Page 86 of The Reality of Us
“What are you doing?” Owen asked.
“I’m doing the climb, Boy Scout. Get ready to hop your ass off.”
“Oh, honey, no.” He didn’t care if anyone heard him call her that, but her flinch told him they weren’t on the same page. “I didn’t mean …”
“It’s fine,” she said. “Take these”—she thrust two painkillers into his hand—“and pray they kick in before I get back. Kathleen’s Place is special to me too.”
Her hands were shaking so badly she couldn’t tighten the straps on the harness properly.
“Let me,” he said, checking the harness carefully. “You don’t have to do this.”
Alice looked up at the cliff face and swallowed deeply, and he wanted to kiss her so badly that it almost hurt more than his knee did.
“I’ll be fine. Worst case scenario, it’s the second flag.”
Charlie stepped into the spare harness, ready to help as their belayer. Owen was fuzzy on whether the rules allowed that, but he wasn’t going to question it.
Alice clipped her helmet into place, hands trembling as Charlie slackened the line. The smaller paramedic was already climbing up the cliff face, his red helmet bobbing with each movement.
“Any other advice?” she asked him, sucking on her bottom lip.
Guilt coursed through his veins, mixing with pride. He was so proud she was even prepared to try and do this. Bright red spots covered her arms and chest. “One hand in front of the other and your legs will follow. I know you can do this.”
She nodded once, her eyes closing. If the media weren’t here, he would’ve kissed her. Poured everything he had into it. But there was something else he could do for her. For himself too, really.
“Come here a second,” he whispered, and her eyes popped open. Time slowed, and the pounding in his ears drowned everything else out. Alice leant forward, and Owen swallowed the ball of nerves lodged in his throat. “I love …”
Alice’s mouth dropped open, and, in the background, Owen heard the voices of another team arriving.
“… how brave you are. You’ve got this.”
The first push off the ground was the hardest. Not helped by the fact that, for a split second, Alice had thought Owen was going to say he loved her.
Each movement was unnatural; every part of her body convinced she shouldn’t be doing this. But Owen’s voice was calm and steady, directing her to different hand and foot holds.
“There’s a good one on your left.” His voice was quieter already, but she didn’t trust herself to look down. The sun was hot against her back, dirt and fragments of rocks clinging to her hands. The air smelt different up here. Fresher, devoid of any other scents. Or maybe the fear thrumming through her body was smothering all her other senses? Her arms shook, and she rested her face against a flat section of rock.
“His rope is tangled. You can pass him. Two more big pushes, Alice,” Owen yelled. That explained the colourful language to her right.
“We’re not having a baby here,” she called back, the titter of laughter from everyone on the ground distracting her for a millisecond. She looked up, craning her neck as far back as she could. The red flag was still out of reach. She pushed forward, the sharp edge of the rocks biting into her knees. Her hand stretched as far as it could, the tip of the flag brushing against her fingertips. If she could just stretch … She gritted her teeth, pressed up on her toes.
“Careful!” Owen yelled, and she slipped, the rope pulling taut, holding her steady.
“What the hell, Owen! You scared me!”
“Sorry. Try going up one more spot. You’ll be able to reach then.”
Without thinking, Alice looked down. Black spots popped in front of her eyes. All the breath left her body.
High.
So very high.
Owen was a blob on the ground.
“Hey, Boy Scout …” She was too far into her fear to be embarrassed about the tremors in her voice. Strands of hair stuck to her face, little pinpricks against her skin.
“You’re okay, Alice. Focus on the things you can control, remember? What can you smell? I can smell eucalyptus,” Owen yelled. “And I can taste excitement. We’re so close.”
