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Turning Around ---------------------------------
It was a beautiful day out and being that it was a Saturday, both Jim and Sara were off. Laying in bed alone, Jim woke up and looked over to the empty spot beside him which was usually occupied by Sara. They'd been sharing a bed for the better part of a year and in light of recent events they both decided that they need some time alone. Recent events being several weeks of high profile and very stressful cases that had one thing in common; they all had the same suspect.
Jim was glad to have some time off, as these cases had required him to take a more public role in his professional position and thusly more time in front of the camera. He hated being on the news and tried to avoid the throngs of reporters at all costs, but he was unsuccessful in this endeavor. He had spent more time talking to reporters in the last three weeks than he had in the last several years.
He crawled out of bed and looked at his watch. Noting that the hour was still early yet, he decided to spend some time in the woods of Lake Meade. He hated to go alone, feeling that a hike was always better with a companion. He picked up his cell phone and called Sara to issue an invitation for her to join him.
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Laying awake in bed, Sara was staring up at the ceiling fan going round' and round'. She missed waking up with Jim, but the craziness of the last few weeks had taken its toll on their relationship. Both of them were very stressed and getting snippy at each other, so they decided to take a little break.
On her bedside table, her cell phone rang and as she picked it up, she smiled when she saw the call was from Jim. She answered with a cheery tone in her voice and listened to what he had to say. He had asked her if she wanted to join him on a little hike at Meade. She agreed and Jim said he'd pick her up in an hour.
She crawled out of bed and got dressed. She didn't shower because she'd no doubt work up a sweat during the hike and would shower when she got back home. She made a quick breakfast and by the time she was done eating Jim knocked on her door. She wondered why he didn't use his key, but she got up and opened the door anyway. He was standing there in faded jeans, a blue t-shirt and hiking boots. She welcomed him in and gave him a kiss on the cheek as he passed in front of her.
"Are we ready?" he asked
"As ready as I'm gonna be." she replied
They left her apartment and set out for their hike. It was a relatively short drive to Meade and they parked at a trail head and made sure they had everything before starting off. Jim had brought his day-hiker pack with him with plenty of water, food supplements and a camera for some nice picture taking.
On the trail they walked side by side until Sara got it into her to do some bushwhacking. Leaving Jim on the trail, she just stepped off of it and started wandering into the woods, swiping away low lying tree branches, walking through pricker bushes and the like. It was a few moments before Jim realized that he was alone and he called out for Sara who was, at this point, several metres into the brush. He ran to catch up to her and asked her why she veered off the trail.
"Walking the trail is boring. This is much more adventurous and fun." she replied
Jim was wearing jeans but the thorns and prickers were still getting to him and poking through his jeans. His arms were getting torn up a bit from all the swiping of branches and brushing up against unfriendly plants. They tromped through the woods for several hours before Jim realized that they were probably lost. He pulled a compass from his bag and tried to get their bearing, but he was clueless as to where they were in relation to any part of any trail. Cursing, he put the compass back into his pack and shouldered it again. Turning round', Sara asked if he wanted to trade off on the pack. Jim took it off and handed it to her and helped her shoulder it. Adjusting the straps, she made it comfy and continued on her way with Jim following her.
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It was getting to be late in the day and Jim asked if they should start heading back. He pulled out the compass again and still had no idea where they were. For the duration of their hike they had not seen any hint of a trail; not even a deer path. As the hours wore on, it started getting dark and there was no moon that night. Jim pulled a flashlight from the pack and shined it around in hopes of finding some sort of path but had no success.
Finally, around 21:00hrs, Jim suggested they find some sort of shelter in a thicket or under a tree or something. Sara, however, was willing to keep going, but as it was dark, there was little point. After about half an hour of searching, they found a stand of large ferns and decided to bed down there for the night. The ground was fairly flat, with very few rocks or roots. Jim took his pack off and removed a sweatshirt from it as well as a towel which would be used for pillows.
They could see the stars from their spot and they both stared up at them for a while before falling asleep. During the night it began to rain, but there was nothing they could do to cover up. It was still raining when they woke in the early morning as they went in search of a way back to the car. They hiked back the way they had come for several hours but found no hint of a trail. The ground was wet and as Jim went to relieve himself behind a tree, he lost his footing and slipped into a cavity from a fell tree. It was a large hole; large enough that he could not climb out. The tree was big, and thusly left a big hole in the ground. He looked for any roots he might use to help him on his way up, but when he tried to stand he only succeeded in falling back down.
He called out for Sara and as he heard her footsteps approaching, he warned her to watch her step, but it was too late; she had slipped as well and slid down into the root hole. Standing up, Sara judged the hole to be around ten feet deep and fifteen feet across. It was truly a scary situation. With Jim unable to stand, there being no roots or rocks to help them climb out and the slippery walls, they were in pretty deep shit. It was still raining as midday approached and both Jim and Sara had tried their cell phones, but there was no signal. For hours they sat and tried to think of a way out of their predicament,
but they always came up empty. Jim, however, was hopeful as he kept repeating the same phrase over and over throughout the day.
"It'll be fine. When we don't report for work, they'll call and when the calls don't get answered they'll come looking for us. They'll find my car back at the trail head and a search party will be sent out."
When it started getting dark, and Sara had began getting tired of Jim talking about the search party, Sara had an idea. Jim was sitting on the ground as it continued to rain and she turned to him.
"How bad is your ankle? Can it support any weight?" she asked
"Why?" he replied
"I have an idea. You lean up against the wall and I stand on your shoulders as you stand up. When you stand up I climb out and look for a clearing in the trees. A clearing would indicate either the lake or the street. If it's the lake, then I can find a path and head for high ground and call for rescue. If I have to, I'll drive all the way back to the precinct. I'll take the towel and drape it over a bush so we know where you are. Your cell has a GPS in it, right? Give it to me and when I get up to the ground I'll turn it on and set it by the tree. How's that sound." she explained
Thinking about all of what Sara had said, Jim took a few moments to assimilate everything before standing up. He knelt down at the base of the lowest part of the cavity and Sara stood on his shoulders. He braced himself against the wall as he stood up and Sara quite easily climbed from the pit. Jim tossed up a flashlight and the towel and Sara began lighting the ground, looking for a sturdy branch. Truth be told, she didn't want to leave Jim alone in the pit, so she went in search of something to help him out. After about ten minutes, she found a nice, thick branch and lowered it down to Jim. He would use it like a cane and as he tried to climb out he'd plant the stick and repeat the process until he could reach the towel that Sara was lowering down to him. After about ten minutes both Jim and Sara were out. It was such a simple idea and she wondered why she hadn't thought of it sooner. Now, they'd be hiking through the woods in the dark and rain. Sara shined her light at the sky and low and behold, there was a clearing about one hundred yards from their current position. They walked in the general direction of the clearing, it was about fifteen minutes before they reached the clearing; the lake.
They walked around the lake until they found a path and once there, they followed it to the road. Trouble was, Jim's car was nowhere in sight. They looked at the kiosk and both cursed aloud when they realized they were on the opposite end of the park. They'd have to hike around the perimeter to reach Jim's car. Sara was helping Jim walk as his ankle was swollen, so he draped his arm around her neck as they hobbled down the road, heading for Jim's car. They walked for nearly three hours before they came to Jim's car and when they did, Jim rode in the passenger seat while Sara drove to the hospital.
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Jim was triaged and his ankle wasn't broken, but just sprained, However, since he'd been walking on it for such a long period of time it had gotten worse. The on call physician wrapped it in an ACE bandage and gave him a pair of crutches to help him on his way. When he was released he and Sara drove back to his place where she plopped him down on the couch and got some water so he could take his happy pills.
Approximately an hour later he was starting to get tired, so she ran a bath for him and while he was soaking she pulled out something comfy for him to wear. When he finished his bath and dressed, he crawled into bed and passed out. Sara took a shower, dressed and joined Jim in bed where they slept until the alarm went off and it was time for them to go into work. However, with Jim's broken ankle, he went in with Sara, but only to fill out some sick leave forms. He would be taking a week off so he could rest and recoup. When the forms had been filled out, he called Sara and told her that he'd pick her up at the end of shift.
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Shift was over and Sara was extremely tired. She stood outside and waited for him to pull up and when he did, she jumped in and they high tailed it back to Jim's house for some more sleep.