Chapter Twenty-Nine #3
“She got up to speed, then the rest of the family came leaping out of the woods. The one put its hoof through the windshield. She swerved into the pole. The impact bounced the deer off the windshield and there onto the hood, then it slid off. The line came down when we hit it. I knew about the electricity because that last deer came running across, brushed the car, and dropped to the ground. We were fine. Everything in the car was fine. I mean, the airbags went off. But I turned to see if any other deer were coming when the woman opened her door. It was like something out of a nightmare. I could see her doing it. But I couldn’t get my hand to reach out.
And when I tried to yell a warning, nothing.
I was chomping at the air, not forming any words.
I’m an emergency room nurse. I deal with emergencies all the time.
I don’t know what happened. My brain glitched. ”
“You were also racing down a mountain desperate to save your friends. You were in a car accident.” From her expression, giving her an out, even a reasonable one, was the wrong tack. Gabriel switched gears. “I’m sorry that happened. Being trapped in there must be a hell of a thing.”
“If it’s okay with you. Talking helps me with the inner voice I don’t want to listen to right now. But I’d rather not talk about death and dying.”
“Fair. Let’s find something else to talk about.”
“So you are a one-man rescue team?”
“I was going to find you and assess if a team was needed,” he said.
“Because my sister asked you to?”
Gabriel thought this conversation might be veering toward "How do you know my sister?" And he’d like that to wait until she was out of the car. It seemed to tilt the dynamic that he knew who she was and she most likely had no idea who he was. “She loves you very much.”
“She does. Where did you get your rescue skill sets? I actually think I recognize you.”
Gabriel braced.
“And your dog.”
Gabriel held his breath. He definitely didn’t want a confrontation while Sommer was in danger, and there was a dead woman lying on the road.
“She’s Whiskey?” Sommer asked. “And you said your name was Gabriel. Is it Atwood?”
“Atworth,” he said.
“That’s right, thank you, Gabriel Atworth. You and Whiskey were in the paper after you found those two kids on Sweet Gum. I was on that search. They called my hiking club and asked us to go up one of the trails. So that’s how you have your rescue training, not from the FBI.”
“Neither. I was on that search for the same reason you were. They called me on the phone. It was my first time doing something like that.”
“Beginner’s luck?”
“Whiskey found the kids. I stumbled along at the back of her line. I gained my skills as an Army Ranger. You said you’re a nurse.” That wasn’t on his Bingo card. Gabriel had assumed she did something on the stage. Both would make her strange hours make sense.
“In the emergency department.”
“I have a friend who’s an emergency room doctor after leaving the military. He told me what he saw the nurses go through. It seemed a lot like parts of our deployment.”
“Oh, please.”
She sounded offended, and Gabriel couldn’t understand why.
“Not the explosions and car bombs, but the chaos and the sustained effort. The stamina and the doing whatever it takes. The teamwork for the greater good. The filth, the smell, the blood. It all sounded very familiar to me.” And then to his surprise, Gabriel found himself saying, “I find, now that I’m home, there aren’t a lot of people I’m comfortable with.
I mean, I can blend into any social situation.
But it’s a polite veneer. Inside, I listen to their stories, and I think, you don’t know shit.
You have no idea what happens in the world.
It’s like they’re those LARPers in Poland that cosplay living in Ohio. ”
“Wait.” A grin spread across Sommer’s face, the first instance of sunshine. Her smile felt like a prize he’d won. “What does that even mean? Like these Polish people watch football and eat nachos?”
“Yeah, they get together and stay in a trailer park and pretend they’re from Ohio. There are assigned roles and scripts. They wear Ohio-like clothes.”
“That … I can’t even. I’ll have to look that up when I get home. Polish Ohio-LARPers. And that’s how you feel? Like a foreigner playacting?”
“I wouldn’t go that far. I think that once I pulled back the curtain on the breadth of the human experience, I can’t pretend it’s as narrow as most people perceive it.”
“Or want it to be. But you’re telling me this because this doctor was someone you felt comfortable being around. Someone that didn’t require you to LARP. Is that what you’re saying?”
“I’m sorry,” Gabriel said. “I don’t know why I launched into this.”
“No, it’s good. I’m not a fan of small talk. And I asked you for a distraction. I’d say this qualifies.”
“Okay. Your friends, are they in jobs like yours?”
“If you mean my friends up White Tail, Marna is an emergency room nurse like me. Abbie is a lot of things. She kind of goes from new idea to new idea. A free-wheeling creative type. But if you knew what she’s survived in life, you would say she had the curtain pulled back at a very early age.”
“And they’re comfortable for you to be around when others are less so.
It’s hard to be friends with someone with a narrower worldview because there’s a different vocabulary or nuance.
I’ve discovered the inverse is not necessarily true, though.
Someone who has that narrower viewpoint can benefit from someone who can share their wider perspective. ”
This was their first conversation, Gabriel reminded himself. No matter how comfortable he grew to feel around her or how strong his sense of familiarity, he had no idea who she was or what she thought.
“I’m thinking of poor Abbie who has to listen to our medical horror stories, and she would prefer we not.
” Sommer looked at her lap, and an easy silence fell between them.
After a moment she said, “I hadn’t thought of that.
When I’m home and rested, I might make a list of the friends who are in my life now and which friendships have fallen away, and see if your pattern holds true. ”
Engine noise pulled Gabriel’s attention. It preceded the ladder truck that roared up the road, stopping a good distance away.
The men jumped down with their equipment.
Gabriel stood and cupped his hands around his mouth. “Yo! The electrical line is down, and it’s hot.”
“Got it,” one of them yelled with a thumbs up. They kept jogging forward on the far side of the street with equipment bags in their hands.
Gabriel figured they knew what they were doing. “Sommer, Whiskey and I are going to take off.”
“Okay, nice meeting you. Thanks for coming out looking for me. And thank you for keeping me company. It really helped.”
“No. Sorry,” Gabriel said. “My plan is to hike or hitch a ride up to the store. It’s a lot closer to stay on the road than to take the path. You were brave and correct to take the turn off. I found your signals. They were perfect.”
She nodded.
“While these guys are working. I’m going to get supplies for your friends.
I’m thinking plenty of bottled water, baby wipes, electrolyte powder, anti-diarrheal, and anything else I think might help.
I figure between us, we can figure something out and get your friends down.
If not, I’ll keep in touch with emergency services via satellite.
We’ll see how this unfolds. I’m not abandoning the mission. ” You, he thought, I won’t abandon you.
“Amazing. Gabriel, you are so appreciated. But you have a car at the ranger’s station?”
“I do.”
“Would you mind coming back here to get me? I could use some food, please. And I’d love a soda to clear my throat.”
“I’ll tell you what.” He pulled his pack straps over his shoulders. “I’ll come back here to find out what the paramedics say about you. You were just in a car accident. You may need transport to the hospital to get checked out.”