Four
As they hurried through the woods, Hal started to come around.
"Ben…" he said and Ben quickly glanced down.
"It's okay Hal," he said as he still applied pressure to the wound. "We're almost back to camp."
Ben looked up to see his dad watching him then turned his attention back to Hal.
Back at camp, Anne and Lourdes looked up as Matt rushed onto the bus.
"They're back," he said and disappeared back out.
Anne and Lourdes hurried off the bus and joined Weaver and Matt. Right away, Anne knew something was wrong.
"Something's wrong," she said as she made her way down the hill toward the group. "What happened Tom?"
"Karen stabbed him," Ben said.
"Get him to the bus," Anne said after examining the wound.
They hurried up the hill and soon had him on the bus. After getting him off the stretcher, Anne turned to Tom and Ben.
"Go get cleaned," she said to them. "I'll come talk to you afterwards. I'll take good care of him."
She closed the doors behind them and hurried over to where Lourdes had cut off Hal's shirt.
"Doesn't seem to be having any problems breathing so it looks like it missed his lungs," Anne said as she took his vitals.
Outside, Ben leaned against the bus. Tom had gone to give a report to Weaver. He looked up as Maggie rushed over.
"How is he?" she asked.
"Don't know yet Maggie," he said. "Anne and Lourdes are working on him now."
She glanced at the curtained windows and leaned back against the bus beside him.
Weaver leaned back in his chair as Tom paced in front of him, worry etched on his face for his oldest son.
"He's going to be just fine Tom," Weaver said.
"I know," Tom said finally sitting down. "I just keep thinking of how close I came to losing both of 'em. If we wouldn't have been there, the skitters would have them both."
"But they don't," Weaver said. "And nothing's gonna happen to Hal. Anne is going to take good care of him."
Tom sighed and leaned back.
On the bus, Anne was just finishing cleaning the wound. He had no signs of internal damage and she had no way of taking x-rays.
"Get me the sutures," she said to Lourdes who started going through a drawer, soon handing her what she wanted. "Go ahead and go get Tom. I'll be finished by the time you get back."
Ben and Maggie straightened up as Lourdes exited the bus.
"Where's you dad Ben?" she asked.
"He's talking to Weaver," Ben said as he saw Matt hurry over.
"How's Hal?" Matt asked as Ben placed his hands on his shoulders.
"I'll go get Tom," Maggie said and left.
"How is he?" Ben asked turning back to Lourdes.
"He's going to be fine," she said.
Just then Tom and Maggie hurried over just as Anne came out of the bus and they climbed on.
"He's lost some blood," she said to them. "It's a good thing we had some handy. We didn't detect any internal injuries. I've cleaned and sutured the wound."
"Now what?" Tom asked.
"We wait for him to wake up," Anne said.
They headed for the back where Hal lay. Taking a blanket out of a drawer, she draped it over him.
"It's been a long day," Anne said. "Why don't you all go get some rest. I'll watch over him."
Tom and Matt filed out of the bus, but Ben just stood there, looking down at Hal.
"Go on Ben," Lourdes said. "We'll let you know when he wakes up."
With one last look at Hal, Ben left the bus. Instead of heading back to the tent, he headed for the end of the camp just to get some air.
He stood there, looking down towards the woods, deep in thought.
"Hello Ben," a voice said from right behind him.