Page 45 of Marry Your Best Friend

We’re climbing through the smoldering debris, making our way down the mountain. I look back, and the flames have picked back up behind us. Fuck, we don’t have much time. The helicopters keep dumping in front of us, and I’m hoping that they are leading us to safety. “Go, guys! Push it!”

We’re moving as fast as we can, and when I see the clearing in front of us, we all pick up more speed. It’s not until we’ve reached the rest of the crews and are into safety that I fall to my knees. The other three men do the same, and then we’re surrounded by people trying to help us.

Someone grabs me by the shoulder. “Gabe, you need medical attention.”

I jerk away. “Check the other guys first.”

“There are people helping them. I’m here to help you.”

“I’m fine,” I tell him and try to move to my feet. Just as I do, I collapse again, and King is there to catch me. “Hey, brother, you scared us to death.”

“Chrissy?” I mutter.

He helps me to my feet. “I need you to get into the ambulance. I told her that I’d bring you to her.”

I nod, struggling to see with the soot, sweat, and tears in my eyes. “The other guys…”

“They’re getting treatment. They’re all going to the hospital. Come on, let’s go.”

One of them tells me to get on the stretcher, but I refuse. “I’ll walk.”

I wait for King to argue with me, but he puts his arm around me and all but carries me to the ambulance.

He helps me in and then climbs in beside me. They cover my mouth and nose with oxygen, but I pull it off and look at my brother. “Did you get the helicopters here?”

He nods. “I called in a few favors from Walker. He was happy to do it. He said he owed us anyway.”

“Thank you,” I tell him.

He squeezes my shoulder, and his voice is filledwith emotion. “I wasn’t losing another brother, Gabe.”

I nod at him in understanding. When I was on the on the side of the mountain and thinking I was going to die, that was one of my thoughts. I thought about Chrissy and leaving her. And I thought about what this would do to my family if they had to bury me so soon after Ledger’s death.

“Is Chrissy okay?”

He just looks at me. “She’s scared to death.”

I close my eyes and lay my head back. Sometime between the mountain and Jasper hospital, I lose consciousness.

21

CHRISSY

“He’s on his way to you.”

That’s the text message I got from King.

I’ve been standing outside by the emergency doors since I received the text, and I’m pacing back and forth, waiting for Gabe to get here. My stomach is churning, and it feels like worry is eating me alive. I keep watching in the distance as if I’m willing the ambulance to appear.

Due to the circumstances, Director Paxton removed me from the floor, and so now all I can do is wait. I argued with her at first, but then I decided that she was right. I need to focus on Gabe. I’m feeling completely helpless, just standing here… waiting.

I hear the sirens in the distance, and my heart jumps in my chest. My knees about buckle when the ambulance comes into view, and I know it’s Gabe. I just know it.

As soon as the ambulance pulls in, doctors surround me. The doors open, and King climbs out first and helps guide the gurney that Gabe is lying on out onto the ground.

The EMT is announcing his patient, and I try to pay attention.

I hear him call it out. “Thirty-seven years old. Severe smoke inhalation, heat exhaustion, and shock. Heart rate 130, blood pressure 80 over 60, respiratory rate 30 breaths a minute, oxygen is eighty-two, temperature is 104. I’ve applied cooling packs, ran IV fluids, and high flow oxygen. He lost consciousness but vitals are stable.”

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