Free A Summer Smile by Iris Johansen Page B

haze that was enveloping her and identify its source. "My ankle, the right one, I think." She clutched at his shoulders, her nails biting into his flesh. "Oh, I don't know! It hurts. Daniel."
    "I know. I know. Shhh. I know." He was shifting he lantern, playing the light down her leg to her feet.
    "Oh, God!"
    "What is it?" His voice was so shocked that she ought the dizziness to look over his shoulder. Ugliness. She had never seen anything so ugly as the creature crawling up her jean-clad calf.
    Then Daniel was using the barrel of the M-l to brush the creature away. He ground it into the stones with the butt of the gun. He stood up, slung the rifle on his shoulder, and picked her up. He climbed
    swiftly up the hill toward the cave.
    "It was a scorpion, wasn't it?" she whispered, sing her eyes. "He stung me."
    "It was a scorpion," he conceded grimly. "They don't usually like to be so close to water. It must have awled out from under one of those rocks."
    "They're very poisonous, aren't they?" she asked, moistening her lips. "Am I going to die, Daniel?"
    "No! God, no, sweetheart. Nothing's going to happen to you."
    "Don't look now, but I think it's already happened." She felt light-headed, floating on waves of pain. "He was ugly."
    "What?"
    "The scorpion. He was so ugly."
    "Shut up, Zilah," he said huskily. "You're going to be fine. Don't think about it." He set her down with her back to the wall of the cliff and knelt beside her. He rolled up the cuff of the jeans on her right leg and inhaled sharply. Her ankle was already swollen to almost twice its normal size. He quickly pulled off her tennis shoe and stripped off her white sock.
    "Where is that handkerchief?" He didn't wait for an answer as he spied it still clenched in her hand and took it from her. "I'm going to have to make a tourniquet to keep the poison from spreading. Not very tight, just enough to slow the circulation a little. We'll keep a close watch on it and loosen it every so often." He was wrapping and tying the handkerchief directly above her ankle as he spoke. "The important thing is to keep the venom from spreading before we can get you to a doctor. The initial pain will ebb soon, but sometimes a fever follows. Don't be frightened if
    it does."
    "You seem to know quite a bit about scorpion stings," Zilah said faintly. "Is that required instruction for Clancy's agents?"
    "I learned this particular knowledge on my own," Daniel said as he rolled down the cuff of her jeans. "One of the favorite amusements of those bastards who held me in that shack was to throw a scorpion or snake into the room with me and watch me scramble to cope with it. After 1 got out I made it my business to
    know everything there was to know about poisonous vermin of all types. I never wanted to be that helpless again."
    Poor Daniel. How horrible that experience must have been for him. And how many other experiences had he gone through that were equally hair-raising and potentially tragic? He had led a hard life and he was a hard man, yet there was kindness in him and humor and sensitivity. . . . She was finding it hard to concentrate through the haze of pain surrounding her. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.
    He glanced up in surprise. "Why?"
    He actually didn't know, she realized. When he went through a hellish experience he just tried to make himself better prepared for the next one. It was a way of life to him. "The pain and the sadness and . ."She shook her head helplessly. "I'm just sorry."
    Daniel's throat tightened. She was the one who was hurting and still she was worrying about him. He touched her cheek with one gentle finger. "Are you?"
    he asked softly. "Don't be. I survived it." His finger moved down to trace her upper lip. "Did I ever tell you I love to see you smile? It reminds me of warmth and summer and all the good things of life. I haven't seen you laugh yet, but I'm looking forward to it." He bent forward to brush her temple with his lips. "I survived and you're going to