A series of sounds echoed across Deep Creek in quick succession:
Ben’s own laughter. A muttered “You asswipe.” A splash. And a sharp yell.
Ben hustled ahead, making his way to the stranger. Thompson, mooning guy had called him.
Thompson steadied himself on his knees where he’d fallen. He lifted his left hand out of the water. It was followed by a cascade of blood.
“Hey, man,” Ben said, “I’m Ben. Is it okay if I touch you?”
Thompson stared at his hand.
“Ohshit,” the guy onshore said.
“Yeah, looks like you got a nasty cut there,” Ben said as he reached out, slowly but steadily grabbing Thompson’s arms. Helped pull him back up to standing. Arranged Thompson’s right hand over his left.
“Can you push? Apply pressure just like this?” Thompson nodded, making eye contact with Ben now. A good sign. “I can help patch you up onshore, but the most important thing is that you don’t pass out in this river with that heavy ass pack on your shoulders, all right?”
“All right,” Thompson agreed, voice faint.
“What should I do?” Alexei asked at Ben’s side.
“Let’s get Thompson out of this river and then you can help get my first-aid kit.”
“I have first-aid stuff,” the guy onshore said as they approached. “I should help him.”
“He’s a nurse,” Alexei said. He nodded toward Ben as Ben and Thompson stumbled onto shore. The mooner got a good view of the blood dripping from his friend’s hand.
“Yeah, never mind,” he said, face paling. “I’m gonna trust the nurse on this one.”
Alexei retrieved Ben’s first-aid kit. As quickly as he could, Ben donned surgical gloves and sterilized the wound. Fashioned a small tourniquet on Thompson’s arm before he turned and asked Alexei for more supplies.
“I am so fucking sorry, man,” the helpless friend said.
“You’re a fucking idiot,” Thompson said between gritted teeth.
“It’s nobody’s fault,” Ben interjected. “You just had the misfortune of stumbling onto a sharp rock. When I did my rotation in the ER, I learned at least half of the worst injuries are the results of dumb mistakes or bad luck. You just had some bad luck.”
“Bad luck I wouldn’t have had if Nick hadn’t distracted me with his ugly ass,” Thompson scowled.
“Hey, dude, I didn’t know it would make you impale yourself! At least I distracted you with a nurse nearby!”
“You didn’tknowhe was a nurse, you jackass.”
While the friends bickered, Ben worked. It was good, actually, that they were bickering; Thompson needed a distraction. Ben irrigated the wound and was finally able to get some gauze on it. He searched through his kit for more supplies with one hand.
“Here’s the thing, Thompson,” Ben said. “This is a pretty deep laceration. Half of me wants to suture it, but sutures are risky in the backcountry no matter what. So I’m just going to use Steri-Strips and a shit ton of wrap, but you have to be really careful with it.” He worked as he talked. “If you see any sign of infection—if there’s swelling, or redness, or the wound feels hot, you need to get it checked out as soon as possible. If you see a red line traveling here”—Ben traced down Thompson’s wrist—“toward your heart? Get your ass to a hospital, okay?”
“Got it, Doc.” Thompson had calmed significantly, color returning to his cheeks. “You’re like…a PCT angel.”
“Yes,” Alexei said, quietly, from behind him.
Ben felt himself blushas he stripped off his gloves.
By the time he and Alexei were ready to go, he felt pretty good about the prospects of Thompson’s hand healing safely. Would have a nasty scar, though. Belatedly, he realized he should’ve asked Alexei to take a picture with his phone for Julie.
“Sit here for at least twenty minutes, okay? Take some ibuprofen and just relax.”
Ben had turned toward the sandy bank when Thompson’smooning friend, Nick, attacked him with a hug so hardBen almost fell over. “Thanks, man.”
