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

a bad thing.
    The wind was buffeting the chopper. It was gusting and shoving it hard toward the ridge and into the tops of the trees. The pilot couldn’t hold their position for more than a few seconds before he was forced to move away from the wall of mountains.
    But they’d seen enough. Loose ends would have to be dealt with, pronto.

Chapter  4
    The helicopter noise faded and this time it didn’t come back.
    Phoebe’s vision wasn’t great, but she’d seen enough to confirm that the helicopter wasn’t one of the types used for medical rescue. It wasn’t rigged with a basket on the side for transport of a body, either. This wasn’t adding up.
    “That was super-weird,” Ivy said, “Those guys didn’t wave or anything. They just looked.”
    The man mumbled again, still keeping his eyes closed tightly, but this time he was easier to understand. He said, “Uh oh.”
    The guy really had a knack for hitting the nail on the head. He was a man of few words, but every one of them was right on target.
    Phoebe was getting a cramp from kneeling on the ropes. She needed to change position. “I’m gonna lay you over on your stomach for just a second,” she said. His eyelids fluttered open just as she rolled him facedown.
    “Oh God!” he gasped, and flailed his arms and legs wildly. Then he screamed.
    Phoebe threw herself across him to keep him from thrashing and flinging himself off the edge of the platform in his frenzy. “Stop that!” Phoebe barked. “Stop it right now!”
    “It’s not over,” he moaned. “I’m still falling!”
    “Close your eyes,” Phoebe said in her most authoritative voice. “You are not falling.”
    “Uhhhh,” he groaned, but he closed his eyes, then whispered, “That’s better.”
    Ivy and Phoebe exchanged concerned looks.
    After a couple of minutes his breathing became more regular and, he asked in a husky voice, “Am I dead?”
    “No,” said Phoebe. “I’m gonna get off you now. I need you to roll back up onto your side when I do that, okay? Keep your eyes closed and just roll onto your side. I’ll help you. Don’t try to go anywhere else.”
    When she lifted herself off him he made an ungentlemanly grunt like she weighed a ton. She held him in a firm grip and leaned in close to check his pupils, as she said, “I need to take a quick look at your eyes. Hold still.”
    When she pried open one of his eyelids he looked up into Phoebe’s face at nearly point blank range, and shouted, “Oh God, I’m in Hell!”
    Phoebe was used to verbal abuse from patients. She knew people weren’t at their best when they were sick, scared, in pain, or heavily medicated, but Ivy was shocked and wouldn’t stand for this stranger insulting her friend.
    “Hey, buddy, watch your mouth. We’re trying to help you,” Ivy said, pulling off her fleece jacket and tossing it toward his private parts. “And cover up, you’re not exactly Chippendales material yourself.”
    Phoebe snorted. She didn’t mind his outburst. Some people were just bad patients. No matter what you did for them they were cranky and a pain in the ass to deal with. This fellow was obviously one of those.
    “I’ve heard of people getting bumped from a flight,” Ivy said, still miffed at him, “but you just took it to a whole new level.”
    That made him cough and sputter in what might have been a laugh.
    “If you keep you eyes closed it’ll help you stay calm,” Phoebe said. The height was scaring her, too. “We’ll figure out a way to get you down.”
    “Who are you people?” he asked in a hoarse whisper.
    “Who are you ?” Ivy demanded.
    He mumbled, “I asked first.”

    As the helicopter left the mountains, the shorter of the two men said, “The boss isn’t gonna like this.”
    “What say we clean up the mess ourselves and not mention it to him?”
    “Agreed,” he said. No one would ever want to have to admit a mistake to the man they knew only as the Gryphon.
    They radioed their associates,