Under Her Wing

by Ronica Black

  Jayden fought for words. “I thought that you thought it was.”

  “It didn’t feel like a mistake.”

  Jayden flushed.

  “It felt good, passionate.”

  Jayden moved to the fridge where she retrieved two water bottles. She was suddenly very hot. “You thirsty?” She handed one over, but Kassandra didn’t take it. She was still staring at her.

  “I don’t want to deny what it was,” Kassandra said. “I just don’t think I can handle it is all.”

  A barking sound started, and Jayden looked desperately from dog to dog, needing to make it stop.

  “I think it’s your phone,” Kassandra said.

  Jayden felt her hip. “Damn.” She answered quickly. “Beaumont.”

  She turned and plugged her other ear, the caller difficult to hear.

  “Jayden. I just got a call. Two kids riding dirt bikes saw a dog trapped on the second story of an old farmhouse. I’m stuck on another call. You want it?”

  “Of course.” Jayden hurried to the counter and took down directions. She ended the call and returned the phone to her hip. “I’ve got to go. There’s a dog in need out past Avondale.” She dug in her fridge for more water bottles, placing them all in a cooler. Then she grabbed her emergency bag for the dogs, which she always kept stocked and ready and near the door. “Shit.” She stopped in her tracks. “Mel’s in Tucson.”

  She looked at Kassandra. “I need you to go with me. I need you to hold the ladder for me.”

  Kassandra set Louie back on the floor. “Okay.”

  “Can you handle it? The dog is probably in bad shape.”

  “Yes.”

  Jayden grabbed the bag and the cooler and crossed the porch to jump off the edge. She loaded the truck and retrieved the ladder from behind the house. Gus helped her tie it down in the bed of the truck.

  “Can we go?” he asked as he saw Kassandra climbing in the passenger side.

  “I need you here,” Jayden said. “Finish the steps and then help Allie. We’re a person short today, so I’m counting on you guys.”

  “You got it, Beaumont,” Billy said. “Hey, did you tell her you’re sorry?”

  Jayden nodded and he smiled.

  She slid in behind the wheel, started the engine, and took off.

  *****

  Jayden relayed the details to Kassandra as they sped down I-17 to the 101 loop, which would take them to the southwest valley.

  “So the dog is trapped on the second floor of an old house,” Kassandra said, tugging on her hat.

  “Yes. The bikers said she’s alive and that they couldn’t reach her because the stairs were unstable and they didn’t have a ladder. The good news is she’s alive and out of the sun. The bad news is we don’t know how long she’s been there or what her condition is.”

  “Right. Shouldn’t we call someone else for help, though? Like maybe the fire department?”

  Jayden thought about it, but she knew the terrain was rough and it might be something she could do herself.

  “Let’s wait and see.”

  They rode in silence, save for Jayden calling Allie to give her the information. Jayden was in work mode now. Rescue mode. All she could think about was getting to that dog. From time to time she looked over at Kassandra, who was content watching the road. Jayden thought about polite conversation, but with what they’d just talked about, she wasn’t sure what to say.

  “Here we go,” Jayden finally said as she pulled off and headed west toward the sun. “She’s somewhere off one of these trails.” They were in desert now, between developments. “There’s the rock place,” Jayden said, turning on her signal. The trail was across from the landscaping rock supply company. “There!”

  She turned onto the dirt trail and accelerated a little, taking it as quickly but as carefully as she could. They rode for about ten minutes before Kassandra spotted the old house off to the left. Jayden turned and took it slow, completely off trail now. She could see tracks from dirt bikes in the dirt.

  “How old do you think that is?” Kassandra asked as they approached.

  “I have no idea. It’s hard to tell with the weather and rot the sun causes.”

  She came to a stop and put the truck in park. She and Kassandra climbed out and they walked to the front of the house. The windows were gone, the boards old and weathered, with a room on the left collapsed in by the rotten roof.

  “She must be over here,” Jayden said, heading for the right of the house. They rounded the corner and got a straight shot into the second story. The boards from the house had fallen away, and some of the roof had come down. It was where they saw her and then heard her.

  “There she is,” Kassandra said, pointing.

  The little white dog was lying on her side. She tried to move when she heard them, but her hind leg seemed to be caught on something. She whined loudly.

  “Well, that’s a good sign,” Jayden said. “She’s still got some life in her.”

  She moved to the truck and Kassandra followed, helping her with the ladder. Jayden placed it as close to the house as she could.

  “You sure we shouldn’t wait for the fire department?” Kassandra asked, touching her arm just before she placed her foot on the bottom step of the ladder.

  Jayden looked at her hand, then at her. She saw concern, and it warmed her heart. “I’m hoping I won’t have to step inside the house. I’m hoping I can free her from the ladder.”

  Kassandra looked up at the dog. “Okay.”

  “Support me, and hopefully, we’ll have her out of there in no time.”

  Kassandra held the ladder as Jayden climbed.

  “Thanks, that’s good. I feel secure.” She was level with the dog and she leaned over to take a look at her leg. The dog got excited and tried to move, only causing more pain. “Shh, easy, girl. I’m right here.” She reached out and stroked her head. The dog relaxed and lay back down. Jayden stepped up another rung and leaned in more. She fingered the bind that was knotted around the dog’s leg. It was a wad of neon, some sort of binding material.

  “What is it? Is it rope?”

  “No. It’s something else,” Jayden called down. “I’m going to try to cut it.” She fished out her knife and passed it to her left hand. She leaned in again, balancing carefully. She placed the blade under an area away from the dog. It wouldn’t free the dog from the bind, but it would free the dog from the house.

  She pulled upward and cut. The dog let out a yip but moved its free leg immediately.

  “Got it.” She slid her knife back in her pocket and stroked the dog, who was now standing but trembling. “Come here, baby.” She let go of the ladder to grab her with both hands. Once she was secure and had her tucked with one arm against her chest, she started down the ladder.

  “Be careful,” Kassandra said.

  Jayden took four steps down and the dog started squirming. “Shh, it’s okay, it’s okay.” But the dog was frightened, and she was fighting to get free. Kassandra was calling up to her, and Jayden was trying with all her might to hold the dog close. She stepped down again and lost her footing, throwing her balance off. Kassandra screamed as Jayden fell. She clenched her eyes and held the dog tightly. When she hit, it made a horrible thump and she couldn’t breathe.

  Kassandra was over her, touching her face. “Can you hear me? Jayden?”

  Jayden held out the dog, who was safe on her chest. “Take her,” was all she could manage to say. She fought for breath, but everything felt tight in her back and chest. She rolled to her side and the pain registered.

  “Ah, fuck.” Her back and head were killing her. She regained her breathing and felt behind her to make sure nothing was in her back. She heard the truck door slam and Kassandra was back at her side, phone to her ear.

  “Yes, I need an ambulance,” she said. “Please hurry. She’s fallen from a second story.” Kassandra pressed on her shoulder, making her lie flat on her back. “Don’t move,” she said.

  Jayden tr
ied to sit up, but Kassandra forced her down. “Don’t move or I’ll kick your ass.”

  Jayden stilled. The look in Kassandra’s eye was serious, one she didn’t want to mess with.

  “Where’s the dog?” Jayden asked.

  Kassandra was speaking to 911. She covered the phone and said, “In the truck. She’s fine.”

  “Take care of her.”

  “I will. But right now, I’m taking care of you.”

  “Hang up and call my friend Oliver at the emergency vet clinic. He owes me a favor. He’ll come get her.”

  “Jayden, shut up.” Kassandra pressed her fingers to her lips. When she quieted, Kassandra held her hand and kept speaking into the phone. She was calm and cool. Yet firm. She even argued with the operator. “I don’t care what you have to send, just get here. She hit her head, she’s bleeding. Just get here, damn it!”

  “I’m bleeding?” Jayden couldn’t tell. “Where am I bleeding?”

  Kassandra squeezed her hand. “It’s okay. You’ve got a cut on your head.” Jayden tried to raise her arm to feel for it, but Kassandra wouldn’t let her.

  “I’m setting the phone down now,” Kassandra said to the operator. “I’m putting you on speaker. I need to talk to Jayden.”

  “Jayden, how are you feeling? Do you hurt?” she asked gently while sweeping her hair back from her forehead. Jayden looked into her eyes and felt like getting lost in them.

  “My head,” she said. “My back.”

  “Okay, anywhere else?”

  “No.”

  “They are sending a chopper for you. Just hang on. Can you squeeze my fingers?”

  Jayden did.

  “Good, now how about with this hand?”

  Jayden did.

  “Good. Now can you feel this?” She lightly touched her legs. It gave her goose flesh and quickened her breath.

  “Yes.”

  Kassandra smiled. “Very good. They are going to take you in the helicopter, and I’m going to drop the dog off at the emergency clinic. Then I’ll come to the hospital, okay?”

  “Yeah,” Jayden said, throat growing dry.

  “Is she still conscious?” the operator asked.

  “Yes, she is. She’s coherent and talking.”

  “The air evac is en route. You should see them any minute now.”

  “You’re coming to the hospital?” Jayden asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Good.”

  “Is that good?”

  “Yes. I’m afraid of needles.”

  Kassandra laughed playfully. “I would’ve never guessed.”

  “I don’t go around telling people.”

  “But with the dogs and all you deal with…”

  “As long as it isn’t me, I’m fine.”

  Kassandra nodded and squeezed her hand again. “I’ll hold your hand, okay?”

  Jayden smiled. She felt nauseous. “I need to throw up.”

  “Hang on, I hear them now.” She looked away and Jayden heard the helicopter approach.

  Black floaters came into her vision. Jayden clung to her hand. She called her name.

  “I’m here,” Kassandra said.

  “I need you to know,” Jayden said.

  “Shh, okay,” Kassandra said, touching her forehead again.

  “I want to be with you.”

  Kassandra palmed her cheek. Jayden swallowed and fought off the waning vision.

  “Did you hear me?” She had to be sure that she heard.

  “Yes, I heard you.”

  Jayden closed her eyes. “Okay. I’m glad.”

  Around her she heard people clamoring, talking, unwrapping things. When she felt the prick in her arm, she let it all go and let the blackness take over.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Kassandra watched the helicopter lift off. She stared after it for a long moment before climbing in the truck and adjusting the seat. The dog, who was eager to see her, came to her, and she soothed her and told her it would be okay. She limped and panted, and Kassandra held her close as she drove out of the desert and back onto the paved road. She headed south to Peoria and then drove quickly to the emergency clinic. She’d already called Allie and reported everything, and Allie had said she would call the animal clinic for her.

  When she arrived, she carried the little dog inside and they took her with eager hands, all of them wishing Jayden well.

  Kassandra made them promise to call her with an update on the dog. Then she got back into the truck and sped to the hospital. Her hands trembled, but not with fear. She was still in a little bit of shock over what had happened. Seeing Jayden fall had been horrifying, and seeing her hurt and helpless had torn her apart. She had to make sure she was okay.

  Her words only intensified her feelings, making her drive faster. Jayden wanted her. Could it be true? As thrilled as she felt over it, it only confused her all the more. Could she let her in? It was all she’d been thinking about. But in coming back to the kennel, she’d accepted that they must be friends. Even Jayden had said so. Faced with an emergency, though, she’d confessed otherwise. She’d confessed what they both felt.

  She pulled into the emergency lot and parked, then ran inside the ER and asked for Jayden’s whereabouts.

  “Are you family?”

  She hesitated. “No.”

  “One moment, please.”

  Kassandra paced.

  “Name?”

  “Kassandra Haden. I’m her friend and coworker. Please, I need to know how she is.”

  From a distant curtain, a woman was arguing, voice raised, insisting on leaving. Kassandra stood on her toes and tried to see around the corner.

  “That’s her, that’s my friend. Can I please go see her?”

  The woman looked behind her at the rising commotion. A man in scrubs hurried from behind the curtain, shaking his head. He tore off his surgical gloves and stopped at the counter to make notes in a chart.

  “Is that the air evac in curtain five?” the woman asked.

  He didn’t look up from his scribble. “Yes. But I don’t recommend going in there. She’s combative.”

  Kassandra spoke up. “Can I go? Please? I might be able to calm her down. I’m her friend.”

  He finally stopped his hand and looked up. “We’re giving her a sedative. So she may be a little loopy.”

  “I understand.”

  “Does she have family here?”

  “She doesn’t have…family.”

  “I see.” He closed the chart. “Come with me.”

  Kassandra rounded the counter and followed him as he pulled back the curtain and entered. He approached the head of the bed on one side and Kassandra did the same on the other. Jayden looked at her with wild eyes, IV in her hand, wrists strapped to the bed.

  “Tell them to let me go,” she said.

  Kassandra looked to the doctor, who cleared his throat to talk.

  “Ms. Beaumont, is it all right if I speak freely in front of your friend here?”

  Jayden tugged at the straps. “Yes, fine. I don’t care. Just let me go.”

  “As soon as you relax we can undo the straps. But in the meantime, we need you to remain still with the IV in your hand.”

  Jayden closed her mouth and flexed her jaw. A bandage was on her temple near her scalp. Blood had seeped through. Loose grass clung to her hair. She shifted, showing bare legs and a light blue hospital gown. She groaned.

  “You’ll be in some pain for a couple of weeks,” the doctor said. “But the good news is, you have no broken bones and your CAT scan showed no serious damage. You do have a concussion, so we’d like to keep you awake and under observation until tomorrow.”

  “What about her back?” Kassandra asked.

  “X-rays looked good. She’s scraped up and she’ll have some killer bruises. And like I said, she’ll be really sore. But she should be fine in a few weeks. I’ll recommend a physical therapist in case she feels she needs it.”

  “I won’t need it,” Jayden said. �
�I’ll be fine.”

  The doctor sighed as if he’d tried to have this conversation with her before Kassandra’s arrival. “Ms. Beaumont, you’ve suffered a serious fall here. You’re going to be forced to take it easy while you heal. You’ll be very stiff and sore.”

  “I don’t have time to take it easy,” she said. “I have a kennel to run. Dogs to care for. Teens to look after.”

  He looked to Kassandra. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to ask for help as far as that goes.”

  “She has it,” Kassandra said. “She just doesn’t utilize it.”

  Jayden narrowed her eyes at her. “Kassandra, you’re not helping here.”

  “Make sure that she does,” the doctor said. He reached down and squeezed Jayden’s hand. “I need you to follow up with your family physician next week, okay? She can manage your pain and continued care.”

  He then reached across and shook Kassandra’s hand. “Keep a close eye on her.”

  “I will, thank you.”

  He nodded and whisked out through the closed curtain. Kassandra pulled up a chair and settled in.

  “How are you feeling?” She carefully began pulling the grass from her hair.

  “Angry.”

  “Besides that.”

  The scowl on her face slowly began to fade and she blinked long and slow. Kassandra held her hand. “There you go, just breathe deep and relax.”

  “I don’t…like the needle in my hand.”

  “I know, but it needs to stay. Just relax and don’t think about it.”

  Her breathing began to slow, and a smile curled her lips. “They cut my clothes off. Ruined my favorite pair of cargo shorts. Fuckers.”

  Kassandra laughed. “They did what they had to.”

  Jayden closed her eyes and breathed deeply. “I feel good. Like I could float away.”

  “Don’t do that. Stay with me. Talk to me.”

  She opened her eyes. “The dog.”

  “She’s fine. I’m waiting for an update, but she was very alert and responsive on the way to the clinic. And Allie is taking care of everything at the kennel.”

  Jayden squeezed her hands. “I have so much to do. I’ve got to help the boys finish the steps—”