Page 2 of Worth the Rush
“Alder.” Griff’s voice is calm, but I can detect a small flare of panic as he says my name.
“Yeah, Griff?” I ask.
“The pulley stopped working.” His tone is practiced. Flat but urgent. That’s unfortunate. We need to move. And fast.
“Copy that,” I say into my comm.
“You can’t make the climb with him attached to you.” Nate chimes in.
“Thank you for the vote of confidence, Nathan.” I throw as much sarcasm as I can manage behind my words.
“What do you want to do here, Boss ?” he asks me.Think Alder. Think.I run through our options, and I don’t like any of them, but we have to keep moving. There’s no way Sean can make it on foot long enough to get to a safer location down the mountain.
“You’re going to have to take us down like this—at least to lower ground. Find a place where you can let us down and land.” I relay my plan to my crew, and then to Sean, I say, “I’ll rappel us down, and we’ll stay clear for landing. Once Nate lands, we’ll take a helicopter ride to the hospital to get you checked out and make sure you don’t have frostbite.”
“That’s at least three full minutes with you guys out in this wind,” Nate speaks into my ear.
“They can make it,” Griff affirms. I reach into my supply pack and pull out a wool face mask and three packs of hand warmers, thankful I always keep it rescue ready.
“We can make it,” I agree. “We’re going to have to. Just go. Now.” And then we’re moving.
“I’m going to put two of these in your shirt, and I wantyou to cross your arms over your chest. I’m also going to put this over your head,” I yell to Sean. “This isn’t going to be pleasant, but we have to beat this storm.” He nods at me, and I do as I told him I would. The wind is painful now anywhere my skin is exposed. It feels like needles pricking my face where my goggles don’t cover. I see where Nate will land and say a silent prayer and a thank you that we’re almost out of the elements. We’re slowly lowered down until I’m standing.
“As much as I’ve enjoyed this connection we’ve shared, I’m going to untether us so we can move away from the landing site. Okay?” I look at Sean, who nods at me and, through chattering teeth, says, “Kkkkay.” I unhook myself from Sean and move us a safe distance away so Nate has enough room to land. Once the helicopter is on the ground and it’s safe, I help Sean into its open door. Nate and Griffin take on Sean’s weight, and together, they get him in. After securing Sean into his seat, I make sure to pull in the rest of the rope manually. I add a note under Griff’s logged events in the flight manifest while he shuts the door.
Turning my attention to Sean, I say, “Well, that was one way to get the blood pumping. Next time, just ask me out, Sean,” I tease. “I’m assuming you didn’t think a helicopter rescue would be necessary when you started your hike today,” I say as I get my medic bag to check his vitals. Griff grabs a blanket, throws it over his shoulders, and sits back in his seat.
“Acc-tually,” he starts, “I was hoping to be engaged by…th-the end of the day,” he tells us, still stuttering slightly as he warms up. He pulls a small box from his pocket. “I was trying to set up a sunset proposal before heading back to our cabin rental for my girl, but I guess Mother Nature had other plans.”
“No kidding. Are you still going to ask her to marry you?” Griff asks.
“Oh absolutely, I’m locking her down the minute I see her.” His voice is so sure. I check his vitals, and after seeing his blood pressure and checking his fingertips and toes, it looks like he may just end up with some altitude sickness. He calls his girlfriend, soon-to-be fiancée, and he hands me the phone to relay the information about the hospital we’re arriving at, then I give him his phone back. By the time he’s off the phone, we’re almost there.
On the hospital's roof I hand him off to a team of doctors, passing his chart to one of them. Marigold Levinson, head of general surgery, is among them.
“Isn’t it a little early in the season for you to be playing hero, Alder?” she asks, her dark-blonde brow raised, voice teasing.
I place my hand over my chest. “Never, and who’s playing?” I ask with a wink and step out of the helicopter, looking over my shoulder at Nate and Griffin. “Nice work out there.”
“Never a dull moment with you around, Alder,’ Griff says, getting out and walking toward the hospital doors. “See you guys later!” he calls.
“See ya, Griff!” I wave.
“No offense, man, but I’m really hoping I don’t have to witness your heroics again for a while,” Nate tells me, and I chuckle.
“You can pretend our love doesn’t mean anything, but I know the truth,” I tell him solemnly and wave. “See you around, Nate. Get some rest, and don’t forget to tell Sarah how heroic and handsome I was today,” I remind him.
“I’ll be sure to mention it,” he tells me with his middlefinger raised and an annoyed head shake. They’ve been married for two blissful years, and now they’re expecting their first kid in just a few months. I’m still laughing when I turn around and see they’re starting to wheel Sean inside.
“Thank you! I won’t forget this or you saving me today,” he yells.
“The pleasure was all mine. Maybe next time you decide to take a sunset…or any type of hike, you check the weather before starting out, yeah?” I say it lightly, but he knows I mean it. Safety isn’t a joke to me. Making sure people are safe is one of the biggest reasons I do this job.
“Of course. I will. Thank you again,” he says and extends his hand to me.
I take it and shake. “Now go get the girl. She’s probably so worried about you that you’ll get her to say yes pretty easily,” I tell him, and he chuckles. His team takes him down the hallway, and I walk the opposite way to the elevators. Once inside, I let my shoulders relax and take a few deep breaths to center myself. My blood is pumping so hard I can still hear my heartbeat. I ride the elevator to the bottom floor and walk out to the lobby. The storm is just starting to make it into town. Luckily, we were able to beat it here. I know the roads up the mountain will be clear by morning, but there’s no reason to risk it tonight—even though being in my own bed sounds really great right now.
It looks like I’ll be hitting up a hotel room tonight or possibly crashing with one of my siblings. That’s just another great thing about living up the mountain from a small town filled with your family. Being one of four gives me options. I send a text to the sibling group chat that I titled The Holloway Heathens.
