The Journal: Fault Line (The Journal Book 5) Read Online Free Page B

“Holly?” The dog wagged its
tail in recognition. Joey hurried to Christine’s side and saw the
hand, immediately recognizing the ring that graced one finger.
“Katie!” He knelt down and took the hand, placing his under it, and
began to move his fingers. The hand frantically responded.
    “What are you doing?” Christine inquired,
curious about what she was seeing.
    “It’s my sister, Katie. She’s deaf. I just
told her we were here and would get her out. Holly is her service
dog. Move over,” he demanded.
    “Careful where you stand. From the angle of
the wrist, her head is about here, and her body is right here,”
Christine said sweeping her hand over the area. “We don’t want to
put additional weight on her.”
    “How can you tell?” Jake asked, grabbing two
bricks at a time and throwing them to the side. His big hands
lifted two more pieces, and the glass beneath sliced his palm. He
ignored the dripping blood and took two more chunks.
    “I like to draw people. Positioning was an
anatomy class I took,” she replied simply.
    “Why are you doing this for a black girl?”
Joey questioned angrily.
    Christine glared at him in disbelief. “What
the—? I don’t care if she’s green ! She’s hurt and needs
help. Let’s get her out of this mess before another aftershock
hits.”
    Five minutes later Katie’s face was exposed,
along with one shoulder. Christine got the bottle of water and held
it so Katie could see it. She opened her mouth and Christine poured
a little in. Each time Katie’s mouth opened, she poured a little
more. All the while the two boys frantically uncovered the rest of
injured girl.
    “We need to move her,” Joey said.
    “Yes, although it will have to be carefully,”
Jake cautioned. “She could have internal injuries that movement
might make worse.” Being big and strong, he lifted her out of the
debris pile and gently set her down in an open area.
    “Just what we don’t need,” Christine sighed,
looking up at the sky. “It’s starting to rain. She needs to get
into shelter.”
    “In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s not much
left standing,” Joey said, looking around.
    “There’s the hotel I was staying in a block
over,” Christine commented.
    “We can’t carry her that far without hurting
her,” Jake said.
    Christine thought a moment, and then removed
her jacket. “If we slide this under her back and shoulders, and I
put my left arm in this sleeve on her left side and you do the same
on the right side with your right arm, Joey, we can cradle her head
with our other hands and Jake can take her feet.”
    Jake considered what Christine said and
slowly nodded. “Yeah that would give support and the three of us
could move quickly.” He lifted Katie slightly while the other two
positioned the jacket.
    When they were in position, Christine said,
“Now give me your hand.” Joey glared at her. “Joey, don’t be an
ass. Give me your hand. ” They laced fingers behind Katie’s
head to support her neck, and Katie moaned softly when they lifted
her.
    They moved quickly in the rain with Holly
following behind, dragging her red leash.
     
    ***
     
    The trio carrying the injured Katie made it
to the big glass doors of the hotel in record time, and just before
a deluge hit. They set her down so Christine could open the massive
doors, and then Jake tenderly picked Katie up and entered the gloom
of the tinted glass walls.
    “Let me get some cushions,” Christine said.
She grabbed several pale gray couch cushions from the lobby
furniture and arranged them on the floor near the plate glass walls
and Jake set the now unconscious girl down. Holly lay down next to
her mistress, resting her chin on her extended front paws.
    “Where are you going?” Joey asked.
    Christine flicked on the flashlight she still
had. “To get more water.” She disappeared into the Coral Room where
lunch had been served earlier, with Jake following her.
    “You have to forgive Joey,” Jake