Who is Perri West?

Chapter 27

I don't know how long I sat there. My leg was numb, my face was about to go numb, and I was freezing. The jacket Eric gave me had become useless against the wind and rain. I wanted to curl up and lay in a ball but with the angle my foot was stuck I was forced to remain sitting. Aside from being numb and freezing, every muscle in my body ached. Would Eric be able to find me again? I know that all the trails are marked but it feels like it has been forever. Could he reach anyone to come help?

As I sat there alone, I thought about everything I had been through these past few months. No way was my life going to end here. Although that's how I felt now, I knew I was going to get out of here. I had faith in Eric. He would find me and come rescue me. One conclusion I came to while sitting here was I wanted to meet my parents. I want to know who they are and what happened that night. Would they want to know me? Have they given up? I know Eric says they never gave up but sometimes I wonder how much they really told him.

I thought I heard a noise up ahead. I tried to look around me to find my phone. I knew there was no reception here but at least I could put on my flashlight to help guide him back to me. It was just out of my reach. It must have fallen out of my pocket when I fell. I stretched as best I could, twisting my body to try and reach it. I had sharp shooting pain running up my leg into my hip, but I was not going to give up. I knew there was a fork in the road and maybe if we were lucky and I got my light on it would lead him straight to me.

"Arghh!" I screamed as I forced myself to reach just a little farther when suddenly my fingers brushed against it. "Come on Perri! Stretch!" I gave myself a pep talk as I struggled to grasp my phone. Finally, luck was on my side, and I got it. I clicked it on and realized it only had 15% battery life left. I quickly put my flashlight on and waved it slowly back and forth in the direction Eric had left. I wasn't positive if the noise I was hearing was him or not, but I had to hope. I knew screaming would do no good, nobody would be able to hear me over the wind and thunder anyway.

Finally, I saw lights coming at me! I started to cry I was so relieved. I continued to wave my flashlight until Eric was once again standing in front of me. He bent down and gave me a quick kiss.

"I almost went the other way. Smart move to turn your light on. We will get you out, hold on."

"Perri! Perri! Are you ok? Please tell me you are still alive girl!"

"Mallory? What are you doing here?" I couldn't control the tears as Mallory climbed over the tree to get to me. I was so relieved they had found me, so glad but confused as to Mal being here, but most of all the pain was starting to take its toll on me and I could feel myself fading.

"We were on our way to surprise you and stay the night with you. Jayden and Colton are here too. We were coming across on the boat when the winds picked up. We had just made it to the shore as the storm really hit. We were running along the path when suddenly out of nowhere Eric was running towards us screaming for help. But we are here now, don't worry we will get you out."

"Mallory cover her face we need to cut the tree."

Everyone was screaming around me to be heard over the storm. Mallory crouched over me as we heard the chain saw start up. Soon there was saw dust along with the rain flying around us. Within minutes it stopped, and the boys started moving the pieces of the tree out of the way. As the last piece was lifted off my leg the most excruciating pain slammed into me. I couldn't control the screams as I looked down to see the damage. My leg was hanging funny, I was terrified that I would lose my entire leg. And at that moment I couldn't hold on any longer. I let the darkness overcome me as I fell into unconsciousness.

When I woke up, we were in a boat. It wasn't like the small sailboat that brought us to the Island, I was pretty sure this was the coast guard. There was a medic trying to put my leg in a position to give me the least amount of pain. It was no longer unmanageable, but I was told they injected me with something to dull the pain until they could get me to the hospital. As we approached the pier, I saw the lights of an ambulance waiting for us.

"How far is the nearest hospital?"

I wasn't really speaking to anyone in particular I was just curious as to how long we would be driving for. The medic answered first.

"Cutler is about a 30-minute drive to Down East Community Hospital. The ambulance will be the quickest way to get you there safely but with this storm I'm not 100% positive how long the ride will be."

"Don't be scared, Perri. I am going to ride with you in the ambulance and everyone else is going to follow" Eric said.

"Girl, I will be right behind you. You are not alone, ok? We will be with you every step of the way, I promise. I don't care if I have to take time off school for a little bit, Mom will understand. She wouldn't want you to be alone either." Mallory spoke so fast I wasn't sure I caught everything she was saying.

Whatever they gave me for pain was making me a little loopy. I didn't want to fall asleep, yet I needed to get off the boat and into the ambulance yet. As we docked several EMTs came running to us. They all helped in getting me safely onto the cot and rolled me to the ambulance.

As they lifted me inside the first thing, I thought was thank goodness finally some warmth. Eric climbed in beside me as best he could so as not to be in anyone's way. They immediately hooked me up to an IV and started pumping some form of fluid into me. They draped a warm yellow blanket over me as well and also gave one to Eric.

"Sir, how long was she out in this storm for?"

Eric looked like he was in pain, but I knew he felt guilty for having to leave me. "She was probably under the tree for about an hour and a half. Then the time it took us to cut up the tree to free her and get her to the boat."

"I was told she lost consciousness do you have an idea for how long she was out?"

"Probably close to another hour. Most likely more. She went out as soon as we got her out from under the tree until we were halfway to the dock on the boat."

"Thank you I know this looks bad, but she just might get lucky. I'm sorry Hun. I don't mean to talk as if you aren't here."

"It's okay. I still feel loopy, and I wouldn't be able to answer half of your questions anyway."

When we arrived at the hospital, they worked quickly to get me inside and I was rushed back. I vaguely saw Mallory, Jayden, and Colton rushing into the waiting area with Eric. The next thing I knew they were injecting something into my IV and I was out again.