Tomas tried to sit up when Eli crossed the room. The movement sent a shudder through his legs, and he fell back against the shelf.
“Don’t move him yet,” Nessa said. “His leg’s under the frame.”
Eli knelt beside him. The shelf had toppled across Tomas’s lower leg, pinning it beneath a metal rail. His face was pale, but he was alert enough to tell Eli where it hurt. Garin lay several feet away, one hand pressed against his side. His breathing was shallow and uneven.
Eli called down through the window. “Two patients. One leg trapped, one breathing badly. Nessa can walk with help. She says two more went toward the stairs.”
Tessa answered from the platform below. “I’m coming up. Don’t move the shelf until we see what it’s supporting.”
The crane rose slowly. Eli helped Nessa clear a path from the window to Garin. She moved one box at a time with her good arm while Eli checked the floor for loose boards. A cabinet had shifted against the wall, its upper edge leaning toward the route. He marked the unstable corner with chalk and kept the path on the opposite side.
Tessa reached the window with her kit secured to the platform rail. Kellan stopped the lift while Eli steadied the rope. She stepped through, carrying the bag rather than the stretcher; the platform was too narrow for both her and the frame on the first trip.
“Who needs me first?” she asked.
Nessa pointed to Garin. Tessa went to him, checked his breathing and the injury beneath his hand, and asked him to tell her his name. He answered, then coughed. She worked quickly, directing Eli to hold a dressing while she assessed what she could treat in the room.
Tomas called, “Take him first.”
“We’re checking everyone,” Tessa said. “Nessa, can you press this here while I look at Tomas?”
Nessa knelt beside Garin and took the dressing. Tessa crossed to the shelf. She examined Tomas’s leg without trying to pull it free, then looked at the rail and the cabinet that had fallen against it.
“The shelf has to come up straight,” she said. “If it rolls toward him, it could make the injury worse.”
Eli inspected the frame with his sight. A fracture ran through one bracket. The shelf’s weight rested partly on the floor and partly against the cabinet. Moving the cabinet first might let the rail drop.
He described the lines to Tessa. She called Kellan on the radio. He asked for a photograph of the arrangement and told them to hold the shelf until he could see the load path.
While Eli sent it, Tessa returned to Garin. She checked his pulse and breathing, then spoke to him close enough that he did not have to raise his voice. He answered a question about pain, then caught her sleeve.
“My partner,” he said. “Rowan. Our son, Ivo.”
“We’ll contact them,” Tessa said.
“Insurance. They’re entitled to it.” His fingers tightened. “Please make sure they get it.”
Eli looked at the man. Garin’s eyes had found him, not the system or the injured team. The request was deliberate, spoken through the effort of each breath.
“You want Rowan and Ivo to receive the insurance payment under your contract,” Eli said. “Where can they find it?”
“Copy at home. Blue folder. Rowan knows.” Garin swallowed. “Assignment copy in my bag. Don’t let them say I wasn’t working.”
“I’ll tell Rowan what you asked. I’ll help with the claim.”
Garin released Tessa’s sleeve. His gaze moved toward the window, where the new cable ran past the frame. “Don’t make her fight alone.”
“I won’t promise what she has to do,” Eli said. “I’ll help her choose what help she wants.”
Garin gave a slight nod. Tessa continued working, but Eli could see the effort becoming more difficult for him. No notice appeared. The promise was an obligation to a man and his family, not a transaction Eli could complete in the room.
Nessa pulled a strip of cloth from her pocket and tied it around the loose sleeve of her jacket. Her fingers shook, and Eli offered to help.
“It’s just the sleeve,” she said. “I don’t want it catching on him.”
“What were you doing upstairs?”
“Inventory. The assignment said the upper room was clear and the lower threat rating was in effect. We were supposed to photograph the crates and mark anything damaged.”
“Did anyone tell you the rating had changed?”
“No one told me. I can’t speak for the two who went downstairs.” She looked at Tomas. “They went to check a noise. We heard the alarm after that.”
“Did you see the notice at the entrance?”
“It wasn’t there when we came in. At least, I didn’t see it. Calder handed our leader the work sheet at the gate.”
Eli wrote her account in his notebook, including that she could not speak for the others. The page from the lower rating was still with the team’s collection paperwork downstairs. Nessa’s statement might help establish what she had received, but it did not establish who changed the posted notice.
A sharp metallic sound came from below. Nessa flinched. Eli called Sera on the radio.
“The source struck something near the controls,” Sera said. “Ina is back behind the barrier. Kellan can still see the crane from where he stands.”
“Is the route to the treatment point open?” Tessa asked.
“For now. Leah has the outside contact ready if we miss the next check-in.”
Tessa gave Nessa a clean pad for the cut on her arm. “Can you put pressure on this while you help with Garin?”
Nessa did, using the inside of her elbow to hold the dressing when Tessa needed her other hand. She kept glancing toward the stairs.
“The two who went down are my responsibility too,” she said.
“We’ll tell the responders where they went,” Tessa replied. “I can’t send you after them while you’re hurt and we don’t know what’s below.”
Nessa’s mouth tightened. “I don’t want them left there.”
“Neither do I.” Tessa checked her radio. “When Tomas is down, Kellan can pass their last known route to the responding team. Tell me their names.”
Nessa repeated the other crew members’ names, Dax and Lian, and described their equipment. Eli wrote them separately from the three people in the room, so no one would mistake an unconfirmed location for a casualty count.
Kellan came back on the radio. “The shelf bracket is bearing against the cabinet. Can you fit a wedge under the rail from the window side?”
Eli checked the space. “Yes.”
“Use the timber strip in the kit bag. Don’t lift from the broken bracket. I can come up after the first patient goes down if you need another set of hands.”
Tessa assessed Tomas again. He could answer clearly and had feeling in his foot. She decided to free him as soon as the rail was supported, while continuing to treat Garin. Tomas and the fallen shelf blocked the only path from Garin to the window; moving Tomas first would clear it while she stabilized Garin for a descent she would need to accompany. Nessa kept pressure on Garin’s dressing and spoke to him when his eyes closed.
Eli slid the timber beneath the rail. The first attempt caught on a bolt. He moved it back, angled it, and eased it into place. Tessa stabilized the leg while Eli lifted the shelf just enough to take the pressure off the bracket. Tomas pulled his foot free only when she told him to.
He cried out, then gripped the edge of the sheet Tessa spread beneath him. She checked the leg and applied a temporary support. He could not stand safely, but he could be moved on the narrow stretcher.
“Kellan, send the frame up empty,” she said.
The platform rose with the stretcher secured to its rail. Eli guided it through the window. Nessa helped position it beside Tomas while Tessa explained each movement. They transferred him in stages, keeping the injured leg supported and the straps clear of the damaged frame.
A deep impact sounded from below. The cabinet against the wall lurched. A box fell from its top and burst open, scattering papers across the floor.
Sera’s voice came through the radio. “The source is moving toward the loading area. I can’t see it yet.”
Calder shouted something from the yard. Eli could not hear the words. Kellan told him to keep the window clear while he steadied the platform.
Garin’s bag lay beneath the leaning cabinet. Nessa saw it too. “The assignment papers are in there.”
Eli looked at the route. The cabinet had shifted across the path to the bag, but its lower edge rested on a broken pallet. He could reach the bag if they moved the cabinet a short distance. He could not search the floor for every document without delaying Tomas’s descent.
“Nessa, can you help me move that corner?”
“With my good arm.”
They checked the floor and pushed from the side, not beneath the leaning top. The cabinet scraped across the pallet, opening a gap wide enough for Eli to pull the bag free. A folder slid out with it. Nessa recognized the team’s assignment copy and Garin’s identification card.
“That’s his,” she said.
Eli placed both in the bag and closed it. He did not take the scattered papers he could not identify. Tessa called that Tomas was ready, and they returned to the stretcher.
The platform had risen level with the window. Kellan’s voice came through the radio: “One load. Secure the frame to the platform rail before you move it outside.”
Eli attached the stretcher straps while Nessa held the window open. Tomas looked down and shut his eyes.
“I hate heights,” he said.
“Then look at me,” Tessa replied. “We’re going to move you through the opening. I’ll tell you before we lift.”
They eased him onto the platform. The frame cleared the damaged corner by inches. Kellan lowered it slowly while Tessa watched from above, ready to call a stop if the straps shifted. Eli held the rope until the platform was below the window.
Garin’s breathing had become quieter. Tessa returned to him. Eli saw her check again, then look at the equipment she had brought. She did not say there was nothing more to do. She used what she had, spoke to Garin, and asked him to tell her if he could hear her.
“Ivo likes the blue kite,” he murmured.
Nessa leaned close. “I’ll tell Rowan.”
Garin’s fingers moved against the dressing. Eli held the bag where he could see it. “We have your assignment copy.”
“Good.”
Tessa checked Garin again and asked Eli to bring the bag closer. The identification card was readable, though its plastic edge had cracked. He noted the name and returned it to the pocket rather than placing it loose among the papers. Garin watched him, then closed his eyes.
“Rowan works mornings,” he said. “If she doesn’t answer, leave a message. Don’t tell Ivo first.”
“We’ll speak to her,” Eli said.
Garin’s hand relaxed. Tessa adjusted the dressing and kept speaking to him, telling him when she moved and what she could see. Nessa stood beside the window, holding the folded rope away from the damaged frame. Outside, the crane motor started again. The sound meant Tomas had reached the ground and the platform was coming back, but it did not tell Eli whether it would arrive in time for Garin.
Calder called up from the loading yard when he saw the bag through the window.
“Those documents belong to the company,” he said.
“They’re with Garin’s identification,” Eli replied. “We’re taking them down with him.”
“Give me the contract. I need to account for company property.”
Tessa looked up from Garin. “The patient comes first.”
Calder repeated his demand from below. Kellan called that Tomas was clear and the platform was returning. Sera warned that the source had reached the loading controls. The room seemed to tighten around the choices still waiting: Garin, Nessa, the bag, and a crane that could carry only one load at a time.
Eli held the bag against his chest and stepped away from the window. “You can identify yourself and sign for anything you take. I’m not handing this over without a record.”