Page 13 of Red Hunt

“Ma’am, I don’t think I can move you. I need to call 911 and see if I can get an S&R team to help get you back up to the road, okay?”

She nodded. “Thank you.” Her voice was unusually flat. Was she going into shock?

“I’ll be back in a sec. You just sit tight.”

With that, I left her and made my way up the slope. Once at my car, I grabbed my cell phone from the center console and made my way back to her.

Once by her side again, I dialed 911 since that would be the fastest way to get appropriate help. I described to the operator what had happened, and when I stumbled over-explaining our location, the young woman even took over the phone. Lucky for me, she hadn’t yet gone into shock. Even luckier: she was clearly a local and knew exactly where we were.

“Can I leave you for another second?”

She looked like she was about to cry any moment. But I needed to get back up to my car, get the first aid kit and a blanket. “I’ll be back in a sec, promise.”

I waited for her nod, then climbed up the slope and, once at my car, grabbed the first aid kit, a blanket I always kept in the back, just in case, and a bottle of water from the cup holder. Next, I searched the truck bed for material to make a splint. I could use branches or twigs, but I went with the cardboard I had in the truck bed. Once I got it all sorted out, I took another rope to secure myself against the same tree and cut some of it off for a makeshift splint. Then I went down again. At least she broke her fall when she did, otherwise climbing up and down would’ve been much harder. “Hey there. Let’s try to keep you warm.”

It wasn’t cold by any means since it was the middle of summer, but I didn’t know how long she’d been out here. And keeping her body temperature up to prevent hypothermia was important. I took the blanket, pulled it around her shoulders, and she looked relieved.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

She hesitated and looked down. I directed my flashlight back to her leg. There were a few cuts and wounds but no major hemorrhaging going on. I cut the cardboard into two sections. I bent a small section into a splint for her ankle, and the other I wrapped around her knee area. Once I had fastened the rope, made sure it wasn’t too tight, I grabbed the bottle.

“Take a sip.” I opened it and handed it to her.

Her hand was shaking so much, she spilled a little on herself. So, I took over and helped her guide the bottle to her lips and watched her take a sip. Then I secured the blanket more tightly around her shoulders and hovered close to her to give her more of my body heat. Right now, there was nothing more I could do other than keep her warm and talk to her.

“Did you go on a mountain-bike tour?”

She again looked at me as if gauging if she could trust me, but I didn’t move, just looked at her with a slight smile.

“Yes.”

“And you lost control?”

“I avoided a collision with a deer.” Her voice sounded irritated.

“You were lucky you didn’t hit a tree. You didn’t hit a tree, right?”

“No, I didn’t.” She frowned, then forced a smile. “I’m okay.”

Well, she was obviously not okay, but this wasn’t the right time to get into that. There was a ray of light peeking through the trees, then I heard the crunching of tires and the low rumbling of a motor. It took the ambulance a minute or two until they arrived and stopped at my truck since it was still blocking the road.

“I’ll have to get up there to let them know we’re down here. Can you manage a couple of seconds alone?”

She nodded, and her hand fisted around the edge of the blanket, wrapping it tighter around herself.

I climbed up to the road and encountered six guys and two more vehicles who’d followed the ambulance. Two of the guys were dressed in climbing gear.

“Hey, good to see you, guys. She’s down there.”

The one guy in plain clothes stepped forward. “I’m Alan, the local doctor in town leading S&R now since we’re practically down to the last man. What’s the situation?”

“Young woman. She’s stable, conscious. She had an accident with her bike.” I pointed at the mangled bike at the side of the road. “She slipped a couple feet down the ravine. Some superficial scrapes and cuts. Her left leg, knee, and ankle area took the brunt of the fall. She’s secured with a rope, and I splinted her left leg.”

The doc nodded at me, then shook my hand and moved back to the other guys, who immediately jumped into action.

“Hey, aren’t you the new guy?” one of the EMTs asked.

“Yes, I am. Max.” I’d met them earlier at the end of my shift. But I didn’t remember their names.

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