Story 622

The crevasse seemed bottomless to the naked eye, however the darkness one hundred feet below concealed a ledge large enough to hold atleast two grown men. The knotted rope cascaded down against the rock walls bouncing from side to side like a drunken snake. As the red ribbons tied at ten foot increments played out into the darkness the group staired into the gaping hole and murmured softly …..forty……fifty….…sixty…..seventy…..as the scarlet scraps of someone’s old shirt disappeared over the edge.

Dazed and on the edge of consciousness Alex sensed more than felt the knot brush against his leg. It had rapped twice against the gash that now revealed a badly broken and protruding femur, once almost catching and pulling the jagged fragment of bone. The new brilliance of pain had brought him back enough awareness to understand that something required his attention. Allowing the pain to peal back the layers of fogginess he began to recall where he was and immediately relished the thought that he was not dead. The strength of life built back into his brain and he opened his eyes wide and tried mightily to focus on his surroundings. Alex immediately knew that atleast one leg was severely broken, however a quick inventory of his other limbs and organs seemed in fairly good order although rather battered.

Seeing the knotted rope jiggling close to his face, one of the scarlet scraps of cloth actually brushing up against his forehead, Alex reached up clasped the rope knot and pulled quickly, twice. Instantaneously he heard a commotion from what seemed a long way above him. “Alex?, Alex? Can you hear us? Alex?” He couldn’t quite muster enough strength to call back, but pulled again on the rope knot, twice. “OK, OK, Thank God, Alex just stay still we have help on the way. They should be here any minute. Thank God, you stay still, everything is going to be all right” the feminine voice shouted down. Easy for you to say, he thought, my legs broken, I think my head is twice it’s normal size and if I’m not mistaken the rocks scrubbed most of my skin off in several places, but otherwise everything is all right. Wit had always been his best response to adversity and on some foggy level deep in his brain he was glad to know that that hadn’t left him. He pulled more gently on the knot this time to try and communicate that he was not panicked and would indeed remain still until someone told him to do otherwise.

Alex could see the brightness above, it reminded him of the old kaleidoscope he had as a kid, with the tiny hole to peer into. The darkness around him was all consuming save for the slim beam of light that was very much like a lonely star in the night sky. He was glad it was daylight outside….. he assumed it was daylight, he didn’t have the sense that he had been unconscious that long….. because total darkness would have been too difficult for him to bare.

The group above each took turns calling down to him, at first just letting him know that they were there and offering words of encouragement. It was Jack who finally told him to do something “Alex, take the rope and tie it securely around you. Pull on it now, once if you can, twice if you can’t do it”
Alex pulled firmly, once. “OK great I’m sending down some extra rope, tie it really good” Jack feed down about another ten feet and Alex slowly wrapped the nylon climbing rope around his waist and between his legs trying to fashion a harness of sorts. It was an effort that required all his focus because every time he moved the leg a new wave of pain wanted to plunge him back into unconsciousness, but he finally pulled that last knot tight. It did give him a curious sense of security, well at least the crevasse wouldn’t get him without a fight from his friends above.


Jack turned away from the opening in the ground just in case his voice carried downward, “Where the hell is that rescue team? The weather is shutting down any minute and once that storm starts they will never be able to get in here.” He had spoken in the direction of Lizette who was sitting on a small outcropping of rock that stuck up above the snow a few feet from the mouth of the crevasse. She had felt silly when, as a last thought, she had put the cell phone in her back pack just before she left the apartment. She had been hoping to call her brother when she reached the summit. He would be thrilled for her, and she had wanted to have him taste the victory with her. She had always been told she was a sickly child by an unbalanced mother who had convinced her that her various conditions were so serious that she could do nothing more than stay in the house being ever vigilant for symptoms. It was her brother Adrian, who made it his personal crusade to free her from the mental prison created by their mother, that was of course, only after the old hag had been run over by the speeding taxi on Rue de St. Germaine. Now taking the phone didn’t seem frivolous at all. Lizette powered up the small device and waited for the reassuring tone. The battery level wasn’t at peak but there was plenty left for at least several more calls. She dialed the rescue number and seconds later was telling the same person she had spoken to the first time that Alex had been secured in the crevasse and they needed the team to extract him. She grew impatient with the person on the other end who had one of those be calm at any cost attitudes and didn’t seem to be grasping the fact that she wanted them here NOW. She pressed the end button immediately at the end of the conversation to make sure she preserved as much battery as possible. “The helicopter left while I was on the phone with them. The flight up the mountain takes about five minutes. We should be able to hear them any second” Lizette told Jack. Lizette, Jack and the other two woman, Sandra and Denise, gave each other a quick thumbs up look.
Jack again shouted down into the hole “Alex, the helicopter will be here any second, hang in there, we’ll have you out real soon, hang in there”.

The helicopter seemed to float up from below them in slow motion, but once it landed there was a blur of activity. Three rescue team members, two men and a woman popped out of the helicopter almost before it had touched down. They were dressed in bright orange overalls and each wore an aviators helmet. In their hands they each carried nylon bags emblazened with the customary red cross on a white background. They each had a coil of climbing rope slung over the other arm. They first directed their attention to the small group standing there. Once they were satisfied that no medical attention was needed there the two men leaned over the hole in the mountain, while the woman questioned the group to find out what had happened and who was the victim.


The argument had been brief and hot and in the aftermath a stiff calm had settled as they had tried to find ways to indicate that they understood the issue was not the issue and their relationship would survive. Denise had dropped the pretense of being injured by Jack and allowed that she in fact was willing to accept some of the blame for the current situation. Alex drifted between the here and now and now somewhere else in a semi-unconscious state, so he was not aware that Jack had identified that Denise had not paid attention to the climbing rope and the attachment to Alex’s harness directly in front of her. Jack had accused her of being a hopeless scatter brain with no sense of responsibility or obligation to anyone but herself. Denise had countered that Jack was a controlling asshole who was only interested in blaming other people for everything that ever went wrong. It was an interesting skirmish for the two who usually were the embodiment of civility and kindness towards each other trying always to portray the image of unity and togetherness. They both understood it was fear for their life long friend that was surfacing as bile and buried resentments. The tension broke as the helicopter powered up for take off. Alex was securely strapped onto a rather cumbersome back broad which in turn was strapped onto the gurney and secured to the floor of the big powerful rescue aircraft. As the rotors above throttled to higher RPM the din inside the cabin was deafening and Denise and Jack had to stop talking because they could not compete with the noise. With nothing else to do but focus on their friend who was being attended to by the rescue technicians the reality was that Alex had almost died, and by the look of him the outcome was still in doubt, the thought had struck them both simultaneously and Jack’s hand slide over to find Denise’s. She instinctively squeezed it and looked over the see a tear forming in the corner of Jack’s eye. The sight of Jack on the verge of tears was a rare moment indeed and knowing that this is the same man who didn’t show any emotion at all until weeks after his own father’s death told her that she too should be frightened.

Denise looked at Alex for what seemed forever and made several deals with the maker to keep him alive. At first, just until he got to the hospital, then through whaterver might happen there, then finally just let him get through the moment. Of course, she was then obligated to live up to her promises. Some of which included giving up those quiet moments by herself exploring the various areas of pleasure her body possessed, being nicer to her mother even though she deserved whatever she got, recognizing the many blessings in her life and absolutely going to church each and every Sunday.

The descent from the mountain was swift and the large landing cross became visible quickly. The landscape below was like a surreal painting at first, with vastness of white interrupted by small blotches of color peaking through. The bright red square patch with the prefectly symmetrical cross placed directly in the middle a striking contrast to the blinding whiteness. Very soon the little color spots became partially covered cars, sections of rooftops and people moving about in brilliantly colored ski outfits. From about one thousand feet Denise noticed that at the edge of the cleared landing pad stood three figures and a hospital gurney. Leading back into the building was a thin black path of cleared walkway. The snow swirled about the doctor and nurses as the helicopter lowered itself ever so slowly, so much so that they had to turn their backs and pull their collars over their faces to protect themselves from the blizzard conditions that were created by the powerful helicopter blades. The pilot was very aware of this unfortunate situation and every time he brought someone down from the mountain he wished he could spare the medical staff. As soon as the landing gear touched the pad he wasted no time in killing the engine, the giant blades began to slow almost immediately and their free wheeling motion soon lacked power and the driven snow settled.

Alex opened his eyes briefly as the door flung open and the liter he was on was lifted out of the chopper. He remembered later that the feeling was similar to being under gas in the dentist chair. You knew where your were but didn’t much care and the dreamlike thoughts you were experiencing were more interesting anyway. Jack started to speak to Alex to tell him that they were at the hospital and everything was going to be okay, but Alex was gone again before he could. The doctor, nurses and the rescue team took off for the door of the hospital on the double as soon as they had Alex off loaded. They all spoke in hurried but precise medical terms about blood pressure, pupil dilation, breathing, pulse and preliminary damage assessment. Denise and Jack quick stepped right behind them.