Page 20 of Stranded with the Surgeon

‘I’m not asking you to.’

‘I’m not going to sit and wait for you every time you fall behind.’

‘I’m not asking you to do that either. I’ll keep up.’

‘It’s going to get a damned sight harder than what you’ve managed so far.’

He saw the flash of fear. She turned her head to glance downwards and shut her eyes briefly as though it was too much to contemplate. Great. She was scared out of her wits already. What was going to happen when they reached some real rock climbing that had to be faced? Or a swollen river that needed crossing?

Then he caught another glimpse of clear blue eyes as Jennifer turned her gaze upwards, covering the route she had just taken to follow him as far as she had. Her chin came up and her gaze met his squarely.

‘I can do this,’ she stated quietly. ‘Just watch.’

Guy snorted. ‘I’ll be looking ahead,’ he said. ‘Not over my shoulder.’

‘Fine.’ Jennifer’s gaze was as unrelenting as he knew his must be. ‘What are you waiting for then?’

They had to get across the snow-covered slope at least once more. Below that, clumps of tussocks broke through and there were areas of rock that were clear of snow.

‘Dig your heels in,’ Guy ordered. ‘And keep your weight over your feet. You’ll lose your balance if you lean in towards the slope.’

He moved forward doggedly, kicking steps that he only hoped she had the sense to use herself. It was impossible not to keep glancing back, and every time he did, he found she was only a metre or two behind. She had her gaze fixed firmly on the ground in front of her feet and her face was set in grim lines. She was determined, he had to give her that.

The silence seemed to get louder as it stretched on.

Kicking steps in snow was hard work, and Guy was forced to stop and catch his breath when they were only halfway through the next leg of this descent. He cleared his throat.

‘If you fall,’ he said, ‘you’ll have to do something to save yourself pretty quickly or you’ll be history. Roll onto your stomach and dig your hands in if you need to in order to face uphill. You lift yourself into a “press-up” position and then dig your hands and feet into the snow as hard as you can.’

‘Cool.’ Jennifer was also trying to catch her breath, but her tone indicated a valiant attempt to sound nonchalant. ‘Just as well they taught press-ups in my Pilates class, isn’t it?’

By the time they were on the last leg of traversing the snow-covered gully, Jennifer’s confidence had grown considerably.

She could do this. She could see past the rocks bordering the sides at the base of the gully now, and before long they would reach an area that looked inviting by comparison. The rock face was a far more gentle slope created by an uneven series of steps, with patches of grass and even the cheerful bloom of mountain buttercups. The sun was shining brightly now and Jennifer actually felt too hot in her multiple layers of clothing.

They’d be able to stop for a well-earned rest, melt snow for water and maybe finish the packet of chocolate biscuits stuffed into the pocket of her oversized outer anorak. Optimism bloomed as cheerfully as the clumps of flowers ahead, and Jennifer turned her head to look back up the gully. Some self-congratulation was surely overdue considering how terrifying it had been to begin this journey and how well she had coped so far.

Looking up was a big mistake. Her foot missed the print Guy had left, the rock beneath the thinner patch of snow she trod on was as slippery as ice and Jennifer fell so quickly she had no idea what had happened until she hit the ground.

There was a slope of only about ten to fifteen metres to where the ground levelled out, but it was too far to slide at speed without injuring oneself badly on the rocks below. Jennifer dug her hands into the snow and cried out at the pain that shot up her left arm. She still forced it to take her weight, however, as she remembered Guy’s advice and tried to push herself up and get her body off the snow. She bent her feet as well, driving her toes down.

Snow filled her open mouth, went up her nose and scorched her cheeks. Then her hip bumped painfully on something solid, but her slide was arrested. Jennifer found herself on her knees a second later, spitting out snow and scrubbing at her eyes to clear her vision.

What she saw was Guy turning back to the path he was taking. He must have stopped on hearing her cry out, watched long enough to confirm she hadn’t caused herself any grievous bodily harm and now he was pressing on without taking the time to see whether she needed any help. He’d meant what he’d said, hadn’t he? He wasn’t going to stop and wait for her every time she fell behind. She was an unwanted liability and if he’d had any choice he would have made sure she’d stayed behind with the plane wreckage.

Jennifer sat on the snow for several seconds, watching Guy pick his way cautiously across the remaining slope. She looked down. A manageable-looking gradient ended with a large flat-sided rock several metres below where the snow petered out. With only a momentary hesitation, Jennifer stuck her feet out and pushed off with her good hand. The speed she gathered was no more than her bent legs could easily absorb when she reached the rock and then she could get to her feet and start walking. She would actually be ahead of Guy by the time he reached the flatter ground, which suited her just fine.

He hadn’t been going to wait for her. He clearly didn’t give a damn whether she’d been injured or not by her fall. He would probably be glad of an excuse to just leave her behind and press on by himself. Well, he had a thing or two to learn, didn’t he? He had no idea how tough she was and he had no right to despise her ‘type’ – whatever the hell he’d meant by that. Waiting for Guy to catch up with her right now was quite possibly the most satisfying moment in her life. She even tossed back a few strands of damp blonde hair.

‘What took you so long then?’

The look Jennifer received could only be described as withering. Then Guy snorted softly and shook his head. He unhooked the coil of rope that held the tarpaulin to his shoulder and set the bundle down on top of the nearest rock.

‘I’m going to melt some snow,’ he said. ‘Eating it isn’t a good idea. It can give you abdominal pain and dry out your mouth.’

Jennifer made no response to what appeared to be an oblique reference to her fall. Guy was undoing the rope. ‘I’ve got a bit of black plastic in here from the survival kit. It’ll melt snow in this sunshine in no time.’ He positioned the billy, put a handful of snow onto the plastic and then glanced up at Jennifer. ‘Come and hold this,’ he instructed. ‘Point it down at the corner so the melting snow goes into the billy.’

‘Okay.’ It looked ingenious to Jennifer. ‘I’ve got the rest of the biscuits. Do you want one?’

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