SEAL Wolf In Too Deep(3)
“She’s only three months old!” Franny added, as if she didn’t recognize Allan—another sign she had hypothermia.
“Get the mom out of the water,” he said to Debbie as her boots crunched in the snow and ice behind him.
She slipped, her boot kicking the back of his. He swung around and grabbed her arm to keep her from falling.
“Thanks,” she said, looking a little embarrassed.
“It’s slippery.” He was having a difficult time staying on his own two feet, but with bigger boots and more weight than Debbie had, he was managing better.
When he reached the moving water, he waded right in. The icy cold sent a jolt of adrenaline straight through him, and he wished he were wearing a wet suit.
The driver’s-side door was open where Franny had managed to get out. Allan pushed through the strong currents to the SUV, while Debbie went after Franny. When he reached the car, he tried to get the back door open but couldn’t. He scrambled into the driver’s seat and squeezed through the front seats to access the baby’s carrier. Upside down and buckled firmly into her carrier, the baby was unconscious. The cold water covered her, and Allan feared the worst.
He shined his light inside the vehicle to give more illumination in the dark, though he could see well enough with his wolf night vision in most conditions. But this was so precarious, and with a life hanging in the balance, he didn’t want to make any mistakes.
Praying he could revive the unconscious baby in time, he yanked out his knife. The icy water made his hands so stiff and numb, he feared he would drop it as he cut the straps to the car seat, careful not to injure Stacy. He yanked at the straps until they gave way. Pulling the baby free, he cradled her against his chest and backed out of the vehicle. He held the lifeless infant close as he waded through the icy water toward the snow-covered shore.
Debbie was still struggling to guide the mom out of the water. Franny was stumbling, shivering—though they all were—and instead of moving briskly out of the water like Debbie and he were doing, Franny kept stopping and turning. Debbie kept reassuring her that she was taking her to her baby, holding the woman close to share body heat and trying to rush her out of the water as fast as she could.
If he could have, Allan would have given Debbie the unresponsive baby and carried Franny from the water. But he had to resuscitate the baby pronto. Every second counted.
“I’ll get the blankets,” Debbie said as she left Franny on the shore and ran up the incline to the vehicle while Allan administered CPR on baby Stacy.
The infant suddenly coughed up water and let out a weak cry. Allan swore his stopped heart came back to life. She wasn’t out of danger yet. She was lethargic, and her skin was bright red and cold.
Franny was trying to pull off her wet clothes in the frigid weather. Allan was afraid she was planning to turn into her wolf.
“Franny, hold on. We’ll get you and Stacy to the clinic as soon as we can. The ambulance will be here any minute. Dr. Holt will take care of you both.” He pressed the baby against his wet chest with one arm, while holding Franny close to him with the other and trying to keep her from stripping out of her wet clothes. She needed to, but not as a prelude to shifting. He moved them up toward the hatchback to get them out of the stiff, cold wind, but Franny was struggling to get free.
Slipping a bit, Debbie hurried as fast as she could back down the hill to reach them with blankets and some dry clothes.
“Let’s get them up to the vehicle. You can remove the baby’s clothes inside the car, and I’ll take care of Franny,” Allan said.
“Okay,” Debbie replied, and Allan gave her the baby, then lifted Franny’s trembling body into his arms and trudged up the hill.
“Need…to…turn,” Franny bit out.
Yes, their double coat would help warm her, as would the shift itself, but then her baby would turn too. He could just see Debbie dropping the baby-turned-wolf-pup and screaming in fright.
“When you’re in the ambulance, Franny. Just wait.” He spoke firmly, like the pack sub-leader he was, encouraging her but at the same time commanding her to do his bidding.
At the car, Debbie climbed into the backseat, pulled off the baby’s soaking-wet pink fleece jumpsuit, and wrapped her in a dry blanket, while Allan struggled to remove Franny’s wet clothes. She was shaking badly from the cold, which was better than if she wasn’t shivering at all, but her skin was ice white, her breathing abnormally slow.
Sirens in the distance told them the cavalry was coming. Thank God. He just hoped it was their ambulance and not the regular one.
“What happened?” Allan asked Franny. He had to keep her talking and alert, keep her from shifting unexpectedly.
“Red car—no accident.”
Allan paused as he was trying to get a wool ski hat on her head, but she kept removing the blanket. She was either thoroughly confused or she really wanted to shift. Maybe a little of both.
Franny looked on the verge of collapse as he pulled the wool knit cap over her head and removed the rest of her wet clothes. Then he wrapped her tightly in the blanket, lifted her into his arms, and set her inside the hatchback. There she was at least protected from the bitter wind. Debbie was holding the baby close. Both he and Debbie were also suffering from hypothermia. He felt his speech slurring, and he was having a hard time concentrating on what he needed to do next. But he had enough presence of mind to know not to shift.