Page 44 of A Little More Forgiveness

“Hey, hey,” he soothed, his palm once more on my cheek, cupping me tenderly. “Everything will be fine, all right? And we’ll check you out fully when we get home.”

Home. He said home.

“Okay.”

“What’s the rest of you like? Nothing hurting or broken?”

I silently shook my head, not trusting myself to speak.

“That’s good.” He gave me a professional once-over before looking up the wall of the gorge, assessing the situation. “Can you stand?”

“I think so.” First moving to my hands and knees, I then put every ounce of energy I had to get to my feet. Stars began to spin wildly in front of my eyes, so I placed my hands on my thighs to brace myself and lowered my head until they disappeared. Trying again, I prayed I’d be okay this time, but the dizziness returned with a vengeance, causing me to sway. Mitch’s hand whipped out to grab my jacket and haul me to his side.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I don’t know if I going to be able to make it. I don’t seem to have any strength at all.”

Mitch stared at me for a couple of seconds before he nodded to himself. “All right, I’ll carry you,” he stated.

My jaw dropped to the floor. “You can’t carry me,” I stuttered. “I weigh nearly two-hundred pounds.”

“So you’re able to haul yourself up the rope without assistance?”

I struggled to fix my gaze on the rope through my whirling vision, so that would be a no. “Can’t,” I said weakly.

“You got any better suggestions?”

No, I hadn’t.

“You can climb on my back, and I’ll secure us together. I’ll walk us up using the rope.”

His suggestion was never going to work, surely? But helpless and scared, what other choice did I have?

“You need to try to stand on your own for a bit, so I can retrieve what I need.” He gradually loosened his grip on me, until he only held me lightly at the waist. “You good?” he asked.

“Yeah, I think so.” The stars had thankfully disappeared, but I still felt like a newborn colt on spindly unstable legs.

“Here.” He took my hand and hooked my fingers onto one of his beltloops. “Hold on to me like this, and don’t let go, so I can get us ready.”

I nodded, determined not to appear weak and break down in front of him.

Biting my lower lip hard enough to taste blood, I clenched my nearly numb fingers so tightly to his jeans, they turned white.

He took a harness out of his backpack and helped me slip it on. Next he attached four metal rings to different parts of my webbing. After picking up his backpack and putting it on so it sat on his chest, he squatted down and glanced over his shoulder. “Okay, climb on.

“Is this really going to work?” I asked, unsure.

“Trust me, will you?”

“I do.” And I meant it, so I awkwardly clambered on as requested, gripping him with my knees, locking my ankles around his waist, and wrapping my arms like a noose around his neck. “My duffel,” I suddenly remembered to say. “I must have lost it when I fell.”

“Don’t worry,” he replied. “I think I spotted it on my way down.” Relief flooded me, thinking it hadn’t gotten completely lost.

With a loud groan Mitch stood, and the movement disoriented me slightly, but I clenched my jaw and willed the nausea away. Helping him to connect me to his own harness, he pulled on each of the clips a few times before giving a nod of satisfaction.

He shifted his shoulders to get me comfortable. “We’re going to have a very long discussion when we get back, you and I. Do you understand?” he threw the words over his shoulder, determination etched in his voice.

I sighed. “Yeah, okay,” I answered meekly, not looking forward to the scrutiny in the least, but hoping to get some answers to the questions buzzing around inside my head.

He turned to face the wall of white, his strong hands taking a firm grip of the rope while he dug the spikes attached to his boots into the snow. With a strength I was in awe of, he began to haul us both up the side of the ridge. A third of the way up he veered to the left, the abrupt change of direction making me woozy. He dug around in the disturbed snow for a few seconds before pulling out my bag. He handed me the duffel, and I fumbled my way through draping the shoulder strap over my head, then under my arm, before maneuvering the bag behind me.

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