Chill Factor Read Free Page B

accomplished was to give her a clearer
view of the dizzy swirl of sleet.
    And then, suddenly, a human figure leaped from the wooded
embankment
onto the road directly in her path.
    Reflexively she stamped on her brake pedal, remembering too
late
that braking abruptly was the wrong thing to do on an icy road. The car
went into a skid. The figure in her headlights jumped back, trying to
get out of the way. Wheels locked, the car slid past him, the back end
fishtailing wildly. Lilly felt a bump against her rear fender. With a
sinking sensation in her stomach, she realized he'd been struck.
    That was her last sickening thought before the car crashed
into a
tree.
    CHAPTER 3
    HER AIR BAG DEPLOYED, SMACKING HER IN THE FACE AND releasing a
choking cloud of powder, which filled the car's interior. Instinctively
she held her breath to avoid breathing it. The seat belt caught her
hard across her chest.
    In a distant part of her mind, the violence of the impact
amazed
her. This had been a relatively mild collision, but it left her
stunned. She took a mental inventory of body parts and determined that
she wasn't in pain anywhere, only shaken. But the person she'd
hit… "My
God!"
    Batting the deflated air bag out of the way, she released her
seat
belt and shoved open the door. As she scrambled out, she lost her
footing and pitched forward. The heels of her hands struck the icy
pavement hard, as did her right knee. It hurt like hell.
    Using the side of the car for support, she limped around to
the
rear. Shielding her eyes against the wind with her hand, she spotted
the motionless figure lying faceup, head and trunk on the road's narrow
shoulder, legs extending into the road. She could tell by the size of
his hiking boots that the victim was male.
    As though skating across the glassy pavement, she made her way
to
him and crouched down. A watch cap was pulled low over his ears and
eyebrows. His eyes were closed. She detected no movement of his chest
to indicate breathing. She dug beneath the wool scarf around his neck,
beneath the collar of his coat, beneath the turtle-neck sweater, and
searched for a pulse.
    Feeling one, she whispered, "Thank God, thank God." But then
she
noticed the spreading dark stain on the rock beneath his head. She was
about to lift his head and search for the source of the bleeding when
she remembered that an individual with a head wound shouldn't be moved.
Wasn't that a strict rule of emergency aid? There could be a spinal
injury, which moving could exacerbate or even make fatal.
    She had no way of determining the extent of his head injury.
And
that was a
visible
injury. What injuries might he
have
sustained that she couldn't see? Internal bleeding, a rib-punctured
lung, a ruptured organ, broken bones. And she didn't like the look of
the awkward angle at which he was lying, as though his back was bowed
upward. She must get help. Immediately. She stood up and turned back
toward her car. She could use her cell phone to call 911. Cell service
wasn't always reliable in the mountains, but maybe—
    His groan halted her. She turned so quickly her feet almost
went out
from under her. She knelt beside him again. His eyes fluttered open,
and he looked up at her. She'd seen eyes like that only once before. "
Tierney
?"
    He opened his mouth to speak, then looked as though he was
about to
throw up. He clamped his lips together and swallowed several times,
containing the urge. He closed his eyes again, then after a few seconds
opened them. "I was hit?"
    She nodded. "By the rear quarter panel, I think. Are you in
pain?"
After a few moments' assessment, he said, "Everywhere."
    "The back of your head is bleeding. I can't tell how bad it
is. You
fell on a rock. I'm afraid to move you."
    His teeth had begun to chatter. Either he was cold or
he
was going into shock. Neither was good.
    "I've got a blanket in the car. I'll be right back." She stood
up,
ducked her head against the wind, and labored back to her car,
wondering what on earth