I shook my head. ‘Negative. I think we need to call in air support. She’s clearly in a lot of pain, so pulling her back up the cliff is only going to cause her more distress, as is a trip to the hospital by road ambulance. I’m concerned with the height of the drop and the fact she’s not sure whether she lost consciousness or not. I think the sooner she gets pain relief and medical attention the better.’
‘Agreed,’ Taylor said, and Dion looked at her. I saw him take in her disheveled beauty and stand up a little straighter. It irked me that he noticed in a moment like this.
‘And you are…?’ he said.
She got to her feet and rubbed dirt off the front of her jeans with her hands. ‘I’m the person who called this in.’
‘Right.’ He flashed her a smile. ‘Thanks for that; you’ve probably saved her life. We can take it from here though.’
‘She’s already been down there for a couple of hours,’ Taylor said, ignoring him and focusing on me. ‘It’s a hell of a drop, and I can see even from here that her ankle is at an angle that is completely unnatural. It’s bent kind of upwards and facing completely the wrong way.’
Dion sucked air in between his teeth. ‘Ouch.’
‘Yeah, ouch. BIG ouch. That’s why I don’t think we should muck around. Jack, call in the chopper,please.’
There was something about her expression that told me this was personal for her. I’d already made my decision, but I nodded anyway, picking up my two-way radio. ‘On it.’
‘Thank you,’ Taylor said, her eyes drilling into mine, her expression a mixture of gratitude and vulnerability. I felt a jolt in my chest.
‘Can you start setting up the gear while I make the call?’ I barked at Dion, a little harsher than intended. I told myself it wasn’t because of the way he’d looked at Taylor. ‘Use that big spruce as an anchor point. One of us will need to go down and stay with her until they get here.’
‘Sure,’ he said. If he was bothered with me taking the lead he didn’t show it. As first on the scene, either of us could have assumed that role.
The rest of the team arrived while I was making the call and I saw Dion fill them in on our plan. They agreed with what I’d decided, and even though I knew it really was the best course of action, it was still a relief to have it confirmed. It bugged the hell out of me that I even needed that validation. Once upon a time I wouldn’t have. Second-guessing myself had only become a thing after Alex died.
‘Belay system is all set up, Jack,’ Dion called over. ‘Who do you want to go down?’
‘I’ll go,’ I replied, conscious of Taylor’s eyes on me, but deliberately not looking at her. Right now, I needed to focus on Casey and her predicament, not that feeling I’d got when Taylor had looked at me the way she did. I strapped myself in and grabbed a helmet. One of my teammates, Wendy, double-checked to make sure I’d secured everything properly, before I headed for the edge of the cliff.
‘Let me come with you,’ Taylor said, falling into step beside me.
‘What?’
‘I’m the one who’s been talking to her for the last forty minutes, keeping her calm until you guys arrived.’
‘No. I’m sorry, but that’s out of the question.’
‘Jack, she’s terrified. I think she could do with a feminine presence to reassure her down there.’
‘It’s too dangerous.’
‘Oh, but it’s not dangerous for you?’ she retorted.
‘I’ve had training, Taylor.’
‘And I’ve been to camp. So what?’
‘What’s camp got to do with anything?’
‘I’ve rappelled before, plenty of times.’
I stopped. ‘Down a natural cliff face? This high?’
‘Not quite,’ she admitted.
‘That’s what I thought. I’m sorry Taylor, this is just the way it works. I can’t let you put yourself in danger and risk having another patient on our hands.’ I lowered my voice. ‘I don’t want to see you to get hurt.’
‘I won’t. But fine, I guess your stupid rules are there for a reason. Just, tell her I hope she’s OK. Please?’
