appeared next to her.

Abby crowded forward and grabbed Flann’s hand. “I’ve got you.”

“I’m not at my fighting best,” Flann said weakly. “So don’t let go.”

Abby tightened her grip. “I’m not going to.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Flann pushed herself to her knees but didn’t have the strength to stand. Her leg might as well have been a dead log attached to her hip for all she could control it. “Leg’s useless for a bit.”

Abby slipped an arm around her waist, saying gently, “Take your time. You can make it.”

A second later Harper was on her other side, and Flann managed to get both legs under her and wobble to her feet. Her injured leg burned like someone had rammed a hot poker down the middle of her quad. Congealing blood soaked her jeans to the knee.

“Jesus, Flann,” Harper said, “you’re a mess.”

“Thanks, sis.”

“Are you dizzy?” Abby asked.

“No,” Flann croaked. “A little weak in general, but I don’t think I lost that much blood.

“We’ll see when we get you to the ER.”

Flann grunted and put a little more weight on the leg. It held. “By the time we get to the ER, it’ll be filled with patients and I’ll be too busy to worry about it.”

“You’re not going to be doing anything tonight,” Abby said.

“You don’t know what you’re dealing with here, Abby.” Flann didn’t have the patience to argue. “Look at the damage here. If that twister went through town or even stayed on the ground on the outskirts, there’s gonna be a lot more than property damage. People are going to be hurt. I’ve got work to do.”

Abby gritted her teeth and stared at Flann’s set jaw. The woman was so stubborn that reasoning with her was about as effective as trying to hold back the tornado with a bedsheet. “Harper, maybe you can talk some sense into her.”

Harper cleared her throat. “Uh

how about we get everybody inside and we’ll do a quick check on the three of them. I’ll take the kids, you look at Flann. If her leg’s not too bad, then for the short term, at least, it makes the most sense to let her try to work. I’ve got everything you’ll need to treat a straightforward injury.”