“Whatever I do is wrong. I’ve had enough. She doesn’t have to put up with me anymore.”
Julie sighed. “I’ll go and ask Margaret if she is staying, or if she wants to go back.”
Reaching the doors of the ambulance Julie tentatively knocked on the window. It opened and Margaret popped her head out. “Margaret, Jess asks if you require a lift back up to the lodges?”
Margaret hushed her voice. “They’re worried about a head injury.” She placed a hand on Julie’s shoulder. “Thank Jess, very much. It’s really very good of her. I’d better stay with Rachel.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Short of a few bruises and developing aches, Rachel was uninjured and discharged with advice for rest and gentle exercise. Margaret had hired a car, driven them home and ordered Rachel to bed until dinner.
Margaret smiled and indicated for Rachel to sit as she walked over to place two plates of food on the table. “How are you feeling? Better for the rest?”
“Yes. Thank you.” Rachel was touched that Margaret showed nothing but concern when she surely had to feel disappointed in her. Why had it taken one of Jess’s worst nightmares for her to wake up to what she was doing? Everyone had hinted at her to think, even Julie had this morning, when she took the package down to the post office.
She sighed looking at the one person who had helped her so much through her life. “Margaret, I’ve lied to you. I’ve lied to everyone, including myself, and worst of all, I’ve punished Jess for something that was my own fault.” Rachel pushed her plate of food away and put her head in her hands. “I asked Jess to take me to bed, I practically begged her. She warned me it wasn’t a good idea. That she couldn’t because she would end up hurting me, but I still insisted.” Rachel lifted her head. “I only thought of what I wanted and thought it was what she really wanted too. I didn’t question her reluctance. I didn’t ask why she thought she would hurt me.”
Margaret reached across. “You said she didn’t want a long- term relationship or commitment. That’s why you didn’t question it.”
“No, Margaret. Even I should have known there was more to it than that. Her desire for me would have disappeared a long time ago if that was the true reason. She was afraid and I ignored that. Even when she explained it all to me, I ignored her. I have only thought of myself.” Rachel faintly blushed at the admission and then swallowed hard. “The worst thing though, in this whole sorry mess, is that I don’t believe Jess has ever once defended her actions. Not to me, not to Julie and not even to her uncle or Marie.” Rachel’s head dropped again in her hands as the tears started to flow in shame. She felt an arm slip around her shoulder and she accepted the hug she was pulled into.
It was a few minutes before Rachel leaned back and wiped away her tears. “You said to me right at the very beginning, not everyone is Michelle. I didn’t listen to you then and I haven’t listened to you since. When things went wrong, she was Michelle all over again. Jess is nothing like her. How could I ever have thought such a thing? What is the matter with me?”
“You’ve been hurt.”
“Margaret, that’s no excuse for how I’ve behaved.” Watching her friend’s face intently she asked, “Do I deserve Jess? Do I really deserve her?”
Margaret sighed. “I’m sorry, Rachel, you need to talk to Jess. Only she can tell you that.”
***
Rachel pulled up the car in the only available space and ran through the front door of the house. People were everywhere.
“Rachel!” Jack beckoned her toward the lounge. “What on earth are you doing here? Margaret said you were supposed to rest.”
Her heart raced faster as Marie and Julie just looked at her, saying nothing. “I came to see if Jess would speak with me.”
“Well, I’m afraid she isn’t here to ask at the moment.”
“What’s going on?”
“There’s a small group of walkers who didn’t show at the glen car park tonight. She is part of the search and rescue team. I’ll certainly let her know you called in when she gets back.”
Rachel frowned. “In this?” She waved her hand at the window that was being battered by wind and rain.
“It’s nothing to worry about,” Marie managed with a half smile. “Jess, Mark and the rest of the team are very experienced.”
“They are very used to this kind of weather.” Jack raised an eyebrow and grinned reassuringly. “Do we look worried?”
Julie glared at Rachel. “Well I’m worried. She wasn’t in the best frame of mind.”
Jack immediately shot her a look. “Jess wouldn’t have gone out if she thought she was a risk to anyone else.”
Julie nodded and sighed. “I know.” She glanced at Rachel and muttered, “Sorry.”
That didn’t help Rachel. Julie was probably right, and all because of her stupidity.
Tom stepped forward. “You really should be resting. I’ll take you back.”
Rachel smiled. “Thank you, I can manage.”
***
Just after midnight Rachel resigned herself to the fact that she wasn’t going to hear from Jess tonight, if at all. Then the telephone rang.
“Rachel, it’s Julie. I thought you ought to know. The team Jess is with has been out of radio contact for the last hour.”
Rachel flopped down onto the sofa. “What...what do you mean?”
“It’ll just be the weather conditions. Jack asked if I would let you know what was going on.”
Rachel replied softly. “Thanks Julie, I appreciate it. What do we do, just wait?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so. Rachel…I’m sure Jess will be fine.”
Margaret nudged her. “Remind them I’m a qualified orthopedic surgeon if they need help…”
“I heard that. Tell Margaret thanks. I’ll keep in touch.”
***
An hour later both Rachel and Margaret stared at the television screen wide-eyed in a desperate attempt to stay awake. They simultaneously jumped when the telephone rang again. “Rachel, Jess is fine but there are four injured people coming off the mountain with broken limbs. Tom is asking if Margaret wouldn’t mind giving a hand?”
“Off course not, we’ll be there immediately.”
When Rachel and Margaret arrived people were scattering in all directions after what looked like a meeting on the porch of the house.
Tom immediately saw them and waved them over as he chatted to two people who stayed behind. “Margaret, Rachel, this is Ted and Audrey, our two paramedics. Apparently there is another team on the way.”
After the introductions Tom explained the plan to Margaret. “Could you and Ted initially assess one of the injured walkers? His name is John. He seems to have been the leader in a group of four. He has no obvious head or internal injuries at present. He does have a shattered right leg, upper and lower, with possible hip and pelvis involvement. He also has a fractured right wrist and collarbone and a number of ribs.” Margaret nodded. “If you could then deal with Mark, he is one of the rescue team. He has a fractured fibula, but is in a stable condition.”
“The rescue team?”
“Yes. Afraid so.”
“Okay, we can do that.” She looked at Ted who confirmed.
“Good. Audrey and I will deal with the rest. Briefly, there’s a walker with a fractured arm and collarbone. Another with a fractured wrist and ribs and then there are some minor injuries. Hopefully we won’t get anymore, but they’re navigating in thick fog now that the rain’s eased off and it’s still incredibly windy up there.”
“All they need is for the snow to start falling. That’ll have covered all the possible elements,” Ted joked and received a raised eyebrow from Tom. “Sorry, Doc.”
Tom continued. “If Mark’s condition changes or you feel you’re not able to attend to him quickly enough, give us a shout. The rescue team from the other side has joined ours, but they have allowed Jess to supervise the descent as she apparently had the situation under control after Mark’s injury.” He chuckled lightly. “Beware, she may be a little touchy, she doesn’t like leading. Seriously though, she will be exhausted and will have a lot of information to relay to us. This is an unusual amount of injured; we need to pay strict attention. If any of us are struggling at any time we must immediately ask for help from each other. Okay?”
Margaret and the paramedics nodded in unison before they disappeared to make their preparations.
Tom turned to Rachel and smiled. “Don’t worry, Jess will be fine, and you shouldn’t really be out here after this morning.”
Rachel didn’t want to think of the danger Jess could be in. “Surely I could be of some help.”
“I can’t put this nicely, Rachel,” Tom said. “We could do with your help, but when they get here, Jess is pivotal. She will be completely knackered and will need to concentrate on the status of injured and their priorities. You might be too much of a distraction.”
Rachel nodded in resignation. “Maybe it would be best then if I…”
“Help me!” Julie butted in. “I’m going to struggle to direct the rescuers and walking wounded. They like to do their own thing.”
Julie grabbed Rachel’s hand. “Come on, I’ll show you what’s what.” She explained the first stop would be the barn, and anyone who didn’t need medical attention would be directed to the drying room. After which a nice cup of hot tea would be waiting in the dining room, organized by Marie and Jean. She emphasized the difficulty would be in getting them to move on. “Their adrenaline will still be pumping and they’ll want to linger and that really isn’t beneficial to the medics.”
***
The next hour or so was bedlam. The team had been in constant contact on the way down from the mountainous terrain, relaying as much information as they could in regard to the injured. Once they reached their destination, Jess’s priority was John, the male walker, and then Mark. She then relayed all the other injuries to Tom and Audrey. Jess was thankful it was all over and once things started to settle, she wandered over to see how her friend was bearing up. It could have turned out a lot worse than it had.
“Hi Jess. Doc, now that you’ve dealt with everyone else. I hope you are going to sort out our hero here?” Mark said as she approached.
Jess looked down at her leg, not comprehending at all what Mark was pointing at. Noticing the torn clothing matted with blood she felt instantly dizzy.
Margaret quickly sat her unceremoniously onto a nearby plastic chair and shoved her head between her legs. “Julie, could you come over here please?”
Jess started to raise her head. “It’s all right, I think I feel okay.”
Mark frowned at Margaret. “I think you better look at her arm as well. She may be the last, but she certainly isn’t the least. You should have mentioned them, Jess.”
***
Jess had persuaded Margaret to let her take a shower, soaking off the material adhering to her leg after the doctor had carefully hacked at all the layers of her clothing. It was wonderful to feel the warm water run over her body, rather than the cold sodden clothing fighting every move she made.
Out there tonight Jess decided life was far too short to be wasted. It needed grasping if you wanted the best out of it. If it didn’t work out as you had planned, as least you could feel you’d tried. Rachel was all she had thought about.
They had fought to retrieve two people from a fragile shelf after the path they were walking along disappeared down the mountainside beneath them. Their partners had hopelessly looked on, not knowing whether to try and get help or stay. They stayed, knowing that they’d left in their car details of their route and how many were in their party. It was shortly after the rescuers arrived that the badly injured man’s partner started to become angry, convinced his partner was going to die if they didn’t hurry. He’d wished he had been more forceful in getting him to abandon the hike on such a dreadful day. Jess couldn’t disagree with that. He then stupidly, when asked to stay put with his friend, approached a rescuer, again demanding to know why it was taking so long. The path slid away from under them, almost taking the two of them and Mark over the edge and to almost certain death.
Jess’s anger for the idiot later dissolved after they’d secured everybody and the other team arrived. She’d watched him like a hawk, they all had, but when they brought his partner up, he burst into tears, blaming himself again. His injured partner did the same, for not discussing whether or not they should turn back when he became afraid conditions were too treacherous. He then couldn’t stop apologizing for interfering and causing further injuries. He had never meant to hurt anyone. Jess had made sure someone stayed with him all the way down, reassuring him everything would be all right. It was good communication that had eventually seen them all to safety when conditions around them deteriorated.
Jess smiled thinking of Rachel again. She needed to talk to her.
***
Entering the bedroom to dress, she examined her wounds and decided both looked clean enough. Her arm harbored a deep scratch, which niggled a little. But her leg started to bleed again and she felt the need to support herself against the nearest wall. Grabbing several of the gauze swabs that Margaret had given her, she slapped them on her leg and bandaged them roughly in place. Her bed was looking very inviting as she forced herself out of the door. As she headed down she found the staircase difficult to negotiate, her leg throbbed on each step. The feeling was most unpleasant, so she gripped the handrail tightly.
Margaret smiled when she saw her coming and guided her over to one of the sofas. Jess was more than happy to relax into it and close her eyes. After a little muttering went on, Tom asked Margaret, “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“No, I have everything I need. You go home. You can examine my handiwork tomorrow.”
“Goodnight Jess.”
Jess didn’t open her eyes. “Goodnight Tom. And thanks.”
The room was silent and Jess sighed contentedly. Almost immediately she was aware of a presence and opened her eyes, meeting beautiful, brown ones. “Rachel.”
“Hi. How does your leg feel? It looks pretty nasty.”
“It’s okay, but what’s Margaret got in mind? Is it going to hurt?”
Rachel knelt down next to the sofa. “A little. Have you had stitches before?”