But here I am, doing the same thing all over again.
Chapter 14
Hanlon
“Hey Mom,” I say, answering the phone on speaker and setting it on the edge of Stone’s desk while we work on restocking the first-aid kits that go on the snowmobiles.
“Hanlon, honey, hi! How are things?”
It’s the same question she asks every time she calls one of us, and Stone and I share a quick smile.
“Things are good, Mom. How are you and Dad?”
“We miss you terribly, but it makes us feel better to know you’re out there with your brother.”
My eyes flash back to Stone, but there’s no smile this time.
“Uh, yeah. Speaking of, we’re kind of in the middle of something. Did you need anything, or were you just calling to chat?”
“Oh! Is Stone there with you? Hi, Stone!” she yells loudly.
“Hey, Lana,” Stone replies easily.
“I won’t keep you boys. I just wanted to let you know that Dad and I really tried, sweetheart, but we can’t get out there for Christmas. I’mso sorry.”
Disappointment knocks me in the chest. I may be an adult, but I love my parents, and I’m not afraid to admit that I miss them. I didn’t see them all too often when I was on campus, even though it was close, but somehow the physical distance makes it feel like a longer period of time without them.
Shortly after I hang up, Logan rushes through the front door of the office, breathing hard.
“Sapphire Butte just radioed, they got a call for a couple of backcountry skiers that checked out yesterday and didn’t come back.”
Stone looks at me. “Gear up. We’re gonna need the help.” Turning back to Logan, he asks, “Any avs reported in the area?”
“None.”
Stone’s solemn nod tells me that whatever we find is probably going to be gruesome. Exposure claims victims fast out here.
This also means we have to take the helicopter. I’ve gotten a little better at handling the flights, but not much.
“Spine board?” Stone asks Logan.
“Got it. AED has fresh batteries. I’ve got the blankets, water, and probes; just waiting on you guys.”
Stone looks back at me. “Let’s roll.”
This is the first medical emergency I’ve seen. There was a lady who broke her wrist and a guy who busted his collarbone in the terrain park, but one of those happened on my day off, and the other one was given to Jeremy and Deacon.
Stone grabs his gloves and shrugs into his jacket. I mimic what he does, my nerves about the helicopter clouding my thought process a little.
I take the seat in the back next to Stone, having given up on trying to get comfortable in the front.
Logan wastes no timelifting the helicopter into the air. Swallowing hard, I prepare for the lurch that comes with the forward motion, and suddenly, there’s a hand on my knee. I don’t open my eyes, but I focus on the pressure where Stone is lightly squeezing.
Once we’re airborne, headed toward our destination, he removes his hand, and I have to really fight myself not to grab it and put it back.
Talking in the headset, Stone walks me through the procedure again. It’s one thing to study a manual, but it’s another thing entirely to be looking for a human whose life depends on you.
“We’ve divided the search area into four quadrants,” he says. “We have one, Sapphire Butte has one, the Forest Service has one, and the county’s Search and Rescue team has the fourth. Time is of the essence here. We’re going to fly overhead and get a layout of the land. If there are no obvious signs of our missing skiers, Logan will find a place to land, and we’ll start at the top of our grid and work our way down.”
