Jaxie's Menage (2 page)

Unless…

Maybe Rachel had been
trapped in the avalanche too?

Another burst of panic
made her whimper. Had her friend been sucked into the same fate as
her? Was Rachel now entombed in an ice coffin too?

Calm
down
.

She needed to remain
positive. She needed to save her oxygen by breathing incredibly
slow.

Oh man, if she ever got
out of here, she’d make sure she checked off everything on her
bucket list. She was so not in the mood for this shit.

She should be at work.
She had a club to run. No, actually, the club shouldn’t be her top
priority. She should be living life with Ewan. Damn! She was so
stupid in letting him go. She should have swallowed her pride and
asked him to take her back. Instead, she’d buried herself even more
in her work. Then, the one time she’d decided to not put herself
first and instead help out a friend and take the day off to go
skiing with her, this happened.

Why was this happening to
her?

You know
why
, an inner voice echoed from somewhere.
Was that her mother’s voice? No, not possible. Mom was dead. Dad
was dead. Her family was dead.

Why? Why? Why had
everyone she loved died? Why did bad things happen to the people
she loved?

Another wave of dizziness
swept over her. She wanted to scream. Her breathing was too
fast.

Calm
down
!

She had too many things
left to do in life.

Like
what
?
You had your
chance
,
sweetheart
.
You blew it
.

Dad
?

Shit.
She
was
hallucinating. Lack of oxygen.

Slow down your
breathing
.
They’ll
find you
.
You’ll be
able to check off that bucket list you’ve been working
on
.
You’ll get that
ménage you’ve always wanted
too
.

Not a ménage with Ewan.
She doubted he was that kind of guy. But maybe, she might even get
back with him?

Stupid
woman
.

She’d been
living her intimate fantasies by hooking up her friends with
their
fantasies and not
going after her own.

She would get that hot
ménage. She’d go on that honeymoon trip to Hawaii that she and Ewan
had always planned, before everything had fallen apart with that
relationship. She’d just go without him. She’d go down that bucket
list one item at a time and do everything she’d ever wanted to
do.

While she’d
been with Ewan, she’d even toyed with maybe having a family. A
family she hadn’t wanted because she didn’t want to suffer any more
losses. How crazy was that kind of thinking? Life was full of
losses.
Deal with it and move
on
. Oh, if only it were that
easy.

But she would never get
everything she wanted if she was stuck down here!

Anger snapped through
her. She’d claw her way out of here, that’s what she’d
do.

She tried to move. But
she couldn’t budge an inch.

An overwhelming crush of
terror pushed aside her anger.

She
was
going to
die!

Her teeth were
chattering. Her lips were so cold. The air was freezing. What air?
She had no air!

Her dead mom and dead dad
were coming for her. She swore she could feel them embracing her.
She could even see them. They were smiling at her. Her little
brother and little sister were there behind her parents. They were
smiling too.

Their love filled
her.

But I’m not
ready
.
Please.
Ewan, help me.

No one is ever
truly ready
,
sweetheart.
Her dad’s voice
again.

Desperation encouraged
her to stick her tongue past her lips and push the ice that was
jammed against her mouth. So cold. Too cold.

She felt funny. Tired. So
tired.

Oh God. Ewan.
I can’t leave you like this. I have broken your heart too many
times. I still love you, Ewan. Please, forgive me?

It’s time to
go, baby
. Her mother’s voice.

No. No.
No.

Suddenly there was a
light. A bright light. It was so beautiful. So warm. She needed to
go into it and get warm…

“
Dammit!
Breathe! Jaxie! Breathe!” Ewan shouted at Jaxie. Panic punched him
in the gut. She appeared lifeless as she lay on the litter on the
helicopter floor. The rat-tat-tat of the helicopter blades sounded
like an ominous death chant as they soared into the air.

“
Oh my God, is
she dead?” Rachel was hovering around behind him like a damned
irritating squawking chicken. He wanted her gone. He needed space
to move. To breathe life into Jaxie.

Shit, she’d been like a
rag doll when they’d finally pulled her free from the avalanche.
They’d found her blue-tinged fingers first, then they’d dug down to
her hand. He’d been able to check her pulse. It had been slow and
thready.

She’d been standing in an
upright position only two feet beneath the snow. They’d dug away
the concrete-like snow until her arm was exposed. Then they’d spied
her red hair, and they dug faster, exposing her head.

Her face was ashen. Her
lips so blue. She’d stopped breathing a split second after they’d
freed the area around her chest. He’d begun CPR with the rest of
her still entombed in the snow. It hadn’t been easy doing chest
compressions and breathing life into her. It had seemed like
forever before they’d pulled her out and then laid her on the
litter.

Shit
!
You are
not going to die, Jax
!

He pressed his mouth over
her cold blue lips and blew into her mouth again.

Then he turned his head
and gazed down to watch her chest. It didn’t move.

Damn you,
Jax
!

“
How’s she
doing?” Royce called out from the cockpit as he flew the
helicopter.

“
What’s our
ETA?” Paul shouted back while he checked her body for broken
bones.

“
Three
minutes,” Royce answered.

Fuck
!
Too
long
.

“
Is she…dead?”
Rachel whispered again. Torment edged her voice. Thankfully,
someone had moved her farther away. She didn’t need to see this.
Didn’t need to see Jaxie die.

No
!

“
I won’t let
her die,” Ewan growled.

Hot anger zinged through
him as he continued with the chest compressions and then the mouth
to mouth. He just kept going, despite the mutterings of Paul, who
said something about maybe they’d gotten to her too
late?

Son of a
bitch
!
Asshole
!
Shut
the fuck up
,
Paul
! He wasn’t sure if he yelled it
out loud or if he’d just screamed it in his mind. Who cared? He
didn’t need negative energy around Jaxie.

“
I have a
pulse!” Craig shouted from the other side of Jaxie.

Ewan couldn’t stop. If he
did, she’d die. He kept on going with the CPR.

“
Ewan, stop!”
Paul commanded in a serious tone.

Somehow Paul’s words
suddenly made sense and Ewan stopped. He looked up to see a play of
emotions in Craig’s green eyes. His fingers were pressed against
the left side of her neck. He was smiling and he winked at
Ewan.

“
She’s gonna
make it, man. She’s gonna make it,” Craig said.

A cheer went up from the
cockpit.

Exhaustion and relief
made Ewan’s shoulders sag. He dropped onto his haunches.

“
She’s going
to make it,” Paul said softly. He slapped Ewan on his back, then
Paul and Craig began bundling warm blankets over Jaxie.

A chill swept through him
as he watched her for signs of life. She was still so quiet. Was
she alive? He leaned over her and he could barely feel her breath
feather against his face.

This had been too close.
How long had she not been breathing? Would there be brain damage?
Had she broken any bones? Were her insides crushed?

He held his breath as
Jaxie’s eyelids suddenly fluttered.

She whimpered. It was the
best sound he’d ever heard in his life.

“
Welcome back,
babe,” Ewan muttered. Before he knew he was doing it, he descended
his head and pressed his mouth against her quivering lips.
Shockwaves of happiness swept through him as she returned the
kiss.

Warmth melted over
Jaxie’s mouth. The pressure and the heat was so beautiful, it
curled her toes.

Someone was kissing her?
She inhaled a breath. She smelled spice. It was nice.
Familiar.

Ewan?

She tried to open her
eyes, but she couldn’t.

As she
responded to the kiss, he suddenly pulled away. Disappointment shot
through her. Who
was
kissing her? Or had they been doing CPR?

“
Jaxie? Can
you hear me? It’s Rachel. You’re going to be okay.”

Relief poured through
her. Rachel was okay.

“
The hospital
is in sight. We’ll be there in under a minute.” Royce called out
from somewhere. Was he here too? She liked Royce. He was Ewan’s
best friend and he worked with Ewan as a rescue worker. Happiness
always bubbled inside her when she saw him. Lately, whenever he
came into her club, something really nice flowed through her when
she looked at him. It was similar to what she felt for Ewan.
Caring. Lust. Some crazy need to have two men in her life and not
just one.

Man, she really had been
living her dreams through all the friends, hadn’t she? Maybe it was
time for her to start searching for her own dream?

She was alive. She had a
second chance at life.

God help her, she wasn’t
going to blow it.

Chapter Two

“
I cannot
believe how fast that snow came down that mountain,” Rachel said as
she hovered beside Jaxie’s hospital bed and nervously straightened
the wrinkles in the sheets that covered Jaxie’s legs.

“
I can’t
believe both of you made it out of there alive,” Dr. Kelsie Madison
said as she breezed into the room. She held a small clipboard in
her hand and Jaxie let out a breath of relief when Kelsie smiled
warmly at them.

She’d been stuck in this
hospital for the better part of the afternoon and now it was
evening. She wanted out of here. She had a club to run.

Jaxie frowned. Wow, she’d
just escaped death and all she could think about was going back to
work? Yeah, well, bills had to be paid. She’d start thinking on
that bucket list the minute she figured out how to make some of it
come true.

“
Since I know
Rachel is practically family, I’m going to forgo the traditional
patient/doctor confidentiality and break the news to both of you,”
Kelsie said in a professional, no-nonsense tone that shot
uneasiness into Jaxie.

“
Oh my God! Is
she going to be okay?” Rachel gasped. “She was knocked out. Not
breathing for a little while. She has pain when she breathes and
she’s not using her right arm. She’s covered in
bruises—”

“
Rachel,
relax. The doctor is going to tell us that everything is fine,
right, Doc?”

Jaxie hoped that’s what
Kelsie was going to say.

Kelsie looked at her
clipboard and began shifting through the papers.

“
The CAT scan
of your head showed no problems. The body scan showed no broken
bones.”

Whew
!

“
Yes!” Rachel
cried out and leaned into hug Jaxie. Her arms were strong and warm
as she embraced Jaxie. It was nice to have such a caring
friend.

When her friend moved
away, Jaxie didn’t miss Rachel brushing away tears.

Oh, geez, she really had
given Rachel a fright.

Kelsie gazed at Jaxie’s
wrist, where she’d propped it on a pillow. It was swollen and
bruised black and blue. Thankfully, her fingers weren’t blue
anymore, and she could wiggle them without a problem.

“
Your wrist is
sprained. The swelling will go down in a few days. If there are any
problems, we can set you up with a physiotherapist.”

“
But why does
she have pain when she breathes?” Rachel asked.

“
Her ribs are
bruised and muscles around her diaphragm are pulled. Too many
somersaults, I would imagine.”

Jaxie shivered as she
remembered being hurled around and around inside the
snow.