Glenn drove Mark back to the clearing near the cabin and watched as his friend crouched down on the ground, examining all the prints there.
"You're right, there was a struggle. A man and two women, I assume one of them was Becky?" Mark asked, looking up and seeing Glenn nod. "Okay, let's get some supplies just in case, and then we'll start following."
They pulled out a length of rope, a collapsible shovel and a medical kit, taking nothing else in case they needed their strength for something else. Mark kept his head down and followed the smaller footprints after Glenn told him they were Becky's, and they walked into the forest. Mark found the place where Becky and Richard had fallen, and he frowned, seeing other signs of a struggle in the broken twigs and grazed bark on some of the nearby trees. The only good thing, he decided, was that there was no blood. Yet.
He followed the tracks until there was another disturbance, and they had been walking for a good half an hour by this point, landing them deep into the forest where hardly any person ever came. Mark grimaced when he saw blood in the snow a short distance away and he walked over to it, crouching down again to examine all the evidence laying around.
"Obviously, there was a terrific struggle here, and someone's been hurt. They went in this direction," he said, pointing to snapped twigs and disturbed snow, leading towards a steep bank that disappeared downwards. Glenn rushed over to the edge, his heart lodging like a hard stone in his chest as he looked over, hoping that he wouldn't see a dead body. An anguished groan broke out of his throat and Mark stared at him in shock, moving to his side and following his gaze.
There, at the bottom of the steep incline, was a body laying half buried in the snow, a trail of red from the blood leading down to where it lay. "Is that her?" Mark asked him.
"Oh God, she's dead," Glenn groaned, looking around for a way to get down. Mark calmly tied the rope around the trunk of a big tree and then looped it around Glenn's waist.
"You go first, I'll join you in a second," he said, pushing Glenn towards the edge.
He winced in empathy as Glenn disappeared over the edge and quickly made his way down to the bottom, knowing how he would feel if it was Ellie laying down there. He waited until Glenn had unlooped the rope and then he grabbed it in both hands and rappelled down the bank as fast as he could.
Glenn knelt next to Becky and brushed the hair and snow off her white face, grimacing at the feel of her cold skin. He belatedly picked her wrist up and felt for a pulse, his eyes closing as he felt one, albeit faint. "Oh God, baby, don't you die on me," he whispered, bending down to her ear.
Mark joined him and saw that Glenn was next to useless, he was so panicked at her condition, and he gently pushed him out of the way and started getting the snow off the girl's body. As soon as he had he could see where all the blood was coming from, his brows drawing down as he pulled a knife out of his pocket and unfolded it, using it to cut the leg of her jeans open. He saw straight away that she had been shot, but aside from the blood she had already lost, it wasn't pumping out fast enough to be an arterial wound. Still, it needed binding, and he cut the leg of her jeans into strips, tying them tightly around the wound to act as a compress, stopping any blood flow.
"Glenn, I'll go back up. I want you to tie the rope around her and I'll put her up, okay? Glenn!" he yelled, shaking the other man out of his stupor and waiting until he nodded his assent.
He climbed back up the slope using the rope and then shouted down for Glenn to tie it around Becky. As soon as he had he started pulling her up, the progress difficult on the uneven surface of the incline, but soon he had her at the top and he lifted her carefully over the edge and lay her in the snow. He threw the rope back down to Glenn as soon as he untied it and waited for the other man to join him, which he did a few seconds later. "Will she be okay?"
Mark shrugged. "We'll have to get her to a hospital. She's incredibly cold, but her pulse is steady. Come on, we better not waste any more time," Mark told him, untying the rope from the tree and coiling it up as they walked along, Glenn carrying Becky gently.
To Glenn's eyes it seemed to take forever before they had got back to the car and driven to the hospital, but in reality it was slightly less than an hour. He sat sipping at a cup of coffee Mark had put in his hand, waiting for the doctor to come and tell him that Becky was dead, because he was certain that was what he would be told. Mark had made a phone call to the house and asked that Carl bring Ellie to the hospital so she could be here for her friend as well, he knew she would want that.
Mark sat near him, staring at him with sympathy. "She'll be okay."
Glenn shook his head. "She just started to trust me, and she wasn't scared of me at all. She actually thought I was handsome, can you believe that?" he asked, giving a harsh laugh and blinking his eyes rapidly. "It's fucking typical that fate would rip her away from me."
"She'll be fine, Glenn, you have to believe that," Mark said, patting his friend's shoulder awkwardly. His eyes flicked to the door when it opened and Ellie walked in, her eyes red where she had obviously been crying.
"Have you heard anything? Is she okay?" she asked as she rushed over to Mark and received a hug from him, not once thinking that he wouldn't give her comfort.
"We haven't heard anything yet," Mark said, sitting her on his lap, his arms tight around her body.
Ellie looked at Glenn and she reached out and took his hand, the fact that she didn't know him not making any difference to her at that moment. He obviously cared about Becky, and that made him her friend as far as she was concerned. He seemed surprised at her actions, but he didn't pull his hand away, merely tightened his fingers around hers and drew some comfort from her.
They sat and waited for another hour and then the door opened to admit the doctor. "Which one of you is related to the young lady?" he asked, looking at the odd group of people.
"She's my fiancée," Glenn said straight away, standing up and looking down at the doctor, almost daring him to deny him any information.
The doctor cleared his throat. "She's going to be fine. The bullet didn't hit an artery, although it did graze the bone and lodge in her leg. We've removed it and patched her up, the only thing she'll have to show for her ordeal is a small scar. Her body temperature was a worry for a while, but again, that's okay now. I'll have a nurse come and get you soon and you can see her, but she will be groggy from the anaesthetic for a while, so she may not realise you're even there."
Glenn stood silent, looking like a statue as he took in the doctors words, and Ellie and Mark stood up and moved towards him. "Thank you doctor," Mark said, shaking the mans hand.
"No problem," the doctor said, sending one more strange look at Glenn and then leaving the room with a smile.
Mark steered Glenn back to a chair and looked at him with worry. "You okay?"
Glenn shook his head and then leaned forward, resting on his knees as he covered his face with his hands. Mark's mouth fell open when he realised his friend was crying and he stood undecided, not knowing what to do. But Ellie had no such problem, and she moved to Glenn and put her arms around him, murmuring soothing words as she rubbed his back. She was shocked too, that he was showing his emotions so easily, never having seen a man act like that, but she did what she would have done if a woman had been crying and offered him comfort. It didn't last too long, and eventually Glenn raised his head, his arms going around Ellie's back as he shuddered and gave a deep sigh. "Sorry," he muttered, wiping his face.
"There's no need to apologise," she said, moving back when he dropped his arms and sitting next to him.
"Yeah, well, you don't even know me and here I am acting like a wimp," he said, sounding disgusted.
"No, you're not, you just care about her," she pointed out, smiling when he looked at her. "I'm glad she's found someone who'll look after her."
Glenn nodded. "I didn't realise how I felt until this happened. I've hardly known her any time at all, but she's special," he said, taking a deep breath and leaning back in the chair.
Neither of them had noticed Mark leave the room, and they both started when he walked back in holding some fresh coffee. "What?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at their startled faces.
Ellie smiled and shook her head, seeing Glenn do the same. "Nothing," she said as Mark narrowed his eyes and gave her a mock glare. He handed them both a cup and then sat down next to his wife, pulling her over next to him with a small smile.
The nurse came in shortly afterwards and Glenn left the room eagerly, walking with her to the ICU and sitting next to the bed. Becky looked so pale she was almost the same colour as the sheets she lay on, and he took her small hand, stroking her fingers as he studied her.
"Rebecca, honey, can you hear me?"
He hadn't expected her to be able to hear him, but she opened her eyes slowly and stared at him blearily, frowning. "Glenn?"
"Yes, sweetheart, it's me," he said softly, moving closer to her so she could see him better. "How do you feel?"
"Fuzzy," she murmured, still frowning. "Can't think."
He reached out and brushed his hand over her face, wincing at the bruises that were forming on her smooth skin. "Don't even try, honey, just go to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."
Becky gave a tiny smile and closed her eyes, instantly falling into a drug induced sleep. Glenn studied her for a few moments until he was sure she wouldn't wake up again and then he went to tell Mark and Ellie to get off home.
Ellie gave him a quick hug and Mark slapped him on the back, brushing off his effusive thanks with a grin. "We'll come back in the morning, okay? Do you want us to bring anything?"
Glenn shook his head. "I can't think straight right now, so I couldn't tell you. I'll see you both tomorrow and listen, man, thanks okay?"
Mark nodded and watched as he walked away, heading back to Becky, and Mark took Ellie's hand, leading her outside to get a taxi.
That evening he dragged her up to bed early and made love to her as if she was about to disappear, being so gentle and loving that she ended up crying at the care he took of her. For the first time she realised that she had fallen in love with him, and she made a vow to enjoy every moment she had in his company, because she didn't know how much longer he would want her. He had never told her if he felt anything for her, although she thought that he might, just from his actions. But what if he grew tired of her and made her leave? That was always a possibility. The thought of him throwing her out was more painful than anything that had happened to her so far.
