Chasing Mercury

by Kimberly Cooper Griffin

  “Thanks,” said 4B, swallowing and wiping away the drops that escaped down her chin.

  “You’re welcome,” said Nora.

  “Where am I?” the woman asked groggily, weakly turning her head to look around.

  Nora tried to figure out how to answer the question. She was saved from having to answer when 4B blew out a breath and closed her eyes. She was motionless for so long that Nora thought she’d gone back to sleep until the woman opened her eyes and looked at her.

  “You told me your name, but I can’t remember it.”

  “It’s Nora.”

  “Nora, I’m having a hard time thinking. Where are we? What are we…?” 4B squeezed her eyes shut with a grimace.

  “Are you okay?” asked Nora, resting a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “What hurts?”

  “Everything. Mostly my head,” said the woman, squeezing her eyes shut.

  “You knocked your head pretty good in the crash. You probably have a concussion. Is there anything else hurting you?”

  “Crash?” asked the woman opening her eyes with a slightly confused look on her face.

  “Do you remember how we got here?” asked Nora.

  The woman drew her eyebrows together in concentration.

  “I don’t think I do.”

  “What’s the last thing you remember?”

  The woman’s lips moved, and when Nora leaned in to hear what she said, the woman mumbled she was tired and then drifted back to sleep. Nora eased the bottle from her limp hands and screwed the lid closed.

  Later that afternoon, Nora stared into the fire. She absently shook the spit out of her harmonica and licked her lips. It had been a long time since she’d played so much and her lips were a little sore. She was thankful for the lip balm she’d found in 4B’s pocket. She’d used it on both of them. The music was a way to pass the time, though, and she was glad she’d slipped the instrument into her bag before leaving on the trip. She rubbed the silver harp with pearl inlay on her jeans-clad leg and slipped it back into her shirt pocket.

  “That was nice,” said the woman. “What were you playing?”

  “Hey, you’re back again,” said Nora with a smile, turning to see the brilliant green eyes watching her. It had only been ten minutes or so since they’d dropped shut. They were more aware this time. “It’s a harmonica.”

  “I know it’s a harmonica,” replied the woman with a good-natured roll of her eyes. “I was asking about the song.”

  Nora laughed, feeling a little stupid. The woman was injured, not an idiot.

  “Just an old song my father taught me. It’s called ‘Heart of Gold’.”

  “I liked it. Nora, right?”

  “Yep, that’s me. How are you feeling?”

  “Thirsty. Not as groggy, but kind of sick to my stomach.” 4B closed her eyes, and with a great deal of effort, rolled to her side facing Nora. She put both of her hands beneath her head and swallowed with visible discomfort. Nora considered the change in position a good sign and unconsciously smoothed back the hair on the woman’s forehead, careful of the white bandage, ready to help her if she got sick.

  “You were out for a long time.”

  “Out? What… what happened?” 4B asked. “It feels like I swallowed a bag of glass.”

  Nora offered the water bottle and 4B rolled to her back. Nora propped her up with an arm around her shoulders so she could take a sip of water. “Easy. Take your time. We have plenty,” she said as 4B gulped the water.

  “Did I ask what happened?” asked 4B, out of breath from drinking so quickly. She held onto the bottle as if it were precious.

  “There was a crash.”

  “You told me that before, right?” asked 4B “Was I driving?”

  She thought she’d been in a car? “No. We were in an airplane. Do you remember any of it?”

  Nora watched 4B’s face. She looked like she was trying to remember.

  “An airplane? No. I guess I don’t. Should I be freaked out that I don’t remember? I feel like I should be freaked out.” 4B shut her eyes and was quiet for so long Nora wondered if she had fallen asleep again until 4B reached up to feel the bandage on her forehead.

  “You have a cut on your head. You must have hit it pretty hard. Do you remember how?”

  The woman’s forehead wrinkled in deep concentration.

  “No. But it hurts like hell.”

  “What’s your name?” Nora asked, trying some of the questions she’d been trained to ask of trauma victims. “Do you know what year it is?”

  4B opened her mouth as if to answer and then shut it. She opened her eyes again and stared hard at Nora, as if she’d find the answer in Nora’s face.

  “I… I don’t know. It’s right there, but I can’t see it.” Still clutching the water bottle, 4B struggled to sit up. She looked like a turtle that has been placed on its back. “The light is so bright. Makes my head hurt.”

  Nora could see a cascade of emotions slide across 4B’s face as she tried to make sense of what was going on around her.

  “Maybe you should lie back down.”

  “I’d rather sit up.”

  “Then let me help you. We’ll go slow.”

  4B allowed Nora to take the water bottle from her and help her to sit up. She sat motionless, crossed-legged and slouched forward. Nora thought she looked so fragile with her hair dangling in front of her face and her hands limp on her knees. The wool blanket was now pooled in her lap, and she rested her head in her hands. Slowly, she moved her fingers back to the bandaged wound on her forehead and through her dirty hair. Nora watched helplessly.

  “My head hurts,” 4B said, pushing her hair back and exploring the dimensions of the bandage. “Sorry. I’m whining.” She looked up slowly, her eyes scanning the underside of their shelter. “Where are we?”

  “I’m not sure, exactly. We’re sitting under one of the wings from the airplane, though.”

  4B took this in and flinched as she pressed along the edges of the bandage. The center of it was dark with dried blood. Nora thought maybe she should have changed it by now.

  “That’s a pretty nasty gash on your forehead. You’ve been unconscious for a while,” Nora told her again, not sure if 4B remembered much of their previous conversations.

  “How long?”

  “It’s Thursday afternoon. We went down on Tuesday.”

  “I’ve been unconscious for two days? Where are we? Shouldn’t we be in the hospital?”

  4B stopped talking. Nora watched her features pull into another grimace. She thought about concussion again. With 4B unable to remember her own name, amnesia seemed highly probable. Nora had no idea how to treat it, except to keep 4B calm. And wasn’t she supposed to keep her from going to sleep? So far she hadn’t done a great job on the sleeping part. What happened if she slept? Nora had no idea.

  4B looked pale.

  “Maybe you should lie back down,” suggested Nora.

  “I don’t want to lie down,” 4B snapped, brushing Nora’s hand away. Chastised, Nora withdrew her hand, but 4B opened her eyes and searched Nora’s face. “I’m sorry. That was mean. I just feel like I might throw up. God, I’m sorry… My head hurts so much and I just feel so disoriented.”

  “It’s okay,” said Nora. She still felt a little uncomfortable, not knowing what to do to help.

  Finally, Nora pulled her backpack over and placed it behind 4B. “How about this? You can sort of lean back.” She watched 4B’s expression for acceptance, and when she thought she had it, she eased her into a semi-reclined position. She was grateful 4B didn’t push her away again. She pulled up the blanket and tucked a couple of the small airline pillows behind her head. The woman sighed in relief.

  “That feels so much better. Thanks. I’m really sorry about snapping.”

  “No worries,” replied Nora. They were quiet for a few minutes. 4B shivered under the thin blankets. A sheen of sweat shone on her skin, even though the temperature was cool.

  “Are you cold?
”

  4B nodded slowly without opening her eyes. Nora pulled the wool blanket up over her shoulders and threw more wood on the fire she had let go down during the day.

  A few minutes later, 4B’s shivering had subsided, and Nora tried not to stare at her. She wondered when she would stop worrying about 4B dying. When 4B opened her eyes a few moments later, she turned to tend to the fire to cover her relief.

  “The fire feels good,” said 4B through barely chattering teeth.

  “You’re still shivering. It’s not that cold. You might be in shock.”

  “Are you a doctor?”

  “No,” laughed Nora, breaking a piece of wood and adding it to the fire. “I’ve had first aid training, but that’s it.”

  Nora squatted by the fire, using a stick to arrange the burning wood. She felt 4B studying her and tried to convey confidence. She was pretty sure she was doing a miserable job of it.

  “I’m feeling much warmer,” said 4B. Nora could see her shivers had faded away again.

  “One thing we have out here is plenty of wood,” said Nora. She’d collected a small stack, which she’d stored in the narrow space where the inside wing rested on the ground. The sky looked angry again, and she decided she’d go out again soon to gather some more in case it started to rain. Nora had spent a lot of time staring at the sky, willing the low clouds to hold onto their rain. As if they sensed her distraction, a low rumble sounded in the distance and rolled down the mountain. Clouds moved over the late afternoon sun.

  “If you had to guess, where would you say we are?” asked 4B.

  “I’m not sure,” responded Nora. “A little east of Valdez, I think. We were about a quarter of the way into the flight when we went down.”

  “Valdez, Mexico?”

  Nora looked up at 4B, puzzled.

  “Alaska. You aren’t from around here, I take it?”

  “I… I don’t know.”

  “That bump must have really done a number on you. It’ll come back.” Nora studied her. “How do you feel now?”

  “My head feels like it’s going to explode. I’m nauseated, but I think… I think maybe some of it’s thirst. And hunger.”

  “Well, you haven’t eaten or had anything to drink except this in over two days,” she agreed, handing 4B the water bottle.

  Nora remembered the bag of crackers she had left over from her lunch and found them in the bag beside her. She handed them to 4B who examined the crackers and began to pop them, one by one, into her mouth.

  Nora handed her another package of crackers after 4B tilted the little bag back to shake the last crumbs into her mouth.

  “Thanks. My stomach feels a little better,” said 4B opening the second package.

  “How’s your head?”

  “It still throbs, but at least I don’t feel like throwing up now.”

  Nora had a feeling 4B was minimizing her pain. When a brief expression of discomfort floated across 4B’s face, her suspicion was confirmed. She wished she could do something about it. Then she remembered.

  “I think we have some pain reliever,” she said as she reached for the first aid kit she had found near the crash site. She balanced it in her lap. It doesn’t have anything for serious injuries, but it contained more than her little travel kit did. She found what she was looking for and tore open the small package, shook out a couple of tablets, and offered them to the woman.

  “Do we have more water?” asked 4B, finishing off what was left in the bottle as she washed down the pills. “I can’t seem to get enough.”

  “We have plenty,” said Nora, crawling over to the open metal drawer of the beverage cart. She had lined it with plastic and it held a blue chunk of melting ice that she had chipped from the face of the glacier. Requiring refrigeration, Aunt Mace’s medicine floated in it, protected in a plastic baggie. “Direct from the nearby glacier. At least we don’t need to worry about fresh water.”

  “It’s so good. And cold,” said 4B, after taking a sip of the refilled bottle Nora handed her. Nora noted that her color was improving already. “But I think I would feel the same way about drinking warm bath water right now. I don’t suppose there’s a cheeseburger in one of those drawers, is there?”

  The unexpected joke made Nora laugh.

  “I wish! But we do have a few bags of gourmet jerky.”

  “I suppose we need to ration it,” said 4B.

  “We’re actually in pretty good shape as far as food goes, assuming we get rescued soon,” explained Nora, not giving voice to the doubt that had recently started clouding her thoughts. She listed off the trail-mix, candy bars, and apples she’d found—not to mention the bonanza of airline peanuts and crackers. “Oh, and I can’t believe I almost forgot—a dozen little bottles of wine.”

  “I think I’ll hold off on the wine for the time being but please tell me you just forgot to tell me about the stash of coffee you have somewhere?”

  Nora hated to disappoint her, but she was glad to hear 4B had a sense of humor.

  “Sorry. I’ve been craving a hot cup myself.”

  “First, no cheeseburgers, and now no coffee? What kind of establishment is this?”

  “I can offer you a soda,” offered Nora. “Not nearly the same, but some of it has caffeine.”

  “A soda sounds good, please,” responded 4B. “The caffeine will help the aspirin to work faster, too.” Nora cracked open a can of cola and handed it to her.

  “It’s a little early for dinner, but I could eat now,” said Nora. “You up for a little more than those crackers?”

  “I was only halfway kidding about the cheeseburger earlier,” sighed 4B. “I didn’t know how hungry I was until the crackers hit my stomach.”

  “It’s a good sign, I think. Especially if you have a concussion, as I suspect you do,” said Nora reaching for the pack she’d stowed near her seat a little earlier. Normally, she didn’t keep it in the shelter. She’d kept it hung in a distant tree to avoid attracting bears. But she’d taken it down for the lunch she’d forgotten to eat when 4B had distracted her by waking up.

  “A concussion, huh? How do my pupils look?” asked 4B.

  Nora lowered the pack she’d been going through and leaned closer to look at 4B’s eyes. She’d learned to look for asymmetrical pupil dilation in first aid. But once she’d noted they were normal, she admired the beautiful green rings that looked back at her.

  “My pupils?” asked 4B. “How do they look?”

  Nora cleared her throat.

  “They look fine,” she replied with a smile.

  “Are they the same size? Are the pupils really wide? Do I have burst blood vessels?”

  “Um…” said Nora, and she studied them again with a more clinical regard. “They’re the same size. Sort of dilated, but I think that’s because we’re in the shade. And not too bloodshot.” As she appraised 4B’s eyes, Nora became self-conscious of her own appearance. She leaned back and tugged the bill of the ball cap she wore down more snuggly and tightened the ponytail she had pulled through the back. If the front of her dirty clothes were any indication of everything else, she probably had streaks of dirt lining her face. She rubbed her hands across her chin. She didn’t smell that great, either. “Whereas, mine feel like I have grit embedded in them, what with the smoke from the fire and the, well, grit out here. Outside. In the forest.” Nora laughed self-consciously and began to pull food out of the bag again.

  “Sounds like I’ll live, then.” 4B had a nice laugh. The woman had no concept of the fear Nora had lived with since finding her. She pulled out an apple, selected a couple of packs of crackers for each of them, along with a handful of small bags of peanuts. If 4B did well with the food, she’d give her some of the jerky.

  “Linner is served,” said Nora.

  “Linner?”

  “Lunch plus dinner. Linner,” explained Nora as she sat down and spread her bounty next to 4B like a picnic. “We don’t have a knife, so we’ll have to share the apple.” She didn’t tell 4B sh
e’d barely eaten in the last few days, what with the fear and worry that had made her stomach queasy. Suddenly, she was famished. They were quiet for a few minutes as they ate.

  “You said this is an airplane wing?” asked 4B, extending an arm to touch the slanted metal overhead.

  Nora nodded. “Most of the plane is at the bottom of a ravine not too far from here.”

  “Are we alone?”

  “I’ve looked and I haven’t found any other… survivors,” said Nora, watching the woman’s face for her reaction.

  4B stopped eating. She stared at the apple in her hand. “I… I feel so disconnected. I know there was a crash. There must have been other people on the airplane. Are they all…?” 4B didn’t finish the sentence. Nora hated the haunted look on her face, wishing she could comfort her.

  “I don’t know. I sort of feel disconnected, too. I mean, I remember, but it’s hard to think about all the others.” Images from the morning she’d climbed down into the ravine tried to invade her mind, but she didn’t let them.

  They were quiet for several minutes. Nora glanced at 4B a few times and watched her stare at the fire.

  “Do you remember anything?” Nora finally asked. Maybe it was a good thing if she didn’t.

  “I’m not sure. I don’t have any memory of how I got here. I’m sorry. I wish I could remember.”

  “You don’t need to be sorry,” said Nora. “I was a little out of it in the beginning, myself.”

  4B offered a small smile but her eyes went back to the fire. Nora wished she knew what she was thinking about.

  Nora picked up the wrappers from their little meal and threw them in the fire. She crushed the soft drink can and put it in the pack with the remaining food.

  “Have you had enough to eat?” asked Nora. She did a mental inventory of the food. With the bags of crackers and peanuts she’d found in the beverage cart, along with various food items she’d scavenged from the crash site, she figured they had several days if they rationed it. She hoped they wouldn’t have to.

  “I’m good for now,” said 4B, rubbing her belly. “I feel a little better.”

  Nora nodded, picked up a stick, and poked at the fire before she tossed on a few more pieces of wood. The temperature outside was dropping as the day moved into evening. She rolled the sleeves of the flannel shirt she was wearing down to cover her arms and, not for the first time, wondered why help hadn’t arrived yet.