Chapter 10
Charles
Once I got both myself and Jessica upright and standing, we set off for the woodpile again with her hand wrapped securely around my arm. We would likely have to make multiple trips, but with Jessica, the journey didn’t look so bad. I was just trying to figure out the best way to haul the wood back to the cabin when Jessica interrupted my thoughts.
“Oh look,” she said when we got to the lean-to that protected the wood, “a sled!” She pointed to the side of the small building where a faded red sled was leaning against it.
“That will save us a ton of work hauling this wood.” I led her to the sled and let her get a grip on the small building before digging out the bottom of the sled.
It was old, that much was obvious, but it was still in good enough condition. I pulled at the rope attached to the sled, testing its strength and durability. There was a small amount of fraying, but I didn’t think it would cause problems.
“Good job spotting this,” I said to Jessica. Her cheeks were pink when I looked up at her.
We worked together to load the sled; her handing me wood from her spot by the pile, and me arranging it on the sled for us to bring back. Images of us working together for years to come played in my head and a warm glow filled me at the thought that I could have this, have her, forever.
“Alright, I think that’s all this will hold,” I said as I stacked the last piece on the sled, “any more and I don’t think we will get it back. We will probably have to make one more trip to get enough wood to last through the night and the next morning.”
I held my hand out to Jessica so she could take it and walk over to me. She was getting better at walking on the snowshoes, but I would take any opportunity to hold her.
“Maybe by the end of the next trip I will be able to walk without falling flat on my face.” She rolled her eyes, but was smiling anyway.
“Hmm, better safe than sorry. I’m very sturdy. You should probably just hold on to me for the whole time.”
“You’d like that.” The smile on her face said she might like that, too.
We were nearly at the cabin and I was imagining all the ways I wanted to woo Jessica when we were in the warmth of it when a strong wind picked up and blew the toboggan right off Jess’ head.
“Shit!” she shouted when it started blowing away. “My grandma made that! I have to get it back.” She let go of me and took a step towards the red knit cap blowing in the wind before wobbling and nearly falling over again.
“Wait.” I stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, helping her regain balance. “You’re still not steady on your feet. Let me get it.” I handed her the rope for the sled and went after the hat. It had blown into the tree line and was stuck a little way into the forest surrounding the cabin. The wind was blowing me as I trekked, and I was glad I stopped Jess before she tried coming out here to get it. I grabbed the hat just before it had blown away again, and shouted in triumph, waving the hat at Jess to show her it was safe. I couldn’t make out her smile at this distance, so I just had to imagine how she would swoon at my heroism.
The wind had blown the loose snow over my tracks and was kicking up all the loose snow in the area, obscuring my vision. That proved to be my downfall. I took one wrong step on a low bit of snow and a metallic click echoed across the surrounding forest before blinding pain assaulted me and my legs gave out under me.
“Charles!” Jess called out to me. She was coming to me, but she still wasn’t good on the snowshoes and she fell again in her panic.
“It’s ok, Jess,” I called to her. It wasn’t ok, but panic wasn’t going to do either of us any good. “I need you to get up. Turn your leg to the side and push up.” I focused on my breathing while she did that to control the pain radiating up my leg. “Good girl,” I praised to keep us both calm, “now take the wood up to the cabin and bring back the sled. You’re going to need to be fast.”
Blackness was creeping into my vision. I tried to open the trap clamped around my leg so I could wrap the wounds and staunch the bleeding. The angle was wrong and I couldn’t get enough pressure on the levers on the side. Rust coated the mechanism, and I worried I would break it if I kept trying. Tetanus wouldn’t be a problem, thanks to the military I’m up to date on my shots, but the bleeding might if the wounds are deep. If I can just get back to the cabin, I have a med kit that will have what we need.
I just have to get back to the cabin.
“I’m coming,” Jess called to me. She had added some additional rope to the sled and wrapped it around her waist and was using sticks to aid in her balance.
I tried to get the trap free again while Jess made her way to me, but it was no use. I was going to need her to step on it to loosen it and get me free.
She made it to me much faster than I would have thought with her poles.
“I’m here.” She was out of breath as she unwound the sled from her waist. “What happened? What do you need?”
Jess crouched down in front of me to look me over and I could tell the moment she saw the trap and the blood spreading out red on the white snow.
“It’s an old bear trap. I need you to step on those levers on either side of it, release it and get my leg free.” I pointed to the levers in questions and prayed that they would work and aren’t stuck.
“Ok, I see them.” She grabbed the nearby tree for leverage and then slowly stepped on the levers on either side of the trap. I grunted in pain when the teeth pulled free of my leg, but still moved my leg around to assess the damage.
“We need to stop the bleeding.” Adrenaline and pain were warring with clear thought, and I couldn’t move to make it happen.
Jess bent down in front of me to wrap her scarf around my leg and tie it tight over the wounds. She looked determined, and pride filled me at the sight. She was brave, always had been.
“Let’s get you on the sled.” She reached out to help me slide over to where she had positioned the sled.
“Will you be able to pull it?” I wasn’t sure if she could, but it would be easier than trying to balance and hobble back to the cabin.
“I think so,” she said as she wrapped the rope around her chest, “for once in my life, I’m glad I’m not small.”
“Oh, angel,” I whispered as she grabbed her poles and moved forward. Sure enough, she could pull me back to the cabin, picking up speed as we went.
By the time we reached the cabin, the pain had dulled to a low throb. Jess pulled me up to the porch support closest to the front door and then came around to my other side to help me stand.
With her help, I hobbled into the cabin and collapsed on the couch.
“In my bag, there’s a kit with a red cross on it. Bring it here.”
She did as I asked and then went to the kitchen and filled the largest pot she could find with water and set it to boil. When it was done, she brought it over to me and unwrapped my wound.
“I think normally, you wouldn’t unwind something that was bleeding, so you don’t disturb the clots, but it’s just us out here. Sorry if it hurts.” It hurt, but I did my best not to show it.
“You seem to know what you’re doing.” She bent over my leg and took stock of what she found instead of answering me. “I’m pretty sure I need stitches. I don’t know how deep the punctures go, but it felt pretty deep.”
She picked up a clean rag and began dabbing at the skin around each wound. The cuts circled my leg like a cuff and would likely leave several scars.
“I’m sorry, but I need to clean the actual wound now.”
“In my bag is iodine and sealed supplies for stitching. You should cut away my pant leg,” I said, giving her directions, though she didn’t seem to need them.
“Found it.” She pulled on gloves and arranged the equipment on a clean towel.
“You’ve done this before,” I couldn’t help saying as she laid everything out.
“Stitch someone up? No.” She shook her head firmly.
I chuckled, “Not stitches, but caring for someone like this.”
She shrugged and looked down for a moment before redirecting her attention to cutting away my pant leg. It was a few moments before she spoke again.
“I came across an accident once,” she said slowly, hesitantly, “A car had hit a woman. Her body flew a whole car’s length before landing. There were children were standing around her, crying and screaming. They were hers.” Her voice hitched, and she took a deep breath before she continued. “I didn’t know how to help her. So, I stood there with her children while the ambulance came. I didn’t know what else to do.”
She stopped again. My pant leg was gone. She just sat there for a moment with the scissors in one hand and the strip of my pants in the other. I reached out to her and touched her arm. I regretted asking if it was this hard to answer. My injury meant that I couldn’t pull her into my arms like I wanted, but I could offer the small comfort of knowing she wasn’t alone.
“She died before they even got her to the hospital. Apparently, she had some severe internal injuries and there was nothing anyone could do, but I just kept thinking about how I couldn’t do anything.” Her voice wavered at the admission.“So, I took a class, and then another, and then some more. I’ve not had to use the skills before today, but I learned them just in case.”
She looked at me then, silent tears carved paths into her face. Her eyes were bright with more tears.
“You didn’t do nothing,” I said. “You made sure those children weren’t alone at the worst moment of their lives. If her injuries were as bad as you say, then you couldn’t have saved her, but you did something. Something very important.”
She nodded, but said nothing. More tears flowed along the same path as before. Oh, my angel. How does she not see how amazing she is?
“You’re going to have to walk me through stitching you up,” she said with a stronger voice than before. “My training always stopped at ‘call 911 and stop the bleeding’ in situations like this.”
“I can do that.”
I walked her through how to clean and stitch the wounds. She worked methodically to close each cut. When she was done with the last one, she looked up at me. Some evidence of the pain must have shown on my face because she went pale and gasped.
“I didn’t numb you or anything!” She quickly removed the gloves from her hands and ran her hand through my hair and along my cheek.
“I don’t have anything for that.” My voice was hoarse and low.
“Oh, Charles.”
I didn’t mind her fussing over me one bit.