Carolyn Jourdan - Nurse Phoebe 02 - The School for Mysteries Read Free Page A

days—reading, computing, driving, and sunglasses. She didn’t have any lenses for viewing low-flying aircraft.
    But rather than heading toward the body, Ivy moved even farther away from it. As gracefully as an acrobat, she walked along the network of ropes until she was as far away as she could possibly get. She stood against a tree trunk, staring at the dead man in horror. She’d never seen a dead body before.
    Phoebe was a bit surprised that Ivy wouldn’t try to render assistance, but fear of a body was common. Most people moved away from death or trouble. Fortunately people like doctors, soldiers, policemen, and firefighters tended to have the opposite impulse.
    Phoebe looked at the body and noted that the man’s face was still a healthy pink. He hadn’t been dead long. Then the corpse coughed.
    Oh God , she thought, he’s not quite dead. Yet.
    Phoebe recognized the sound for what it was and began an awkward crawl across the net toward the man. He was vomiting while lying on his back. He was choking. She made it to the middle of the net and shoved him over onto his side so he wouldn’t drown in his own vomit.

    The two men standing in the open doorway of the helicopter exchanged surprised looks and spoke to each other via their helmet microphones at the same time. One said, “What was that?” and the other, “Did you see that?”
    The taller man wore a harness with a tether connected to a hook in the ceiling of the chopper. He leaned out as far as he could and scanned the forest below them.
    “I saw something,” said the tall guy. “It could’ve been a person.”
    “There was some sort of tree stand,” said the other man, “I couldn’t tell what it was.”
    “Do you think someone saw us?” said the tall man.
    “Let’s go find out.”
    The shorter fellow instructed the pilot to turn around immediately and retrace his route. Both men grabbed handholds to keep from falling out the door as the chopper tilted and wheeled around.

    Phoebe had no idea what condition the man was in. He had to have been injured, but his color was decent and he was still warm. She felt for a pulse. It was sky high, but that was understandable. He’d just endured a free fall without the benefit of a parachute or even a pair of boxer shorts.
    “Can you hear me?” she asked in a gentle voice.
    He moaned.
    “You’ve had an accident,” she said, “but you’re safe now.”
    His eyes fluttered open. His pupils looked good. They were even and reactive to light. She could tell he was trying to focus on her, but was having trouble. She held up two fingers and said, “Can you tell me how many fingers I’m holding up?”
    His eyes closed and he didn’t respond.
    When he started retching again, Phoebe steadied him, keeping him on his side. She had no way of knowing if he had any broken bones or internal injuries, but the vomiting was ominous. He might’ve damaged something in his abdomen or hurt his head.
    “It’s okay now,” she lied, “Everything will be okay now. I’ve gotcha.”
    The sound of the helicopter started getting louder again. It must be coming back.
    The man was mumbling. Phoebe leaned close to try to hear what he was saying. His deep throated growl was hard to understand but it sounded like, “Not them again.”
    Suddenly the chopper was overhead, and this time it stayed there for several seconds, hovering. Two men wearing helmets, black jumpsuits, and heavy black boots were standing in the open door looking down at Phoebe and her new patient. They were right out in the middle of the rope platform in plain sight. Ivy was still standing with her back against the tree trunk, which meant she was well hidden from above.
    The fallen man recoiled in terror against the wind being whipped up by the helicopter blades. The men in the chopper had to be able to see that he was moving under his own power. Phoebe squinted up through the flying bits of leaves and her lashing hair and wondered if that was a good thing, or