by Marion Myles
“So you had to choose between her and me?”
“Not exactly. I showed Cindy how to do the chest compressions on Marisa. We could hear the sirens by then. I worked on you, chest and assisted breathing, and the paramedics arrived. Isabella was waiting for them at the end of the driveway. As soon as you got a dose of Narcan, you started coming around. They gave Marisa adrenaline and loaded her up. Cindy went with her. I went with you. Next time I saw Cindy, she told me Marisa was dead.”
“Her parents came to see me in the hospital. I thought they’d scream and cuss me out, but they didn’t. They were sad, for sure, but they basically wanted to meet me. They asked for my autograph. It was…” He shook his head. “It was surreal.”
Her stomach clenched. She hated remembering…hated thinking about who Liam had been before their plane crashed into the mountain.
“Well, now you know,” she said.
“Thanks for telling me. And thanks for saving my life. I’m not sure I appreciated it at the time, but I do now. When we get back to the real world, we need to talk. About you and me and how it’s gonna work and—”
She cut him off. “Liam, I get it. We went through something intense and things…happened…between us. It doesn’t necessarily translate to real life, does it? We’ll probably end up going our separate ways, but I’m sure we’ll always remember this.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because we don’t actually work as a couple, and it’s better we’re not clinging to some fantasy.”
“Don’t you want to at least try?”
She thought of her father. And her mother. “I can’t be in a relationship with an addict. I just can’t.”
“But what if I was sober?”
“Liam, you’ve been amazing these last few weeks. I’d be dead if it weren’t for you. We have a special connection now. I think we should leave it at that.”
“You don’t think I can stay off the booze and drugs, is that it?”
“I hope you can. I want it for you because you deserve to be okay. But I grew up with a substance abuser. I watched Mama sacrifice her whole life for that man, and I promised myself I’d learn from her mistakes. I love you. I truly do. But sometimes love isn’t enough.”
“And sometimes it is. I’m going to stay sober this time. Everything feels different.”
“Getting sober for another person isn’t the best strategy long-term. It all has to come from you, so you’re doing it for yourself.”
“When we get home, you’ll see,” he said firmly.
“Okay. Great. Anyway, I’m really tired.”
“Good night, Rebecca.” He reached across the gap between the mattresses and laid his hand on her head. “I love you, too.”
The conversation had depressed her, taken the shine off finding the cabin and being that much closer to going home. How could she have let herself fall in love with him? I guess that’s what almost dying will do for you, she thought. Makes a person lose their perspective. Except wasn’t it actually supposed to work the opposite way?
All the best stories were about people returning from the brink of death and finally understanding what was important in life.
Chapter Twenty-eight
It was light out when Rebecca woke. During the night she had heard Liam coughing, but he was sleeping now. She hobbled to the bathroom then realized that…of course…the toilet wouldn’t work without running water. Bundling into her coat and slipping on shoes, she went outside to relieve herself.
The storm had mostly tapered off, but the wind remained strong and continued blowing snow across the top of the buried pond in front of the cabin. She stood on the top step and scanned the area hoping to see another cabin or any signs of life. Nothing there but snow and lots of it.
Back inside she stirred both fires and added wood until they blazed again. She crouched beside Liam and patted his shoulder.
“Hey, sleepy head. It’s morning. How are you doing?”
“Mm…” He coughed and opened his eyes. “I’m not feeling so great. I have the mother of all headaches.”
Noting his flushed face and damp hair, she laid the back of her hand against his forehead. “Jesus, you’ve got a fever.”
She pulled back the covers and saw he was trembling ever so slightly. “Okay. We need to dry you off and cool you down. Let’s get rid of this sweater.”
After grabbing a bowl from the kitchen and the hand towel from the bathroom, she went back outside and filled the bowl with snow. She searched through the cupboards, remembering a container of Ziploc bags, and found them in the drawer by the sink.
Once she’d made her way back to Liam, she shoved handfuls of snow in the plastic bags and packed them on his chest and around his neck. Then she rubbed snow into the hand towel, shook off the excess, and placed it over his forehead.
“There we go,” she said. “How’s your pulse doing?”
She felt his carotid artery and found the heartbeat steady but fast. Leaning toward his mouth, she heard the gurgling from his respiratory tract. Not good.
He was restless, pushing at the bags of snow and moving his legs. “My chest feels like it’s on fire,” he said, coughing wetly.
Suddenly it dawned on her that she now had access to pharmaceuticals. She dug up the bottles of ibuprofen and Tylenol, giving him two of each and spent the next hour using the snow to try and speed the reduction of his temperature. After a while, he relaxed and drifted off to sleep.
She sat watching him for some time and listening to his labored breathing. “Shit, shit, shit,” she murmured.
Liam was in no condition to go tramping through the snow. She and her useless leg would have to do it. Wondering vaguely what time it was, she decided it must be mid-morning. Since she didn’t want to leave him just yet, she heated the oatmeal and ate a heavily sugared bowl to fortify herself.
While he continued to sleep peacefully, she dressed in her own clothes, nicely dry after hanging from various knobs and handles by the kitchen stove. The snow had completely stopped by now, and the sky was starting to clear. She made her way around to the back of the cabin and walked across the open area and through to the trees.
The effort was exhausting pushing through the deep snow, but she forced herself to keep going…all the while wondering if Liam’s symptoms were from a bacterial infection. They’d been consuming melted snow for weeks now and who knew what sort of contaminants might have come along as a bonus surprise. That, of course, wasn’t factoring in whatever had been in the pond water he’d swallowed yesterday. No matter the source, if it was bacterial in origin, he’d need antibiotics…pronto.
She stumbled a few times along the way and focused on her surroundings again. The woods were thicker, and she couldn’t see any signs of humanity. After stopping to catch her breath, she turned and retraced her steps. As always, the return trip seemed to be so much longer than when she’d walked out.
Liam roused when Rebecca entered the cabin. “Where were you?”
“Scouting around to try and get us out of here.”
He propped himself up. “Success?”
“Not yet. How’re you doing?”
“Not so great. My chest really hurts, and it’s hard to breathe.”
She stripped off her coat and shoes and made her way over to him. He still felt too warm to her touch but certainly better than a few hours ago.
“Headache? Body aches? Nausea?”
“Yes, yes, and no to the nausea.”
“We need to make sure you’re getting enough fluids. I’ll fill up your glass. If you’re hungry, I can reheat the oatmeal?”
“No thanks.”
She made him drink most of a glass of water, then refilled it and left it within reach before warming the oatmeal and helping herself to a second meal. Liam lay quietly, his breathing labored, and his eyes closed. Rebecca found the trek through the woods had tired her more than she realized. Once she’d finished eating, she stretched out on the mattress.
Only for a while, she warned herself before drifting off to sleep. She woke when Liam began coughing. His face was bright red, and he gasped for breath in between spasms. She leaned over and patted his back and coached him to breathe slowly in and out through his nose. When he had quietened, she gave him another dose of ibuprofen and Tylenol.
“You’re getting worse. I’m going back out there to search,” she said.
“Okay,” he said weakly.
Hauling herself up, she went to the kitchen and picked out a large bowl from the cupboard. “The toilet doesn’t work so if you have to go to the bathroom, pee in this. And remember to drink.”
He nodded once and closed his eyes.
This time she decided to investigate the front area and limped down the steps and toward the pond. When she reached the logs marking the border of the water, she turned left and continued across the open section. She didn’t stumble over any hidden obstacles, and the ground seemed smooth under the snow. It was hard to be certain, but she could only hope it was a path or narrow road.
The air temperature was even warmer than it had been during her morning excursion, and she unzipped her coat and removed a few layers of socks from her hands. The wind remained strong, but it didn’t cut into her skin like it had before.
On and on she went…through a small patch of trees, back out into the open, across a narrow stream, which flowed steadily. She saw rabbit and deer tracks and maybe a fox or other small mammal.
To her left stood the mountain they’d originally been using as a directional marker. It still appeared to be a considerable distance away. Over her right shoulder and behind, was the mountain they’d descended. It loomed above her, and she craned her neck to stare up at the peak. It seemed impossible they’d made it down all that ice and snow in one piece.
Well, mostly one piece.
She pressed on, frustrated at her slow progress and tired of sinking into the heavy snow. The sun was lower in the sky now, and she figured she’d better turn back soon just in case. It seemed ridiculous that she’d still found nothing. If there was one cabin, there had to be more.
An hour later—defeated, depressed—she returned to the cabin.
She spent the night watching over Liam and his worsening symptoms. Giving up her pillow and taking a cushion from the couch, she propped him up to aid his breathing. His fever continued to spike each time the effects of the drugs wore off, and he seemed increasingly groggy.
In the early morning, she cooked up a huge batch of rice along with the oatmeal. She left some of the rice for Liam in case he wanted food at some point. She scooped the rest into a couple of Ziploc bags, dumped the instant coffee into a bowl, and rinsed out the glass jar and filled it with water. Finally, she made herself a nice hot coffee and sat sipping it while the sun came up.
It took several tries to wake Liam. “Hey,” she said. “It’s time for more drugs.”
He swallowed the pills, and she pressed him to drink the remaining water in the glass. Then she filled it up and left the jug next to the mattress along with the bottles of pills and the bowl of rice.
“I’m heading out,” she said. “I might be gone for a while. I’ve stoked up the fires and left everything you need close by. Take another round of drugs this afternoon and then again when it gets dark. Drink water every time you wake up.”
“Okay,” he said, already lying down and pulling the covers up to his chin.
“I have to keep going until I find someone. I don’t know how long it might take, so I could be gone for a few days. Liam, are you listening to me?”
“Yes, I’m listening,” he mumbled.
“I’m going to get help one way or another. I promise.”
“Okay,” he said, closing his eyes.
Leaning down, she brushed back his hair and kissed him on the forehead.
Since the duffel bag was now at the bottom of the pond, she needed something to carry her supplies. She decided on a bed sheet and cut a hole in it for her good arm. Then she wrapped the food, water, blanket, and several fire starters inside and tied it around her chest.
Rebecca stood for a moment and took one last look at Liam. He was already sleeping again. Then she started out the front, eased along the edge of the pond, and kept on walking. Throughout the day, her mind constantly returned to Liam. Every time she stopped for a break, good leg shaking from the effort and breath gasping out, thoughts of Liam pushed her mercilessly on.
If she didn’t find help in the next twenty-four hours, she was terrified he might not recover. The infection was taking hold, and with his body already seriously depleted from the past few weeks, he didn’t have enough reserves to fight back. After everything they’d overcome to get to this point, it seemed grossly unfair that his journey might end here.
No way would it end here, she vowed, coming out of the trees and struggling up a rise. Looking down into the valley below, she saw more snow, more trees, and absolutely no sign of human activity. Keep going, the voice in her head commanded.
And she did, trudging on until the sun had almost set. She’d put off thinking about spending the night alone in the wild, but since she clearly had little other choice, she started hunting for a sheltered spot. With no tarps to block the wind, she at least needed branches. That meant trees.
Across the way stood a grouping of pine trees, and she hobbled toward them. She removed the makeshift backpack, set it on the ground, and dug out the Swiss Army knife from her coat pocket. She began pulling and cutting branches from the trees and wove them together to make a mattress of sorts.
While the pine would be soft and nicely suited to lying on, she continued farther into the woods in the hopes of finding spruce trees which would provide a better wind block. The light was dim, and the shadows merged into one another as the night rose up. She squinted and nodded to herself. The tree straight ahead was definitely a spruce.
She helped herself to the nearest branches. Then not wanting to strip too much from a single tree, she stepped around and took some from the neighbors. Her pile was growing nicely, but she judged she’d still need more, so she pushed through to another section. These branches were thicker, and she sawed with the little knife, getting a couple of sturdy ones.
Once she’d decided it was time to start hauling everything back to the campsite, she stooped down and began gathering as many branches as she could comfortably carry with her good arm. Small pieces of greenery fell lose and landed on the ground.
It was almost fully dark now, and she stared down at the green droppings. It was weird, she mused. It looked like there was a narrow trench on the ground with a second one about a foot away. She blinked, concentrating and trying to make sense of what she saw.
When her mind made the connection, she gasped. The branches tumbled from her arm as she dropped to her knees and ran her hand back and forth along the track in the snow. Her breath sobbed out.
They were ski tracks. And since there’d been a storm only two days ago, these tracks were fresh. She stood again, swiveling her head back and forth. Which way though?
After a few heart-pounding moments, she decided to go left. She’d been choosing left all day, and it felt lucky. She followed the tracks throughout the night, resting only when necessary. Somehow, whenever she feared she’d reached the end of her endurance, adrenaline kicked in again, and she limped on.
The sky was lightening when she rounded a bend and saw the outline of an A-frame building with lots of fresh tracks going to and from the area. Tears streamed down her face, and she blinked at them, trying to clear her vision. By the time she reached the steps, her entire body was trembling.
“Help. I need help,” she screamed, battering her hand on the door.
It took a few minutes, but the door sprang open, and a man with tousled blonde hair clutching a plaid robe around himself peered cautiously out.
“Oh, thank God,” Rebecca sobbed. “Do you have a phone?”
* * * * *
Two couples were staying in the ca
bin. They had cell phones and all-terrain snowmobiles. As an added bonus they also had a small trailer. By the time Rebecca directed them back to Liam, he was delirious, and his lips and fingers were blue from lack of oxygen.
They transported him out on the trailer, put him in an SUV and drove him down to a small town where a medivac helicopter arrived and flew them to Mercy Hospital in Seattle. Feeling as though she must be dreaming, Rebecca held Liam’s hand all the way to the hospital.
He became conscious briefly when they landed on the roof. “Are we safe?”
“Yes,” she said, tears pouring down her cheeks. “We’re safe.”
“I never doubted you for a second.” He smiled and closed his eyes again.
She shook his shoulder. “Liam. Stay with me. We’re here. At the hospital. Please wake up.”
“Ma’am, we need you to move back,” the paramedic said when the door of the helicopter slid open.
By the time a man and woman from the medical staff had helped her out of the helicopter and into a wheelchair, Liam’s stretcher was already disappearing into the building.
“Please, I need to be with him,” she said.
“Don’t worry, we’re all heading to the same place,” the man said. “It was big news when Liam Connors disappeared. I can’t believe you two are alive. How’d you survive so long on a mountain in the middle of winter?”
“There were lots of times I honestly didn’t think we would. I guess we’re both too stubborn to give up…and we had each other.”
“Looks like you’re pretty banged up too,” the woman said.
Rebecca fought back a sob. “You could say that.”
Chapter Twenty-nine
When they arrived in the ER, Rebecca insisted on being taken to Liam. Dr. Mendes, a tired looking man with small, square glasses and a head full of tight, dark curls, assured her they were administering a bronchodilator and working to get his oxygen saturation up. Once it had improved, they’d be sending him down to the radiology department for a chest X-ray.
