Chapter 110: Hypothermia

In the dead of night, Thomas hid in the angle between two trees; the tiny space could not shelter his entire body, and rain still fell on parts of him.

His body shivered uncontrollably; the cold invaded his internal organs from the outside, and his gun-wielding hand trembled incessantly.

His vision gradually blurred until a pair of eyes flashing green suddenly appeared in the darkness; he thought it was a hallucination caused by the cold.

He forced his eyes open; in the darkness, those green eyes slowly approached. He finally guessed what it was: a wolf! No, not one, but five; the other four hid in the bushes, their reflective eyes betraying their positions.

He suddenly pressed his back against the tree trunk, gripped the gun handle tightly with both hands, and aimed the muzzle forward. His hands could not remain steady in the shivering; he doubted whether he could hit them.

He knew wolves were pack animals that usually hunted cooperatively; if he fired too slowly, the other wolves would pounce on his body.

There were 8 bullets in the gun, but his aim was mediocre, the environment was so dark, and his hands could not remain steady due to the cold; multiple disadvantages stacked up, making the situation extremely unfavorable for him.

The best plan was for him to fire; the gunshot would scare away these 5 wolves, and he would gain safety.

The worst... he did not continue thinking.

"Bang—" The huge gunshot echoed far through the forest where light rain was falling, accompanied by a wolf's agonized howl.

The wolves seemed extremely afraid of this sound; they abandoned their companion and scattered in all directions.

Thomas sighed with relief but did not lower his guard; both hands holding the gun had gone stiff.

One wolf was injured, howling continuously, constantly shaking his nerves. For a long time, the injured wolf seemed to have bled too much and finally stopped breathing.

After the tension passed, his body felt a wave of exhaustion. He felt himself shivering, and his mind began to fog. To keep himself awake, he kept pinching his arm, but later, even his arm seemed to lose sensation.

He did not know how much time had passed when Thomas awoke with a hair-raising instinct. He suddenly opened his eyes; four pairs of green eyes were right before him, like eight dimly glowing light bulbs in the darkness.

He raised the gun and pulled the trigger; one wolf screamed as its body was pierced through, while the other three wolves took the opportunity to pounce.

His body was frozen stiff; his dodging movements were very sluggish. He shifted the gun muzzle, but the beast leaped aside to avoid it.

Two wolves did not give up this great opportunity; they pounced simultaneously. One bit his wrist, causing the pistol to slip from his hand and fall into the grass, while the stench from the other wolf's mouth sprayed onto his face.

In that instant, his mind was blank; he thought of nothing.

"Get away!" A slender figure suddenly lunged forward, punching the wolf head that was biting his cheek aside, while fiercely kicking the other wolf's spine. He heard a "Crack—" the sound of a bone breaking.

The last wolf, however, took advantage of the figure's open stance while she was fighting on both sides, and lunged for her exposed abdomen.

The figure let out a muffled groan; then, she grabbed the head of the ambushing wolf with both hands and swung it out with force, using this wolf as a weapon to smash it violently against the other two wolves.

"Gun—" Thomas lowered his head to grope for the gun in the darkness but only felt mud in both hands. It was too dark around him; he could see nothing.

"Mr. Thomas, it's me—" Yang Yi's vision was almost unaffected in the night. She quickly bent down, picked up the gun from the ground, turned around, and fired.

But her aim was too poor; she fired all the remaining 5 bullets before killing the two wolves, which were injured but still very agile.

As for the other two, one had its spine broken by her kick, and the other was injured by Thomas, able only to howl continuously in the mud. Yang Yi stepped forward and snapped their necks.

"Frisa?" Thomas called out in a weak voice. "It's great... you're not dead..." His tone had become almost a whisper; his voice gradually blurred, and he fell into unconsciousness.

Hearing these words, Yang Yi paused her steps, hoisted him onto her shoulder with one arm, grabbed his arm with her left hand, and held his waist with her right.

"The smell of blood here is too strong; it might attract other wild animals. We must leave this place!" she said in a low voice.

Only when she got close to his body did Yang Yi notice that he was ice-cold all over. Her heart trembled; she immediately touched his chest. There was still a little residual warmth.

Hypothermia. A symptom immediately flashed through her mind. She had been trained in first aid measures for emergencies at the Bureau of Perception, and she had never thought she would ever need to use them, but at this moment, she was extremely grateful for that training.

Worry rose in her heart—if treatment was not timely, he might die.

The fact that Thomas had entered the forest to search for her made her heart tremble again.

Thomas had almost lost consciousness; he could not control his body, and his body kept sinking downward.

Yang Yi bent down, scooped up his legs with one arm, lifted him in a princess carry, and ran quickly in one direction.

She remembered seeing a fallen giant tree when she came; the trunk provided shelter from the rain underneath.

Think quickly! What did the doctor say during the training? Yang Yi shouted in her mind while running.

It seemed the doctor said that at this time, the most important thing was to get out of the cold environment.

She ran to the destination at her fastest speed. The fallen giant tree formed an angle; moss grew underneath, which was relatively dry. Yang Yi bent over and placed him in the driest spot. Rain kept splashing in at the entrance, so she blocked it with her back.

First aid knowledge kept surfacing in her mind: replace wet, cold clothes; wrap the patient's body in blankets or quilts; if the patient's body temperature is below 33 degrees, take active peripheral rewarming measures, including using hot water bottles to warm the patient's whole body or immersing them in water at 44 degrees.

No dry, warm blankets! No hot water bottles! No warm water!

She stretched out her hand and tested Thomas's chest; it was still beating, but very slowly and weakly. Only then did she realize her own hands were trembling.

In the darkness, Thomas kept his eyes tightly shut; his face was blue-green, and his lips had frozen to a deep purple. Moreover, his body temperature was far below 33 degrees.

In emergencies, one could also use the body of a teammate with normal body temperature to help the injured person rewarm; sleeping in the same sleeping bag with the injured person, using human body temperature to help the injured person rewarm... more first aid knowledge flashed through her mind.

She gritted her teeth, quickly took off Thomas's soaked shirt and pants, then took off her own clothes covered in mud and blood. After a moment of hesitation, she thought for just an instant before throwing her water-logged bra aside as well.

She held Thomas, trying to maximize the contact area between them, and then tried to raise her own body temperature.

After trying several times, she finally grasped the trick and raised her body temperature to a degree even higher than a high fever.

His skin was ice-cold; Yang Yi vaguely felt she was holding a dead person.

Somehow, the scene of her first meeting with Thomas surfaced. He wore a black long robe, his brown curly hair hung messily by his forehead, and he glanced at her coldly: "This Young Lady must be homeless. If I throw you out and ignore you, I will surely cause you to suffer very bad things, and then I would become a cold-blooded villain... Then, I would have to take in this homeless person to maintain a good image in front of others. To avoid being tormented by my conscience at night in the future, I must endure the torment of a stranger intruding into my life!"

"Mr. Thomas, I beg you... please don't die... at least not because of me..." she murmured to herself, her arms tightly embracing his cold back.