Frozen Hearts (Beyond Reality Book 3) (16 page)

Darius finally came running through the woods toward her. She had to get help.

“Kneel down here and put your hands where mine are,” she ordered curtly, once again gaining control over her riotous emotions.

“What happened?” Darius asked.

“What the hell do you think happened?” Kina snapped. “He was mauled by a bear. The same damn bear you ran from and led right to us.” Darius had no response. “I have to get back to camp and get the radio. He needs help. Whatever you do, don’t let go. Keep the pressure on his stomach. I don’t care if that bear comes back. You. Do. Not. Move. Got it?”

At his nod Kina lifted her arms and waited until Darius had a good strong grip on Jonathan. Before running off, she leaned down and kissed Jonathan’s lips. “I’ll be right back, please don’t die on me,” she whispered and then was gone through the trees.

Kina ran as fast as she could back to the camp and snatched up the radio. She frantically radioed the production camp and explained between harsh breaths that Jonathan was badly hurt and they needed a helicopter. Eddie hadn’t wanted to believe her until she cussed him out and threatened a lawsuit if he didn’t get someone out there soon.

Eddie obviously had planned for some sort of emergency care in case someone needed it because within twenty minutes, a helicopter was landing on the same shore Darius had been fishing at and where the bear had attacked them. Kina had taken over holding Jonathan together while Darius went to meet the chopper at the lake. He led the paramedics back to the forest where Kina was kneeling on the ground. They took one look at the amount of blood on her hands and on the ground underneath Jonathan and packed him up and got him on the stretcher and headed toward the helicopter. They didn’t spend any time trying to put in an IV in while they were in the wilderness. They just packaged him up and were on their way.

There was no room in the chopper for Kina so she could only watch as Jonathan was taken away. He’d never regained consciousness. Left with Darius in the clearing, the silence was heavy. They could no longer hear th
e
whoop whoop whoo
p
of the helicopter as it sped toward Anchorage.

“I…” Darius started to say and stopped as Kina’s hand came up.

“No.” Kina said as she started gathering up the pieces of the ruined camera equipment strewn about the area. She had to get to the hospital, but she still had a job to do. The attack ran through her mind like a record spinning over and over. Picking up the pieces of equipment was like picking up pieces of Jonathan.

She got everything back to camp and radioed Eddie. He was pulling Carl off of Nash’s campsite and sending him to hers. He’d take over the rest of the filming so she could get to the hospital and Jonathan. Kina shouldn’t have been surprised that Eddie wasn’t going to stop the show, but she was. Why she’d thought his camera crew meant more than the show, was beyond her.

After all her back and forth with herself about whether she should quit or not was not, it a moot issue. She was done. So done. There were times during the filming she’d thought maybe Eddie was changing and perhaps she’d sign up to continue to work with him. But now there was no way in hell.

Carl gave her a big hug when he got to her campsite. Kina noticed there were two rangers carrying shotguns who arrived with him. At least Eddie had sent along extra security. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about the rest of them out at the lake while she was with Jonathan at the hospital.

She didn’t say a word as she sat in the helicopter Eddie had to arrange to take her to the hospital. He’d made a token protest at the cost of flying her back separately from the rest of the crew, but quickly shut his mouth at her ferocious words again threatening all sorts of lawsuits.

As soon as they landed at the Anchorage airfield, Kina took out her cell phone. Thank God she finally had service. The first thing she did was call Dean, Jonathan’s brother. She didn’t have his parents’ numbers, but Jonathan had programmed his brother’s number into her phone for emergencies. She supposed this was definitely an emergency.

“Hello?” Dean answered after the first ring.

Kina got right to the point. “Dean, this is Kina, I’m working with Jonathan in Alaska. There’s been an accident. Jonathan’s in the hospital.”

Kina could hear him moving around quickly. “What happened?”

“He was swiped by a bear. I have no idea how bad it is, but I think it’
s
ba
d
. They flew him off the set and to the hospital here in Anchorage. I’m on my way there now, but I don’t know anything.” Her voice cracked. “I don’t know if they’ll talk to me since I’m not related to him, so you’ll want to get here as soon as you can.”

“I’m on my way, Kina. I’ll call the hospital and give them permission to talk to you. Keep me up-to-date. I don’t know how long it’ll take me to get there.”

“Do you want me to call your parents?” Kina asked, hoping like hell he’d say no.

“I’ll take care of it. You just get to my brother. If you talk to him, tell him we’re on our way.”

Kina agreed and hung up. Thank God Dean would be there soon. She flagged down a taxi and headed to the hospital.

* * *

Kina stood off to the side of the waiting room. The last twenty-four hours had been the longest she’d ever experienced in her life. Dean had arrived, as had the rest of Jonathan’s family. Becky, his mom and dad, and even some of the people who worked on the refuge, she’d recognized them from the shoot they’d done there. They all showed up to support their son, friend, and brother.

Kina felt completely out of place, but she couldn’t go anywhere until she knew Jonathan was going to be all right. The doctors had come out periodically to update the family on his condition. They’d explained the extensive injuries Jonathan had and how the bear’s claws had actually perforated his bowel as they’d swiped across his abdomen. They’d gotten him sewed up, but their main concern now was infection. Not only were the bear’s claws covered in bacteria and dirty as hell, the waste material from his bowels had leaked into his body, so it was a double whammy.

Jonathan was fighting as hard as he could, but it was just a matter of time to see if he’d pull through. Kina teared up. God, now she understood more what Jonathan had been talking about when he’d talked about his feelings of guilt when it came to Becky. The one nap Kina had managed to squeeze in, ended abruptly with her jerking awake because she’d been reliving the exact moment Jonathan stepped in front of her to take the bear’s swipe. Guilt. It was an insidious emotion. Nothing anyone could say would assuage it.

She thought back to their brief moment in the woods before he’d passed out. Jonathan had tried to tell her not to feel guilty. He knew she would. She knew he’d be pissed at her for feeling this way and she tried really hard to tamp it down.

Jonathan’s mom, Bethany, came toward Kina. His mom was the last person Kina wanted to talk to. She just knew the eagle-eyed woman would take one look at her and know this was all her fault. So she was completely shocked when the older woman walked right up to her and folded her into her embrace. Kina couldn’t help it; she’d been strong for so long, but that one little bit of sympathy broke her. She burst into tears and buried her face in the other woman’s hair and just cried.

When she finally came back to awareness she noticed she was sitting on a small couch in the waiting area with Bethany still holding on to her tightly.

“I’m so sorry,” Kina said, pulling back to wipe at her face.

“What are you sorry about? You looked like you really needed that; both the shoulder to cry on and the cry itself.”

“Well yeah, I just cried all over you and you don’t even know me!” Kina said, shocked this woman would even want to take the time to comfort someone who was basically a stranger.

“I know you. And even if I didn’t, you’re Jonathan’
s
On
e
. That means you’re family.”

“Wh-what?” How did she know that? Had he talked to his mom about her?

              Bethany sighed. “Has he told you about our family?”

“Uh, yeah.” Kina drew out the word in confusion. She thought she knew where Bethany was going with this and it was a bit awkward.

Bethany didn’t take offense, but instead just smiled.

“So, he did tell you, but you don’t really believe it. Let me tell you a story, Kina. In my family,” Bethany gestured behind her at her husband and other son, “the men have one woman who is meant to be theirs. One. They go through life knowing this, but not really believing it until they meet her. It happened with Robert, my husband. He was going on his merry way, saving lives, then boom! He met me at the scene of an accident and knew I was his one and only love. Dean was the same way. He was a ladies man. Never settling down because it never felt right. Then he met Becky. Obviously you know their story. It wasn’t easy, but Becky was hi
s
On
e
. This has happened over and over throughout our family history. We have story after story of our ancestors who never thought they’d get married, never thought they’d find that one person who completes them, until one day they did. The same thing happened with Jonathan. He hadn’t really talked to you on the set until he went to all of the crew to see if any of you could help Becky. He talked to you and knew. Kina, you’re hi
s
On
e
.”

Kina was shocked and confused. Jonatha
n
ha
d
told her he loved her and had told her the story of her being hi
s
On
e
, but she’d pretty much blown him off, thinking he was just being romantic. She couldn’t understand how Jonathan’s mom knew about her, though.

Bethany must have seen her confusion. She took hold of Kina’s hand and held it tightly. “He told us, dear. As soon as he came back to the house after meeting you, he came bursting in the room and said ‘I’ve found her!’ He’s been wooing you. It can be a hard thing to hear and believe. It sounds crazy, but I see you already knew some of this already. He trusted you enough to tell you.”

Kina looked up from their clasped hands to see Becky and Dean standing in front of them. She turned and saw Robert, Jonathan’s dad, standing to the side, watching his wife carefully.

“It’s true, Kina,” Becky said softly. “I know it sounds crazy, but the Baker men would do anything for thei
r
On
e
. I know you’re feeling guilt about what happened to Jonathan, but, stop it right now. Seriously. He’s been through this too and I’ve told him over and over that I don’t blame him nor do I want him to blame himself. You haven’t told us what happened out there and how he came to be hurt exactly, but we can guess. He was probably protecting you, right? Somehow he was hurt instead of you.”

Kina looked down at her hands. God, hearing it out loud was so much worse than thinking it in her head.

Dean took over for his wife. Kina noticed the protective hand he had at Becky’s back and how she was curled into his side. “We’re protective. It’s in our genes. Jonathan isn’t quite as alpha as I am, but if you were in trouble, or Becky, or our mom, or really any other woman, he’d do anything in his power to protect you. I can imagine you were filming and a bear came up on you. He probably stood in front of you and took that bear on.”

“Close enough.” Kina mumbled, completely floored by what this family was saying.

Dean went on. “He loves you, Kina. You’re hi
s
On
e
. He’d do anything for you, just as I suspect you’d do for him. Don’t feel guilty. Put yourself in his shoes. God forbid it was you lying in that bed, would you want him to feel guilty for you protecting him?”

Kina sat up straight on the couch. Oh crap. Dean was right. He was so right. That was just what she needed to hear to give her a kick in the pants. She’d be pissed if the tables were turned and Jonathan was feeling guilt about her getting hurt while protecting him. She’d been telling him over and over about how she could take care of herself, and now, look. Loving someone, having someone love you, wasn’t about being independent and moving through life on your own, it was about protecting each other. Being there for each other when needed. She’d helped Jonathan through some hefty guilt he’d been feeling just as he’d helped her with that damn bear. She had to get her act together.

Kina stood up and hugged Dean as hard as she could. Of course she couldn’t even get her arms all the way around him, he was so big. He uncurled his arms from around Becky and held Kina tight for just a moment. He put her away from him and looked into her eyes. “You’re okay, now?”

“I’m great.” Kina said with steel in her voice. She had things to do and people to talk to. She’d make this right, once and for all.

* * *

Jonathan gradually became more and more lucid over the next couple of days. It wasn’t until his third day in the hospital that he was awake enough to recognize anyone. Dean happened to be in the room when he came to.

Because he still had a breathing tube in, he couldn’t talk. He was agitated and Dean saw the panic in his eyes. He put a hand on his brother’s forehead and one on his chest. He leaned down to speak into his ear. “Settle, bro. You’re fine. Kina’s fine. You’re in the hospital, but you’re healing and we’ll get that tube out of your throat so you can talk, all right?”