Colby moved slowly down the his side of the trail, stopping to look through the trees, into gullies, and behind moguls – every place that couldn't be seen from the chairlift. Two skiers had speeded past him. As he watched them go down the trail, he noticed something strange. Something flew out of the woods as the second skier passed. He thought at first it was a bird, or some sort of animal, but when it came to rest in the snow, he realized it was a ski.

"David!" Colby yelled. When David looked his way, he pointed at the ski and started down the slope, repeatedly calling Don and Charlie's names. When he reached the ski, he heard rustling in the woods.

"Colby?" a voice said softly. "Help..."

Colby hurried toward the voice. "Charlie! What happened?"

Charlie was on all fours, swaying, about five feet away from the trail. "Colby... help Don." Charlie shifted his weight and used his right hand to point behind him to a figure in the snow. "He hit his head." He wobbled and then collapsed into the snow with a groan.

David pulled up beside Colby and removed his skis. "You stay with Charlie," he said, "I'll go check Don."

"Okay," Colby said, pulling out his cell phone. He dialed 911, and requested the Ski Patrol. After describing the nature of his emergency, he put the phone away, took off his skis and knelt down beside Charlie. "Charlie. Buddy. Wake up." When Charlie didn't stir, Colby gently rolled him onto his back. As he checked for injuries, the only thing he found was the broken leg. When he gently pressed on the leg, Charlie gasped in pain. "Okay, Charlie. It's okay now," he murmured. "Help is on its way, Buddy."

"Don?" Charlie moaned. "Is Don okay?"

"David's with him. Listen, Charlie, does anything hurt besides your leg?"

"No. Please check on Don. This is all my fault. I've got to make sure he's okay." Charlie tried to push himself up to a sitting position, but Colby held him down.

"Stay put, Charlie. Don's in good hands." Once Charlie stopped struggling, Colby said, "How is this your fault, Charlie? It looks like a skiing accident to me."

"I wasn't paying attention. I was behind Don, and I should have known where he was. But I was ... I was in my own head, you know?"

"Oh, yeah, I know how you can be. Doing calculations, right?"

Charlie nodded, tears springing to his eyes. "I just... all of a sudden, he was crossing right in front of me... I couldn't stop." Charlie struggled again to sit up. "I've got to see him."

"Stay here, Charlie. I'll go see how he's doing." Colby stood and pointed a warning finger at Charlie. "Don't move."

Charlie nodded and folded his arms over his chest. He was shivering and his teeth had begun to chatter.

"What's wrong?" Colby asked.

"Just c-c-cold," Charlie said.

Colby slipped out of his own jacket and put it over Charlie. "Is that better?"

Charlie nodded, still shivering.

"Okay, Buddy. I'll be back in a minute. Don't move."

David looked up when Colby knelt beside him. "How's Charlie?" he asked.

"He sent me to check on Don," Colby said. "His leg is broken. He's either going into shock, or has the beginnings of hypothermia, and somehow he's convinced himself that this is all his fault."

David chuckled and shook his head. "I can't believe these two. Don woke up long enough to ask me how Charlie's doing."

"And he passed out again? That can't be good." Colby glanced over his shoulder at Charlie who was straining to see them. "I'd better get back and make up something to tell Charlie."

"I tried calling Alan, but I don't have a signal here."

"Aw, crap, I completely forgot about calling Alan." Colby stood and opened his phone. He scrolled through his directory until he found Alan's number. He pressed the call button as he walked back to Charlie. "Alan, this is Colby Granger."

"Colby! How are you guys doing?"

"Not so good," Colby said. "Don and Charlie have had a collision. I've called the Ski Patrol, and they should be here any minute to bring 'em down."

"My God, Colby! What happened?"

"Apparently Charlie ran into Don. Looks like Don's got a concussion, and Charlie's got a broken leg." He sat on the ground beside Charlie, and held his hand up to stop Charlie's flood of questions. "I'm with Charlie now, and David's with Don. I'll call you when I know more, okay?"

"Okay," Alan said softly. "But they're okay, right? Nothing life threatening."

Colby smiled, meeting Charlie's gaze. "Nothing life threatening, Alan. They're both gonna be just fine."

After he finished the call, Colby said to Charlie, "Don was asking about you, Charlie. He wanted to make sure you were okay."

"You talked to him? You're sure he's okay?"

"David talked to him. He's resting now..."

"Resting?" Charlie said, panic crossing his face. "Or unconscious?"

"I don't know. We didn't want to disturb him." Colby heard a noise coming from the trail. "Stay here, Charlie. I think the Ski Patrol is here."