Page 52 of Stay With Me

She hadn’t gotten a close look at it until then. Nausea returned once again, but this time it was accompanied by a small hitch in her breath as her emotions attempted to assert themselves as a result of stress and physical fatigue.

There was no way he’d ever walk again. She was convinced. At least, not the way he used to. His hiking and biking days were probably behind him.

“I’m so sorry, Nick,” she whispered as she tied the tube below his knee. She glanced back at his face and spoke louder. “You’re going to be fine. Just stay with me, Nick. I’m just, uh … elevating your leg because it looks … it looks like you may have broken it.”

She winced.

Fibber.

The first aid kit had tumbled out of the pack so she zipped it open to see if there was anything useful for broken legs and head injuries. The kit included an assortment of pill packets, adhesive bandages, antibiotic ointment, alcohol pads, gauze pads and rolls, and a small pair of scissors. Having little to no knowledge of emergency medical care—or medical care of any kind for that matter—she decided the best thing she could do was try to keep the wound clean and covered.

She grabbed the scissors, hoped for the best, and focused, as she allowed herself to settle into a state of Zen while she performed the impromptu procedure.

She carefully placed the scissors inside the tear of his pant leg and cut the fabric wide enough that she could reach the wound.

The makeshift tourniquet seemed to be working for the most part, but there was still what appeared to be a massive amount of blood so she unwrapped a few gauze pads and pressed them around the base of the protruding bone. They became instantly soaked. She lifted them off and set them aside, then tore open an alcohol pad and wiped the area.

It continued to bleed so she unrolled the gauze and packed it around the wound, applying gentle pressure and making sure to avoid contact with the bone—in case touching it might increase the chances that he’d never walk again.

After the broken skin was covered, she sat back for a second and inspected her work, grimacing slightly.

“That’ll have to do for now,” she said, once again keeping her voice low at first, and then turning to speak directly to him, maintaining a superficial calm, as if she was a doctor and he was her patient. “You cut the back of your head. I need to try to clean it.” She paused contemplatively. “It would be helpful if you could wake up and lift your head so I can reach it more easily.”

She waited.

In her waiting, her calm facade shattered momentarily and she shouted at him, “Nick, wake up! I don’t know what I’m doing!”

She waited for a response, but got nothing. “It was worth a shot.”

She crawled back across the rock and sat cross-legged behind his head, pulling the first aid kit next to her. In an effort to avoid moving his neck as much as possible, she worked blindly, placing one hand between the back of his head and the rock, and using the other to clean the cut with an alcohol pad and then placing a few gauze pads against it. Once that was taken care of, she absently dabbed at the scratches on his face while combing her fingers through his hair.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you,” she said quietly. “I have no idea what to do right now and I’m really kind of scared.”

She glanced up and scanned their surroundings again, then shook her head as she jumped to her feet and began furiously pacing back and forth.

“This is so stupid! This is so, unbelievably, impossibly stupid!”

She continued to pace as she gripped her temples and began her therapeutic breathing.

Eventually, she found her calm again and lifted her palms in front of her, having arrived at a decision.

“I have to go find help. I can’t just sit here like this.” She cast a quick glance at Nick’s face. “I’ll run the whole way to the car. I can make it. And I’ll figure out the trail. I’m sure I’ll remember it when I see it.”

She began stuffing the supplies back into the first aid kit and stopped herself abruptly when she came across a palm-sized mirror with a black, plastic backing.

The instant she saw it, she recalled a conversation they’d had earlier.

“You know I’ve never been camping before,”she’d mentioned. They were right outside the park entrance.

Nick glanced at her and smirked.“I had a feeling.”

“I’ve never even been on the greenbelt.”

“Well, I guess we’ll have to do that when we get back in town, huh?”

“That’ll be kind of a step down after spending the weekend in the wilds of Big Bend.”

“It’s not as wild as you might think.”