Chapter 38
Chapter thirty-eight
“This one’s pretty tricky. You sure it’s the right choice for you?”
Tabitha looked up from tying her figure eight knot, trying ever so hard to keep the smirk off her face. “I think I’ll manage.”
She preferred to keep the little fact that she was once a professional to herself when climbing with a new group.
It wasn’t something she liked to brag about.
And while much of her career was enjoyable and rewarding, shoving it in other people’s faces felt like bragging about being the prom queen in high school.
Like she’d peaked early and hadn’t done anything with the rest of her life to feel proud of.
The ladies at the gym liked to toss her status around when they were out and about, thinking it would attract some interested suitor for their lonely, single friend.
But in Tabitha’s experience, most men she came across were intimidated by her achievements.
Plus she’d spent so much time cultivating her career as a journalist that she wanted to be appreciated for all the parts of her.
Not only the climbing skills part. She was willing to wait for the right guy.
There was no sense settling for someone who didn’t check the boxes. She was happy being single.
And yet she was on a singles excursion through her local climbing gym, wishing she was anywhere else.
“. . . but the trickiest part—that’s called the crux—is after the fifth bolt.
Did you count your quickdraws? The book says there are seven bolts, plus you’ll need two for the anchor up top and a few extras just in case—” Her belay partner, Chip or maybe it was Chad, spewed beta at her like he’d invented the sport.
She’d climbed the walls off Exit 38 many times and the route she was about to send was one of her favorites.
She could have climbed it blindfolded and without a belayer, which was the only reason she was willing to climb with this particular dude.
Anything more challenging and she’d have elected to climb it with someone she trusted more or skip it altogether.
Chip or Chad tugged on the knot affixed to the front of her harness. “It’s a little sloppy but it’ll hold,” he said as he made a show of straightening Tabitha’s textbook-perfect knot.
She stepped back out of his reach and said plainly, “It’s fine.”
“Suit yourself.”
Tabitha donned her helmet, taking in the familiar smell of summer warmth.
The woods of the I-90 corridor housed some of her favorite routes, and it was a huge perk that they were so close to her home in Seattle.
She approached the rock face and eyed the holds, the texture, the sparkly bits that caught in the bright sun at the group's back.
She visualized the climb; executed the moves in her mind before stepping closer.
“You ready for me to climb?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder. Her belay partner hadn’t heard her. He was clearly too busy flirting with the cute little brunette belaying another climber to his left. Tabitha almost untied and called it a day.
Almost.
But her fingertips itched to send the route.
“Chad.”
“It’s Chip,” he corrected, not bothering to look away from his current conquest.
“We still climbing here?”
Tabitha’s belayer-of-the-year jolted suddenly, like he’d completely forgotten that he was about to hold someone else’s life in his hands.
“I’m belaying you next,” he told the brunette with an eyebrow waggle as he sauntered into position to belay his current climber.
Why had she let her friends talk her into the singles shit show? She had plenty of climbing friends that she could have been spending a free Saturday afternoon with. She didn't need some guy, especially one too preoccupied with another woman.
Ready to get this over with, Tabitha said, “Climbing.”
Chip responded with a bored, “Go ahead.”
She made quick work of the first two bolts as she ascended fluidly.
The muscle memory of having climbed the route on numerous occasions had her zoning out.
She thought about how she might punish her friends for convincing her to sign up for the stupid event.
Or how she could weave the situation into a fun piece for Rock ‘n’ Ropes.
The movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days came to mind, though she was certain Chip was no Matthew McConaughey.
Her head was everywhere but on the crag, which was why the slip caught her so off guard. She’d been preparing to clip, had called down to announce as much, but she miscalculated her next move. Drastically.
The panic didn’t last long because the fall was so quick. But instead of the rope breaking her rapid descent, her body was met with solid rock a few feet from where her belayer stood openmouthed is shock.
When she thought back to the moment of impact, when everything should have gone black but didn’t, she recalled the intense pressure of her femur breaking, the abrupt crack, and the near instant recognition that she’d made a big fucking mistake trusting Chip to belay her.
Silence bracketed her ears, as though someone had clapped their hands on either side of her head.
Lying dazed on her back, she stared up to the sky, mentally remarking how blue and cloudless the expanse peeking between the trees was.
One of the climbing guide's face popped into her sightline.
Tabitha blinked rapidly, willing her eyes to focus on his worried features.
His mouth moved but only a quiet faraway sound registered.
That's when the buzzing began. In her ears, down her back, deep in her leg where her bones had likely shattered into dust. Her nerves sparked to life then, sending pulses of agony through her. The chaotic din of panicked voices. The humming and whirring of summertime bugs zipping around the woods.
"I want to sit up," Tabitha croaked, but was met with a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Lay still," someone countered.
"Help is coming," another tried to assure with a throaty wobble.
Raised voices bounced off the granite. An argument playing out a few yards away. Shouts of "how did this happen?" and "it wasn't my fault," blended together.
Tabitha couldn't keep time—she oscillated in and out of consciousness. It wasn't until she awoke in a hospital bed that she felt aware, leaving the bizarre dream state behind.
A doctor stood near the door to her room talking to someone wearing head-to-toe reflective spandex with an aerodynamic helmet dangling from his finger.
Angus.
"She's got a long and difficult recovery ahead of her. We're talking rest then at least four months of physical therapy. Probably longer."
Four months? At least?
"Damn. She's not going to like that. My sister's not an idle person."
"Well, lucky she has you to ensure she follows my guidance," the doctor continued. "Her surgery is scheduled for the morning. If you need anything in the meantime the nurse's station is right outside the door."
"Thanks, doc."
A moment later, Tabitha and Angus were alone in the room. He glanced over and noticed she'd woken up. He strode over, planted his helmet on the side table, and sank into the chair beside her.
"You're awake," Angus said with a relived sigh. "Do you need anything? Water? The nurse said you can press that button if you're in pain. They hooked you up to the good stuff."
"Water," Tabitha croaked, suddenly aware of how dry her throat was. Her brother held the straw to her lips and she pulled a few sips into her mouth.
"Better?"
"Mmm," she affirmed.
"First of all," Angus started softly. "I'm glad you're ok. They called to tell me what happened, and I've never pedaled faster in my life to get back to my car so I could drive here. But also, what the fuck Tabitha?"
Back when she and their parents parted ways, Tabitha had put her brother down as her emergency contact.
The swap had been more ceremonial. Not that her brother didn't love her, he just wasn't the most reliable person in a crisis.
But having him sitting beside her, worry lining his usually jovial eyes, Tabitha knew.
She wasn't alone.
Even though so many people who claimed to love her had left, her twin wasn't going anywhere.