Page 58 of Heal Me
Completely unfamiliar with those terms, Ric shook his head. “What?”
“The equipment that goes in a crack in the rock face is called a nut. It’s like an anchor.” Robert let out a frustrated breath. “Anyway, I grabbed the end of the remaining line that was still attached to her and between that and my anchoring, I was able to keep her from falling further. But she swung and hit the rock face hard. Her back took the brunt of the impact.”
Ric put a hand over his mouth for a moment, trying to get a grip on his anger and fear. “How did you get down?”
Robert shook his head, a mystified expression on his face. “You’ll think I’m crazy, but I swear that Phil was with us. I secured her to my harness and started down. Phil was the best climber I’ve ever seen. He could find hand and footholds when no one else could.
“I tried not to panic and all at once, I heard Phil, just as plain as day, say, ‘Easy does it, Robbie. See that hold over to your right? Start there.’ And I’ll be damned, but it was right there.”
A chill ran down Ric’s spine. He’d had a few strange experiences of his own after his mother’s death and he believed in spirits. “Maybe he was,” he said softly. “It wouldn’t surprise me. I’d come back from the dead to save Kate, too.”
Robert gave a shiver. “Little by little, we got down to the bottom and then I called for help. The cell reception sucked, but I was able to make the 911 operator understand where we were.”
“Thank God,” Ric said.
“Yeah.”
Ric noticed the bandage on Robert’s left hand for the first time. “You okay?”
Robert lifted his hand. “Yeah. Bad rope burn and some scrapes, but I’ll be fine.”
Impulsively, Ric hugged him. “Glad to hear it. Thank you for saving her.”
“She’s my best friend. No way in hell was I going to let her fall,” Robert said.
Ric nodded as Emily led them over to the chairs. They sat down, just as a nurse came out and asked for Kate’s family.
Robert patted Ric’s shoulder. “Go ahead.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Just don’t take too long letting us know how she is,” Robert said.
His magnanimous gesture touched Ric. “Thanks, buddy.”
Then he turned and followed the nurse back to the patient rooms.
*****
Kate’s brain felt fuzzy as she lay on the hospital bed and closed her eyes. She heard the faint sounds of someone walking into her exam room and they touched her hand. Expecting it to be Robert, she was surprised when she opened her eyes and saw Ric. His eyes were filled with worry and his jaw tightened as he looked at her.
“Hi,” she whispered.
“Hi. How are you feeling?” he asked, gently holding her hand.
She gave him a wan smile. “Like I hit a brick wall.”
“Not funny, Doc. Not funny at all.”
“Sorry. The doctor said that there’s nothing broken and I don’t have a concussion, but my back is scraped up pretty bad and I’m banged up good.”
“That’s right.” An Asian man in scrubs came into the room. “Hi. I’m Dr. Zou.”
“Ric Stanford, Kate’s boyfriend. So, there are no fractures, nothing wrong with her spine?”
Dr. Zou shook his head. “Amazingly, no. I honestly expected at least a rib fracture, but Dr. Donoghue is one tough woman. She can go home, but no work for a week. I’ll give you a prescription for a low dose of hydrocodone. I’ll send it in with the nurse, along with your discharge papers.”
“Thanks, Dr. Zou,” Kate said.
