Sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

"Matt," Toni cried, as she rushed toward the stricken man. Her heart was racing and she heard blood pounding in her ears. she knew that there was no way that she would be able to support Matt's weight, but perhaps she would, at least, be able to lower his gently.

The breaking of the cups as well as her cry alerted Cody and Jesse; by the time she had taken the three steps she needed to reach Matt, his father was already there. Jesse got a shoulder under one of Matt's arms. Cody was right behind him, but he stopped, shocked when he saw his brother drenched in blood. "Cody," his father snapped, "take Matt's other arm. Help him!" The urgency in his father's voice jolted the teenager out of his momentary paralysis as Cody ran over to Matt's other side. He was shorter and slighter than Matt, but an active life gave him strength and together the father and son managed to keep Matt from collapsing.

Toni was horrified, but her nurse's training kicked in. Putting aside her feelings, she quickly assessed the situation. She ran ahead of Jesse and Cody. She found a sleeping bag rolled up by the front door and spread it on the floor in front of the fireplace. Here." She ordered. "Lay him down here." When Jesse and Cody complied, she grabbed pillows from the couch, slipping several pillows under Matt's knees elevating his legs. Even that simple action caused the injured man to cry out in pain. Toni bit her lip to keep from crying out herself.

"Cody," Jesse said, his voice calm. "Get the medical kit. Bring here." Cody spared one look for his brother lying on the floor and ran to the back of the house.

Jesse dropped to his son's side, kneeling opposite of Toni. Toni had placed her hands over the wound trying to control the bleeding. Matt moaned. "What the hell happened?" Jesse asked. His voice was controlled, but she could hear the fear and his own anguish as he looked at the blood seeping through her fingers. Toni looked at him and shook her head. Jesse turned to his son. He took Matt's face in his hands. "Matt? Son. Can you please tell me what happened?"

Toni saw Matt's eyes flutter open. They were glazed with pain and shock, but he locked eyes with his father. With great effort, he whispered. "He was in the trees. I saw something and thought it was a deer caught in the branches. I went to free him so he would not drown in the rain, and then..." A coughing fit overtook him as he writhed in pain. Matt took a shuddering breath and went on, "I saw it too late." Another pause. "Dad," Matt's eyes bore into Jesse's. "Dad. Roy is back. He's been making trouble. Especially for Toni..." The pain became too great and his voice trailed away into a moan.

Jesse laid his hand on Matt's shoulders. "Don't worry about anything, son. We got this. Just save your strength." Matt tried to nod even as his eyes searched out Toni's. Jesse looked from his oldest son, to his youngest. "Stay with Antonia, Cody. Do as she asks." He reached for a rifle mounted on the wall. "I'll be back in a minute."

Cody had come back carrying a medical bag. He started handing it to his father, but Jesse shook his head and motioned toward Toni who reached for the bag.

She rummaged through the bag and found scissors. She set about cutting off Matt's sweater and the shirt exposing his torso. "Oh my God," she breathed when she saw the extent of the damage. She took the cut clothing and used it to absorb the blood as she looked for an alternative. As a trauma nurse she had learned all about bullet wounds; she had seen some bad ones working trauma in Boulder, but this was probably one of the worst that she had seen. She went back into the bag, she needed to slow down the bleeding and get Matt some help soon, she would lose him; she had several hours at best – abdominal wounds that were left untreated longer than that were fatal.

She looked up to meet Cody's eyes. The kid's eyes were flicking between her face and his brother's. Through sheer force of will, he forced himself to look at the actual wound. It was clear to Toni that he was terrified. His face was ashen and he was biting his lip so hard he was about to draw blood. But the kid was keeping it together better than she had seen many adults do. "Is my brother going to die," he asked, his blue eyes intent.

"Not if I can help it," Toni replied, still concentrating on applying pressure through the fabric. "But, I am going to need your help." She reached out to touch his hand and was gratified when he nodded. "Good. I need clean towels. At least four or five." Cody nodded and was off again.

This was the first time that Toni permitted herself the luxury of looking at Matt. His face was gray from shock and loss of blood, but he was awake and his eyes were following her. "Thank you," he whispered his head indicating the door through which Cody had run. "He's just a kid. He shouldn't have to deal with this. He's scared."

"Cody is going to be fine," Toni said, "and so will you," Toni said with more confidence then she felt. She checked his pulse which was weak, rapid and thready. She momentarily released the pressure to take Matt's hand in hers. Looking at him, he saw his eyes start to close. "Please hold on," she whispered. "We'll get you help. Please stay with me." Matt did not re-open his eyes, but she felt his hand tightening on hers. She held on for another moment, before gently lowering it as Cody ran back in with a stack of towels.

Toni searched the bag again and found some pressure bandages. "Cody," she called. "I need you to hold the towel and apply pressure. A lot of pressure." She took a towel and placed it over the wound taking his hands and pressing them. Matt groaned in pain and Cody looked dubious. "I know," she said, but you have to do this. We need to control the bleeding. While Cody held the towel, Toni ran her hands under Matt's back. "Please," she prayed. "Please be there." But there was no exit wound. "Damn," she swore.

Jesse was back at her side. "Nothing," he said. "The storm is too strong to see anything and any traces have been wiped out." He looked at his son "How is he?"

"The bullet is still in there," she said. "There is nothing that I can do for him here," she continued, her eyes full of fear and distress, but also steely hard with determination. "We need to get him to the hospital – to Barton."

Jesse was quiet. "That's more than seventy miles from here along twisty roads in the rain."

Toni was shaking her head. "No. He'll never make it. We need Medi-vac. I'll call Angel Flight."

Jesse nodded showing her to the radio. Toni set the frequency. "Angel Flight. This is Pixie. Angel Flight, please copy."

An interminable time later, "Pixie? This is Angel One. Where are you?"

"Angel Flight. I need Med-evac," Toni continued ignoring the question. "I'm at Jesse Hawke's cabin..." She looked at Jesse who named some local landmarks. "I have a male, 28 years old, with a GSW to the abdomen. His pulse is weak and rapid at about 85 per minute. He has already lost at least a pint of blood. Chuck," Toni addressed the flight commander, "its Matt."

"Pixie. The floor for this storm is 8500 feet. Can you get him below that?"

Toni looked at Jesse who thought for a minute then nodded. "Diamond Lake. Its at 8000 feet and there's a clearing."

Toni related the information. "Diamond Lake. Would that work, Angel One."

"That will work just fine, " came the calm response. "We'll be airborne in ten."

"We'll meet them there in twenty five minutes," Jesse said as Toni related the information.

Jesse and Cody lifted Matt up even as he cried out in pain and Toni wrapped a blanket about his shoulders.

She got into the back seat of Matt's Jeep. She knelt between the front and back seats as Jesse and Cody laid Matt on the back seat. Toni placed a pillow under his head and raised his bent knees. She continued to apply pressure to the wound. It worried her, that Matt was much more lethargic and quieter now – they were running out of time.


The ride to the lake felt like it took forever although Jesse drove as quickly as possible. Toni braced herself so that her weight would keep Matt stable on the seat.

Pulling into the clearing by the lake, Toni saw the lights of the helicopter as it hovered above them. She jumped out and signaled the co-pilot to drop the basket. When the basket descended, she was gratified to see that they also sent down her harness. While Jesse and Cody moved Matt into the basket, she quickly slipped into the harness and fastened it to the special ring on the cable attached to the basket. She fastened and double checked the belts around Matt's shoulders, and legs. She placed her feet on the two small platforms on either side and signaled for the winch to pull them up.

"We'll see you at the hospital," Jesse said. He quickly took her hand, "Take care of him."

Speechless, Toni just nodded as the basket was winched upward and into the darkness.

Whew. That was alot. I hope that it was not over the top. Hopefully, they will be able to get Matt to the hospital in time. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Please read and review and let me know what you think. I so appreciate the time that you all take.