Dupe drove faster than he had ever dared to before. His friends were in trouble and he had to get to them – fast! As they neared Danny and Alice's location Evan heard the gunfire.

"Stop!" Evan shouted. "Did you hear that?"

"What?" Dupe asked, slamming on the brakes.

The rescue team came to a stop beside the jeep. "What's the problem?" the rescue team coordinator asked.

"Evan heard something!" Dupe said.

"I swear I heard a gunshot!" Evan said excitedly.

The bullet had ripped into the lion's body and sent it crashing into the dirt. Somehow the beast managed to get back on its feet and run out of the campsite. Alice wasn't sure if the bullet had really hit the animal. She followed it to the edge of the camp and saw the lion disappear into the bush. Alice could see a trail of blood. She felt remorse over shooting and injuring the lion but it had threatened Danny and she had done the unthinkable to keep the man she loved from more harm.

Dupe jumped out of the vehicle. "DANNY! "ALICE!"

Alice whirled around. Was she hearing things or was someone calling her name?

"DANNY! ALICE!" Dupe shouted again.

Yes! It was Dupe's voice! Alice ran to the other side of the camp and saw two vehicles parked several hundred yards away.

"DUPE! We're over here!" Alice shouted, waving her arms wildly.

"There!" Dupe said pointing toward the African Wattles. The rescue team's vehicle raced toward the trees. Dupe jumped back into the Land Rover and followed the rescue team.

The rescue team jumped out of their vehicle and rushed over to Alice. "Please help Danny!" Alice said to the coordinator as she led the team to Danny.

Rowan jumped out of the Land Rover and rushed under the canopy of the trees. There he saw his sister kneeling beside Danny. "Alice?" Rowan said. Alice rushed into Rowan's arms. "Are you all right?" Rowan asked.

"I'm fine. It's Danny. He's been badly hurt," Alice said as tears welled up in her eyes. She embraced Dupe and then Evan. "Thanks for finding us."

"Sorry it took us so long, but we had to deal with a tricky situation," Dupe said. "I'll tell you all about it later."

Evan was shocked to see Danny's condition. "Is he going to be okay?" his voice broke as tears rushed down his face. Alice embraced the boy.

"What were you shooting at?" Rowan asked.

"What?" Alice was confused. She had already forgotten about the lion. "Oh, there was a lion. It threatened Danny so I shot it. It took off into the bush."

"Did you hit it?" Rowan asked.

"Yes. I saw the trail of blood."

Evan turned to Dupe. "We have to find it, Dupe. Danny would want us to help it."

"Evan, I'm sorry but you realize Dupe will have to put the lion down," Alice said sadly. "We can't do anything to save it."

"Evan knows a wounded lion is very dangerous," Dupe said.

Evan looked down at the ground and nodded. As much as he wanted to save any wounded animal he knew that an injured lion was not only more dangerous than before, but the animal would be suffering and it needed to be put out of its misery.

The rescue team carefully removed Danny's leg out of the trap. "He's in a bad way," the coordinator said to Dupe. "We have to get him to the hospital ASAP."

Alice finally broke down in tears. The dreadful night had finally taken its toll. Rowan wrapped his arms around his sister. Evan wanted to be brave and wiped the tears from his face.

"Alice, Danny's a fighter. You'll see, he'll be all right," Dupe said gently.

"He has to be okay, Dupe," Alice said sobbing. "He's been through so much already. I just don't know if he's strong enough."

Not long after the helicopter landed nearby. Danny was placed on a stretcher and taken to the waiting aircraft.

"You go with him. We'll meet you at the hospital," Dupe said to Alice.

Alice nodded and followed after the stretcher, and moments later they were on their way to the hospital.

Dupe's voice came through the radio at Leopard's Den. Georgina rushed and picked up the handheld microphone. "Dupe, it's Georgina here," Georgina said as she turned to find Vanessa standing beside her.

"We found them!"

"Oh, Dupe, that's wonderful!" Georgina said with relief.

"Tell Charlotte her mommy's okay," Dupe said.

"What about Danny?" Vanessa asked anxiously.

"And Danny? How is he?" Georgina asked.

"He's on his way to the hospital," Dupe replied. "It's pretty serious."

Vanessa gasped and brought her hand up to her mouth.

"We have to take care of something before we can get to the hospital. Can you call Vanessa and ask her to take you?" Dupe asked.

"Yes, of course," Vanessa said to Georgina and quickly left the room.

"Vanessa's already here and she'll take us, Dupe," Georgina replied.

"Good, we'll see you there," Dupe said.

Dupe handed a rifle to Rowan. "Ever fired one of these before?" Dupe asked.

"I have," Rowan replied.

"Good, then let's get going," the old man said as he led Rowan and Evan into the bush.

It wasn't difficult to track the wounded lion. Its blood trail on the ground was easy to follow. They came upon the injured animal less than a mile into the bush. It was obvious the lion was dying.

"You know we have to do this," Dupe said to Evan.

The pain on the young boy's face revealed to the old man how much he hated destroying such a beautiful animal. "I know." Evan said softly.

"You don't have to watch. You and Rowan can head back to the Land Rover."

"I'll be fine, Dupe," Evan said. "He's suffering. Do it now."

The old man nodded, aimed his rifle at the lion's head and fired.

The helicopter landed gently on the hospital helipad and was met by hospital personnel. Danny was rushed into the Trauma Unit while Alice was taken to another part of the Emergency Department. Alice hated that she and Danny were separated at the hospital. She needed to be at his side but Danny's traumatic injuries required meticulous emergency medical attention.

After Alice was treated for a bruised rib, she was taken to the waiting room adjacent to the Trauma Unit. It seemed an eternity before Georgina, Charlotte and Vanessa arrived. Charlotte ran to her mother and was swept up into her arms.

"Mommy!"

"Hi, Sweetheart," Alice said with a huge smile on her face.

"Are you okay?" Charlotte asked.

"I'm fine," Alice answered and set Charlotte down.

Georgina kissed Alice on the cheek. "We were so worried about you."

"I know. But, I'm okay."

Vanessa stood off to the side. "I'm glad you're all right, Alice."

"Thanks," Alice said. She went to Vanessa and embraced her. The blonde was taken aback by Alice's kindness.

"How's Danny?" Vanessa asked.

"I haven't heard anything yet," Alice said sadly. "He wasn't doing good when they brought us in." Alice began to cry.

Charlotte wrapped her arms around her mother. "Mommy, don't cry."

"Sit down. I'll get you some water," Vanessa said as she led Alice to a chair. She then left to get a cup of water.

Moments later, Dupe, Rowan and Evan arrived. Once Evan saw Alice's tears he began to panic. "What's happened? Is he…?" Evan asked with trepidation.

"No. They're still working on him," Alice said.

Evan sighed with relief. Dupe patted him gently on the back. "Remember, Evan, Danny's a fighter. He's going to make it. I just know it," Dupe said.

Just then Dr. Richard Phillips, the Trauma Unit doctor attending to Danny, came into the waiting room. "Hello, I'm Dr. Richard Phillips. Are you all here for Mr. Trevanion?" Phillips asked.

"Yes," Alice replied. "How is he?"

"Mr. Trevanion is in critical condition. He's not only fighting for his life but I'm afraid his leg has developed gangrene. Right now we have him on antibiotic therapy. We'll see how he does with that. If we don't see results soon then we will treat him by administering oxygen under pressure in a designed chamber. I must warn you that if he doesn't respond to either therapy, we'll have no other option but to amputate his leg."