Chapter Sixteen #3
“No, no. Just my shoulders. Mostly my right one, I think.”
“I want to check that, but we need to get you out of the creek and out of these wet clothes.” Aspen took a deep breath, her resolve hardening. “Can you stand?”
“I’m only a little wet.” Mo moved to get up, sliding a tad under the rocks. “My pack, however—”
“Forget the pack. Let me help you to the rock over there,” Aspen commanded, leaning over to grab Mo around the middle of her torso.
She helped her to her feet and walked with her until she got her seated on some sand, her back against a rock.
“I’ll check your shoulder after I get your pack out of the water.
I need to see if any of your clothes are dry.
Once we get you changed, I’ll start a fire and set up camp. ”
“Aspen.”
Aspen ignored Mo, striding briskly back to the water to grab her pack, moving it next to her own before unsnapping the top, hurrying to remove items from inside. “Oh fuck, a lot of it got wet. I’ll have to sort through it all. Did you pack your clothes at the bottom?”
“Aspen.”
She finally found Mo’s clothes, thankfully dry, folded in the bottom underneath her rolled-up sleeping pad. Aspen pulled out what she needed and rushed back to Mo’s side, laying each piece out in preparation.
“We got lucky, your spare clothes are dry. Let me help you out of your wet—” As she turned, Aspen found a worried face staring at her. “What?”
“I’m right here, Aspen. I’m okay.”
“I know, I just—”
“It wasn’t your fault.” Mo reached out and squeezed her wrist before adjusting her positioning against the rock. “It wasn’t anyone’s fault.”
Aspen took a deep breath in, nodding in response. Mo started to move to remove her shirt before groaning in pain as she attempted to lift her arms above her head.
“Your shoulder?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll help.” Aspen’s anxiety finally came down a tad. She reached forward and helped Mo get her shirt off. Once it was removed, she crab-walked closer to Mo’s right side. “Let me look.”
“Okay,” Mo agreed, bending forward to give Aspen a better view. “Am I gonna die, doc?”
“God, when are you not insufferable?” Aspen replied, a playful lilt to her voice. She examined her shoulder, noticing the redness and welt that extended from the tip of her shoulder and across her trapezius muscle. She touched it lightly, but Mo didn’t pull away. “Does this hurt?”
Mo shook her head.
“Can you move and rotate your arm?”
“I can try.” Mo slowly rotated her arm, grimacing but making a full rotation. “I don’t think anything is ripped or broken, but it definitely hurts.”
“I agree.” Aspen stood, crossing to her pack. “Keep trying to remove all your clothes. I’m gonna get the ground cover, emergency blanket, and my dry sleeping bag. We gotta get you warmed up.”
“I can set up the tent…” Mo began, moving to stand as she unsnapped her shorts.
“No! You almost died. I need you to chill out and just take off your clothes. I’ll set up everything after I get a fire started to get you warm.”
“Eh.” Mo shrugged, tilting back to shimmy her shorts from her body. “Dying wouldn’t be the worst thing.”
“The fuck it wouldn’t, I—” Aspen yelled but stopped herself short, letting out an exasperated grunt instead.
“I’m sorry,” Mo said. “You’re right.”
“Thanks,” Aspen responded flatly, crossing near Mo to set up the ground cover on the most even stretch of ground she could find.
Once it was laid out, she fluffed and placed down her sleeping bag before unfurling the tiny emergency blanket she had stashed in her backpacking first-aid kit. “Got your clothes off?”
“Yep, like the day I was born.”
Aspen moved to hand her the pile of dry clothes, only taking a quick glance at Mo’s naked body. She took in a deep breath before asking, “Need help?”
“Just with my shirt.” Mo chuckled. “That was my only bra. I Googled that most backpackers only take one, so you know, seeing how I am one of those pros…”
Aspen tried to stay focused. She scrunched the shirt up so she could easily place it over Mo’s head.
She took extra care with the woman’s right arm and shoulder, gingerly helping her get it situated through the arm hole.
Once she was clothed, Aspen scooped up the blanket and wrapped Mo in it, her focus on the task and not the sheepish features of her companion.
“I’m a burrito,” Mo declared after Aspen finished.
Aspen couldn’t help but laugh a little, loving how her laugh brightened Mo’s eyes. “You’ve got another layer, burrito.”
“Ooh, I’m a three-layer burrito, then,” Mo continued, taking Aspen’s direction to lie down in her sleeping bag.
Mo let Aspen help her get fully inside, no complaints or attempts at doing it herself. Once she was zipped up to her head, Aspen gave Mo a few pats before asking, “Good?”
“Yeah, I feel much warmer.”
“I knew you were cold!” Aspen pointed disappointedly at her before taking another deep breath. “I’m going to get everything set up, okay?”
“All right. I trust you.”
Those words echoed in Aspen’s head as she walked toward their gear to get changed herself. This was going to be hard.