The Prodigal Saga: The Escapee

Chapter 9: Hypothermic

Laying by the fire was a group of three little kids, two girls and a little boy, all huddled into one blanket and cuddling each other, sitting on someone's chest.

Merideth. I ran to her and fell to my knees, examining her.

She was cold to the touch and where her skin hadn't come into contact with frostbite was as pale as the snow outside. Where it had, mercifully was an angry red. Snow had entangled into her hair and rested in her eyelashes. It looked like she had been crying, as tears had frozen on her face. The kids looked at me in horror as I hovered over her. Her lips had just started to turn blue. The smallest one, a redhead got up and smacked me.

"No!" she shrieked, hitting me again. "Ours!" I stood up and looked at them.

"Who are you three?" I asked. the redhead and her sister stood up.

"Awice and Audwey!" the girls proclaimed as the boy looked at me.

"Cwistopher." he announced.

"What happened to Merideth?" I demanded. Alice looked at me one way, than the other before crawling to Merideth's jeans and pointing.

"Danny cut." was all she said. "Deth bweed evwywhew!" I looked to the cut, it wasn't bleeding as heavily now and my heart dropped. Her heart had slowed down due to the cold. Shelby looked at me.

"Let's get the four of them out of here." she said. "I'll take the kids." Audrey and Alice crawled into Shelby's arms. A small child's backpack was with each of them, including a little sling. I grabbed it and gave it to Shelby, who lifted Alice into it as I turned to Merideth, going to pick her up when I heard a gasp and murmuring of rapid Russian. I looked to find a large woman brandishing a rolling pin at me and still going on in Russian.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand." she stopped and crossed her arms.

"Vat are you doing vith the girl?" she demanded. I crossed my arms.

"I'm taking her back to her ship." I stated as her husband, an even larger man with large feet appeared.

"She's in no state to travel." the woman said, gesturing to Merideth, still and cold in a threadbare blanket.

"She has no other option, the man who did this to her could come back any second and finish the job." I explained. "The sooner she's back on the open sea, the better off she's going to be." At that moment, Gen and Madam Krow burst in with a little girl, most likely twelve dressed like an orphan.

"Wesley, did you find her?" Gen asked, eyes wide when she saw her oldest daughter. "Merideth! Alice! Audrey! Christopher!" she ran and hugged the triplets. "Thank heavens you three are alright!" I cleared my throat.

"Um...what about your oldest here?" I asked. "She's practically at the point of death!"

"And she will be dead in a few hours if we don't get her the hell out of here!" the girl shouted, her thick brunette hair bouncing in her face as she yelled. "He knows she's not dead and he's coming himself to finish the job!" I looked to the girl.

"How do you -?" I started.

"I saw him! He was so mad when he heard she was gone, he's coming to track her down and finish the job!" the girl screamed. "We have to go! NOW!"

"She's in no state to travel!" the Russian woman said again, her husband nodding.

"Isn't there any way she can possibly go without aggrivating her injuries?" Madam Krow asked. The woman thought for a moment and nodded.

"We do have a car. She can rest in the flatbed. It's covered so she won't be exposed to cold." Madam Krow nodded and turned to me.

"Perfect. Wesley, get Merideth and let's go." she ordered. I nodded and lifted the girl into my arms, nearly wincing when I felt bumps and bruises around her back.

"Alright, get in the van." the Russian woman ordered. "My husband and I will come as well, won't we, Afanasy?" The man nodded and mumbled something, the name Oksana coming from his mouth. We got to the van, a military-esque vehicle. Afanasay got in the front to drive and Oksana got in the back with me, grabbing a heated blanket, heat pads and hot chocolate to tend to the triplets, sitting huddled with Gen and Shelby, who were warming them up in the back seat as I turned to Hudson, cupping her round, but cold cheeks.

"Come on, Hudson, don't give up on me!" I growled, rubbing her cheeks until the tears that had frozen melted, cold dampness slipping past my fingers as I moved over her, trying to get her warm again and to get her sluggish heart to get moving again.

"Come on, Hudson!" I kept saying, smirking when I saw that she had the sense to get a pair of furlined boots. Her feet were fine. I grabbed one of her hands and blew onto it, rubbing them until they felt hot in my grasp, moving to the other. She still wasn't stirring.

"Come on!" I said for a third time. "Come on!" I leaned over her, blowing her lips to try to warm them when I got a dark look, courtesy of Madam Krow's first mate

"That won't work, Carter. To gain the colour to her lips, you need to ki -" I had taken the words to action before Shelby could get them out. The triplets covered their eyes and shrieked and Gen went wide eyed as I kissed her oldest daughter.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" she screamed. I looked at her and shrugged.

"Trying to save your daughter, here!" I said, kissing the girl again. I paused. Her lips were cold, but yet she tasted like mint. Had she had some in her...I smirked when my hand found her pocket. Of course. She had a pack of gum in her pocket. A pack of Five Cobalt, to be precise. Her eyes fluttered and I smirked. "There, now she's waking up. You're welcome!"