First, some background: The Guardian is an absolutely wonderful movie about the Coast Guard, specifically a teacher and his student who, at the end, become coworkers on the same team. Jake, the young guy, has broken every one of his teacher's- Ben– records. Except for one. One time, during a rescue, Ben ended up carrying a man for twenty minutes in to shore, holding him with his fingertips, because the cable pulling them up into the helicopter jammed. He tore every one of the tendons in his hand.
Just so you know, Ben dies at the end of the movie. I found it tragic, and was very excited to find an alternate ending in the Bonus Features of the dvd. So this little story is based on that alternate ending; what I think should have happened. Enjoy!
Don't Let Go
Jake looked down at Ben where he was hanging, buy his own belt, to the cable. "I thought you were going fishing!"
Ben gave a slight grin as he looked up, squinting in the pelting rain. "What do you call this?"
Jake laughed, relief replacing the adrenaline. They had made it. He had gotten the men out of the sinking boat, except for the captain, who was already dead, Senior Chief– Ben– had gotten him out of the cargo hold where he'd been trapped, and now they were hooked onto the cable and being lifted up into the helicopter. Life was good.
Suddenly there was a horrible jerk, and they fell several feet before being caught. They grabbed hold of the cable and each other, making sure they weren't falling again before they looked up to see what had happened. As their eyes fell on a spot of the cable at least five feet above them, they heard the Crewman in the helicopter yelling to the pilot.
"The cable's starting to part! The cable! Hold, hold, hold!"
Several more strands came loose.
"Okay, hold right there. Hold! I'm bringing them up. I gotta jam this cable into the drum!"
Jake and Ben looked at each other as they started to ascend once more. If they didn't get high enough for the fraying part of the cable to get caught in the drum– the roll– it would break, and they would die. Ben stared hard into Jake's eyes, then glanced up at the cable and back at him. Then he reached up and grabbed hold, pulling himself up with a grunt. Jake stared at him. "What are you doing?" he yelled over the noise of the storm and the helicopter. Ben reached for his belt. "What are you doing?!"
Ben started to unclip his belt from the cable line.
Jake's eyes widened. "Don't even think about it!"
Ben looked up at him for a moment. "It's not gonna hold us both!"
"What…? Yes it will! Don't! It'll hold!"
Ben shook his head, free of the cable. He let go.
Jake flung his arm out, his hand catching Ben's as he fell. As the weight of the other man's body came down Jake yelled, every muscle in his arm and chest straining, the joints in his arm and shoulder pulling. He vaguely heard the Crewman yelling above him.
"Senior fell! Senior fell!"
Jake gasped, the strain of so much weight pulling on him making it hard to breathe. Below him Ben swung in the air, and groaned.
"Jake's got him! Jake's got him! I gotta get them up!"
Waves crashed below, reaching up to snatch them, groaning when they couldn't reach and falling back down only to rise up again. The wind and rain whipped at them, stinging their faces and freezing their limbs. Ben grunted, looking up at Jake, who gave a strained, hard groan when their hands started to slide, slipping apart. Desperately Jake caught at Ben's fingers, hooking them with his own like a hook. Streaks of fire ran through his hand.
"Aahh!" He clenched his teeth, willing his fingers to hold. He stared down into Ben's face. "I won't let go!"
Ben smiled; it chilled Jake to the bone. "I know."
Jake gave another groan. Then Ben moved, reaching up with his free hand. A split second before he reached his goal Jake realized what he was doing; he was going to open the Velcro strap on his glove and free his hand so he could drop.
"Don't you dare!" Jake yelled, instinctively tightening his grip. "If you let go, I'm coming in after you!"
Ben's hand paused, inches from his glove. His eyes met Jake's. "Don't be stupid!" he shouted. "That's an eighty foot drop! You'd be killed!"
"Then don't you dare let go!"
Ben stared at him for a moment that seemed to stretch forever. He knew Jake meant what he'd said. If he let go, Jake was coming in after him. Even if it meant dying.
Apparently he was taking too long to answer. He felt Jake's fingers tighten on his. "I just dislocated my shoulder!" Jake yelled at him. "Don't you make it for nothing!"
At that Ben started to chuckle. And Jake saw the answer in his eyes. With renewed strength he tightened his hold on Ben, just as Ben tightened his hold on Jake, and then Ben reached up with his free hand, grunting with the effort, and got a hold of Jake's wrist. Jake groaned through his teeth. He didn't know how long they stayed that way, but he never looked away, and neither did Ben. Then suddenly there were hands on him, clutching at his jumpsuit, clutching at his shoulders, and he was being pulled in.
The cable snapped.
Rearing back, Jake toppled into the helicopter, the force of his push and the Crewman's pull throwing him and Ben into the far back. Ben landed on top of him, knocking the breath from his lungs. For a second they didn't move, breathing heavily as the adrenaline pounded through them. Finally Ben shifted, pushing himself off of Jake, and they pulled themselves into sitting positions. Laying their heads back they vaguely heard the pilot saying something over the radio to the base, and the Crewman crowing as he threw down the frayed end of the cable.
The pilot looked back, grinning like an idiot. "Thatta boy!" he exclaimed, laughing triumphantly.
Jake waved his hand wearily, then lowered it. "That was definitely not in the manual!"
Ben burst into laughter, shaking his head. Then he pushed himself to his knees and knelt in front of his younger partner. "You said something about a dislocated shoulder?" Jake nodded. "Alright then. Let's have a look."
Jake clenched his teeth and groaned when Ben took a hold of his hand and elbow and started to lift his arm. His hand spasmed. Ben stopped, and motioned to the Crewman. "Get a med kit!" Laying Jake's arm back down he opened the Velcro strap on his glove and gently began pulling it off. Jake hissed. "Tell me what hurts." Ben said. Then he carefully bent one of Jake's fingers. There was a sharp grunt of pain, and then another. Ben's eyebrows pulled together, and he finally looked up. "I need ice packs and a sling. He's got a dislocated shoulder, and he may have some torn tendons in his hand." He looked up at Jake. "Hopefully they are just pulled." He said, just loud enough for Jake to hear. Jake nodded.
"Well," he quipped as Ben fitted him with a sling. "It looks like you kept your record."
Ben glanced up from packing ice packs on Jake's hand. "What're you talking about?"
Jake was silent. Ben looked up and stared at him, and after a moment he grinned. "You ain't got nothing on me, kid."