"I think I can, I think I can," Kate chanted to herself as she dragged her broken body through the pasture by the creek.
She had ridden off a cliff and both her ankles were shattered. Her shoulder was broken and she was bleeding from numerous cuts where she had slammed into the rocks. She knew if she could just crawl down stream far enough eventually she would find a house or something, anything. The pain was intense. It robbed her of sentience as it throbbed through her. Two thousand yards from where she had fallen, she finally passed out.
Jethro was hunting for elk. He was having no luck at all. He thought he'd go get some fresh water from the little creek he had seen before he went into the woods. As he neared the creek he saw something lying on the ground. At first it just looked like a pile of rags and Jethro swore at the careless assholes who had left their trash in his forest. He knew he had to pick it up. As he got closer to it he heard a tiny, little voice chanting, "I think I can, I think I can." It was coming from the pile of rags. He got off his horse to investigate and that's when he discovered the young girl lying broken and bleeding on the ground.
Jethro was a huge man. He stood about six foot eight or so and weighed close to three hundred pounds. Logging was his profession so he had almost no fat on him. It was all muscle.
He carefully approached the girl and took her hand in one of his mammoth paws. She blinked her eyes and whispered, "Are you an angel? Am I dead?"
"No maam, but you are hurt pretty bad. I'm gonna take you out of here."
He stooped over her and gently picked her up. He got in the saddle and pulled her into his legs. He took her down the mountain as gently as possible. She would groan occasionally so he knew she was hurting pretty badly. He finally came to the ranch house road and walked the horse down it to the house.
"Harry, get your ass out here!" he yelled.
An old man, just as big as Jethro, appeared in the doorway.
"Don't stand there with your eyes popping out. Get over here and help me get her off the horse!"
The two giant men lifted her gently into the house. They made her reasonably comfortable in the bunk room.
Jethro got on the radio and got in touch with air rescue. Presently a helicopter appeared and landed in front of the house. "It's a damned good thing you got to her when you did," the EMT said. "Just a little longer and she would have been dead."
"Where are you taking her?" Jethro asked.
"Valley General in the Spokane Valley," the EMT replied.
"Is she gonna be alright?"
"We'll know when we get to the hospital."
"We don't even know her name," Jethro said.
"We'll radio it to you if and when we find out," the EMT promised.
They loaded her into the helicopter and started the ninety mile flight to the hospital.
"I sure hope she's all right," Jethro commented.
The next day the radio burped to life. "The name of the girl you found is Katherine Tompkins. She's twenty two. That's all we've got. Oh yeah, the doctors are enthusiastic about her recovery."
"I'm gonna go see her Harry," Jethro announced.
His uncle just smiled and nodded, "I thought you might."
Jethro jumped in his Hummer and headed for Spokane. He finally found Valley General after asking for directions from a policeman. He was an imposing sight as he walked through the doors and up to the reception desk. The receptionist, a small, cute little lady greeted him.
"What can I do for you?" she asked with a smile.
"I'm here to see Katherine Tompkins."
"Yes sir. She's still recovering from surgery. Would you like to talk to her doctor?"
"Yes please."
The receptionist made a phone call, turned to Jethro and said, "The doctor can see you in fifteen minutes. He will come to waiting room number three."
"Thank you, maam. I appreciate your help."
Jethro shuffled his feet nervously in the waiting room. Twenty minutes later an older doctor, graying at the temples, stepped into the room.
"Jethro?" he asked.
"Yes sir." Said Jethro, as he stood up.
"Please come with me sir," the doctor said.
Jethro followed him down a long hall and into an office. The doctor offered his hand. Jethro engulfed it in his.
"I'm Jethro Horn."
"Please have a seat. I am Doctor James. How are you related to Miss Tompkins?"
"I'm not related to her. I'm the one who found her."
"And you want to see her?"
"Yes, that's right."
"We generally don't allow visitors who are not related to the patient, but since she doesn't seem to have any relatives, you can talk to her. Maybe it'll boost her morale a little. She came very close to dying. We just barely got to her in time. Where did you find her?"
"In a meadow in Northern Idaho. She was lying by a little creek. I picked her up, put her on my horse and we went to my ranch and called the helicopter."
"Well, you probably saved her life. Her ankles were shattered, her shoulder was broken and she had a lot of cuts on her arms and legs. She also had a big bump on her head. She lost a lot of blood. It was close."
"I'm glad I was able to help her. When can I see her?"
"As soon as she is out of recovery and awake. You may as well go get something to eat. It'll be a couple of hours."
"Okay, thanks Doc, I'm really glad you could save her."
"There is a Sheriff here who wants to talk to anybody who knows anything about her. I'll give him a call."
"Great! I'm looking forward to it. I'll be back in a couple of hours."
"One other thing. She kept mumbling, I think I can, I think I can. What is that about?'
"Beats me, Doc. She was mumbling the same thing in the meadow too. I'll see you later."
Jethro left the hospital and ate his lunch. He was back in two hours. The sheriff was waiting for him.
"Mr. Horn?" he inquired.
"How did you know it was me?" Jethro asked.
"The Doctor told me to look for the biggest, toughest looking guy I'd ever seen. That's you."
"Okay, how can I help you?"
"We would like to know how Miss Tompkins got into such bad shape."
"I don't know. When I found her she had collapsed in a meadow by a small creek. I figured maybe she was up in the mountains and fell but I don't know that for sure."
"That's pretty much the way we had it figured too. If we come up to where you found her, would you take us to the spot?"
"I would be happy to, the only thing is, you're a Washington officer and I found her in Idaho."
"Oh! Well if you give me directions to your place, I'll get the Idaho troopers to talk to you."
"No problem," replied Jethro.
He gave the officer all the facts he knew and directions to his ranch.
"Thanks for your cooperation," The Sheriff said.
A nurse appeared as the Sheriff departed. "You can see her now. Follow me."
She took him to a room and there lay Kate. She looked tiny. Her face was swollen and she had bandages everywhere. Her ankles were in casts and her shoulder was restrained. She smiled when she saw him.
"I didn't think you were real. I thought an angel had come to take me away," she choked.
Tears bubbled out of her eyes, "If I could move, I'd hug you."
"Don't worry about a thing. We're gonna help you. I won't leave until you are ready to go. Don't you have any family?"
"No, I had a boyfriend named Ralph, but he beat me up and threw me out. That's when I decided to run away. The last thing I remember is going into the woods on my Yamaha. The nest thing I remember is you picking me up and putting me on the horse."
"Where is all your stuff?"
"It's at my boyfriend's house. I don't know how I'll get it back."
"Well, we'll wait until you can get around a little and then we'll go get your stuff."
She smiled at him and her good hand gripped his big paw. She drifted off to sleep holding his hand. Jethro watched her closely. He couldn't tell if she was pretty or not because her entire head was swollen and she had cuts all over her face. He could tell that she was a very small girl. She might weigh a hundred pounds, but it was doubtful. When he thought of all she had been through, a big tear ran down his cheek and splashed onto her hand. He stayed with her all night. As the days rolled on, Jethro stayed with her. Slowly her true beauty emerged from the mass of cuts. The swelling went away. She wasn't a raving beauty but she wasn't a woofer either.
"How long do you plan on staying with me?" she asked.
"I'll be here until you can navigate by yourself." He declared.
Six weeks later she could walk on crutches. Her shoulder had healed enough so she could use both of her hands. Her ankles were still in casts and would be for a while longer.
They were holding hands one Friday when the Doctor came into the room. "Well, you are good to go. I'm releasing you this afternoon."
She started crying.
"What's wrong honey?" asked Jethro.
"I don't have any place to go. I'll be on the streets," she wept.
"No, no, you're coming with me. I'll take care of you until you can fend for yourself," Jethro said.
She let out a little shriek and started crying even harder.
"What's the matter now?" Jethro gently asked her.
"I didn't know what I was gonna do when they turned me loose. You don't have to take care of me, you know."
"I know that. If I didn't want to do it, I wouldn't have volunteered. Now stop that crying. Everything's gonna be all right."
They took her in a wheelchair to the hospital entrance. Jethro picked her up and carried her to the Hummer.
"Could we stop in Sandpoint and get my stuff?" she asked, still weeping softly.