Hanging by a moment
Disclaimer: I do not own Everwood or any of the characters in this story. They are all property of the WB.
Rating: PG
A/N: Amy and Ephram go on a hike, but when it takes a turn for the worse, what will Amy do to help?
Jake sat in his harness looking down at Ephram. He was holding onto him with all of his might, trying not to let go, "Come on kid, don't do this to me. I can't pull you up when you're like this. WAKE UP!!" Nothing happened, and Jake knew that couldn't be good. Or maybe Ephram was just exhausted, and he couldn't stay awake anymore, so his body just shut down.
Whatever the case may have been, Jake needed Ephram awake at that moment. He looked up at Abby, who was talking to the helicopter on the radio.
She already had a plan.
******
"Yeah, I need you to return to where the kid is." She listened to the pilot say something, "No, you don't have time to refuel, we need you here now. The kid passed out right after Jake caught him, and we need him awake or we can't get him back up here."
Abby stopped for another minute to look at the boulder she had tied the rope around. It was the same boulder Amy hid behind in the rockslide. The rope wasn't going to stay there for long, and Abby knew that. They had more time than they would have had with the tree, but Jake still needed Ephram awake.
The only way they could think of to wake him up was to make some noise, louder than Jake's screaming. The helicopter would have to do. If Amy were there, she might have known what to do, but she wasn't. She was pulling onto her street, back in the middle of Everwood.
******
Amy looked out the window as the streetlights turned on. She wished Ephram could be seeing this, but he couldn't. All he could see was the back of his eyelids, although Amy didn't know that.
She knew he had to be cold, with that small jacket on, and it getting increasingly darker outside. Even though there were so many things for her to be upset about that night, she had things to be thankful for, too.
She was thankful that people like Jake and Abby were there with Ephram, and people like Ephram's family, and Amy's, were there when she got home. She pulled up in the driveway and was greeted by the smiles on her parent's faces.
She was happy to see them, and, for once in her life, she was actually happy to see her brother too. Bright was sitting in a swing on the porch. He stood up when he saw the car pull up.
When she got out her family came running towards her, glad that she was okay, and thankful that she was home. Amy's heart sank when Dr. Brown and Delia walked outside with Nina and Edna, Amy's grandmother, right behind them. She was in the middle of hugging her dad when she saw them.
She stopped and looked right into Delia's eyes. They were big, and she looked very upset. It was obvious she had been crying, and so had Delia's father. Amy went straight to the both of them when they stepped down into the yard.
She wanted to say something to make them feel better, but she couldn't think of anything comforting to say, so she didn't. It put her mind at ease when Dr. Brown looked at her and smiled.
"I'm glad you're home Amy. I'm sure Ephram will be here soon." She looked up at him, trying not to cry. She knew she wouldn't be able to hold it in, so she just walked closer to him and gave him a hug.
"I'm so sorry, Dr. Brown." Amy took a deep breath, "I'm sorry." That was all she could say, over and over again. She let tears roll down her face, not caring if anyone saw her. She knew it had to have been hard for the both of them, not having your son, or your brother around, but knowing where he was and how much danger he was in
******
It kept going through Ephram's head, that song,
I'm hanging by a moment here with you, Letting go of all I've held onto, I'm standing here until you make me move, I'm hanging by a moment here with you.
That's what kept him going. He knew Amy was singing that song for a reason, not just to calm herself down, and not to make Ephram mad because of the coincidence of the situation, but to tell him something. To let him know how things were between them.
That's the reason he woke up. Well, that and because the helicopter was getting louder and louder as it advanced towards him.
"There you go!" Ephram looked up at Jake smiling down. He was relieved to know he was still alive, with someone there with him. He remembered that Amy was gone, but he didn't really mind that. Ephram just wanted to go home.
Jake looked at him and then yelled down, "I need you to work hard until we get back up there, Ephram! I promise you will be just fine!"
The helicopter, once again, moved in as close as the pilot dared, but this time it didn't make Ephram feel all that safe. He didn't want to move knowing the blades were that close. He looked up at Jake and shook his head. There was no way he was going to budge with the monster machine there.
Jake waved the copter away, and the pilot obeyed. He circled back past the mountain he first came around. Ephram took a deep breath, and carefully, as Jake pulled Ephram up, took step by step until his feet were placed firmly on the ledge, again.
"What are you doing?" Ephram should have known the answer to that question, but he wasn't thinking too clearly.
"As much as I would like to, I can't pull you up all the way by myself. I have an extra rope here, and I would like for you to tie it around yourself. I'll attach it to my rope, and I'll instruct you on how to get yourself up from there." Jake lowered a rope down to Ephram and started tying his end to the rope he was on.
"Oh boy," Ephram muttered, "This should be fun." His hands were shaking from exhaustion and hunger, but he knew he had to keep going, "I've only done this once with my mom, how did I survive through that hike?"
Then Ephram remembered what his mom told him to do if he fell like this. She had packed a rope in his backpack then, but she knew he wouldn't fall. She had told him if he landed on a place where he could safely stand and move, then he would need to wrap that rope around him. She explained to him that she had another rope with her, and that she would lower that end to him, so he could tie them together.
Ephram knew that if he fell that time, she wouldn't have been able to lower the rope far enough to reach him, but the idea of her planning made him feel safer as they hiked. But he was thirteen then, not fifteen.
She, after all of that, had told him that once the two ends were together, and she could pull him up, if he ever came close to hitting the side of anything, all he had to do is push off of it with his feet.
This time that wouldn't be so easy, though. It was night out, and he could hardly see his hand in front of his face.
Then Jake turned on a light. It was extremely bright to Ephram, but rather dim to Jake and Abby. None of them cared; all they wanted was for Ephram to be safely on the ground.
All Ephram could hear was his mother speaking, and then he realized one thing. He was getting his wish. He was able to hear his mom again. He knew he was going to make it through this, even if he was going to HAVE to go to the hospital.
Ephram could already see Delia's face, and his dad's smile. He was glad that he was finally going to be able to go home.
Finally, after nearly nine hours of being on this wretched mountain, he would be safe and warm in his own bed. Well, after the hospital. Ephram didn't care as long as he could sleep peacefully.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt himself jolt downward a little. He frantically looked up at Jake, who was looking up at Abby. She was looking behind her, with some very bad news to tell whenever she turned around again.
The knot was beginning to come loose in the rope around the boulder, and she knew she wouldn't be able to tie it back around, because Jake and Ephram together were much too heavy.
Jake already knew what she was going to say, so he tried speeding Ephram up, "Come on kid! We don't have much further, you can do it!" Jake felt like he was encouraging himself instead of Ephram.
"I know we don't have much further, but I don't know if I can do it!" Ephram didn't even stop to think how much he was hurting. He could hardly move a muscle without it aching horribly.
The rope moved again, which made Ephram start to climb again. He had a bad feeling about that rope, and was beginning to get queasy. He could barely convince himself to keep going, but he managed.
After what seemed like forever, Jake reached the top. Ephram, at that point, knew he had only inches left to go, so he felt safe already.
******
Amy had told everyone everything she knew up until the point the cliffhangers told her she was going home. She had cried so many time while telling them, and every time she got pats on the back and comforting words.
"I'm really sorry you guys, but I have GOT to go to bed. I think you know why." Amy smiled as she walked toward the stairs.
"Um, Amy," Dr. Brown stood up and walked over to her. She stopped, turning back around in the process, "I want to thank you for being there for my son today. I know he will be just fine. With a friend like you he has to be working hard."
"Thanks Dr. Brown." Amy's smile grew bigger as she turned back around and walked up the stairs.
******
'I'm finally going home.' Ephram couldn't get that thought out of his head. He was so excited. He knew exactly what he was going to do first.
'I'm going to get home, and I'm going to watch that movie with Del. I promised her, and even if it isn't tonight, I'm going to watch it with her!' He kept pushing himself further than he ever though he would make it.
Ephram's hand touched the top of the mountain, and he could wait until his feet did the same.
******
Amy quickly and easily fell asleep after she reached her room. She fell into a deep sleep, and started to dream about different, peaceful things. That was something she never would have imagined doing after a day like this one.
******
Downstairs in the Abbott's living room, everyone, except for Edna who had gone back to her house, was talking and laughing about so many things they thought they would bust.
Andy was thinking about Ephram, but kept a smile on his face every second. He wanted to be there for Delia. Andy knew she was having a very difficult time with all of this, and it wasn't getting any easier for her.
Delia had been promised something, and with all of her heart wanted that promise to be kept, even if it wasn't that day or the next, or even that week, she wanted that promise kept.
The only reason was because if it was, that meant Ephram was still alive. More than anything in the entire world, even more than her mother being with her and everyone else, Delia wanted her big brother to live through all the things that had happened to him.
******
"What's taking you so long, Ephram? You're almost to victory; you can make it the rest of the way!" Abby was getting impatient. Not because Ephram was taking so long, but because of the knot in the rope. It was steadily come loose, and she didn't want Ephram attached to it if that happened, "Hurry up!"
"You have to give me a minute, I'm exhausted!" Ephram leaned back in his harness, putting even more pressure on the knot. He hadn't been told about it, so he didn't know to not do that, "Besides, what could happen now?"
Jake wished those words had never come out of Ephram's mouth. He knew the problem that was at hand, but he didn't have the guts to tell him. Jake knew Ephram shouldn't have been leaning on the rope, but it didn't faze him until Ephram got ready to climb again and the knot loosened even more.
He told himself it was no use now because the loosening had already been done. Jake was relieved Ephram was still alive at that point.
"Okay, I'm coming up so you don't have to worry." Ephram painstakingly shifted his weight, got into his climbing position, again, and started upward.
Ephram wouldn't make it all the way on that rope. He wouldn't put his feet on the ground when he wanted to, either. Because, just then, the knot loosened the slightest bit more.
It unwrapped around the boulder and Ephram was no longer safe. He started to fall one last time.
Disclaimer: I do not own Everwood or any of the characters in this story. They are all property of the WB.
Rating: PG
A/N: Amy and Ephram go on a hike, but when it takes a turn for the worse, what will Amy do to help?
Jake sat in his harness looking down at Ephram. He was holding onto him with all of his might, trying not to let go, "Come on kid, don't do this to me. I can't pull you up when you're like this. WAKE UP!!" Nothing happened, and Jake knew that couldn't be good. Or maybe Ephram was just exhausted, and he couldn't stay awake anymore, so his body just shut down.
Whatever the case may have been, Jake needed Ephram awake at that moment. He looked up at Abby, who was talking to the helicopter on the radio.
She already had a plan.
******
"Yeah, I need you to return to where the kid is." She listened to the pilot say something, "No, you don't have time to refuel, we need you here now. The kid passed out right after Jake caught him, and we need him awake or we can't get him back up here."
Abby stopped for another minute to look at the boulder she had tied the rope around. It was the same boulder Amy hid behind in the rockslide. The rope wasn't going to stay there for long, and Abby knew that. They had more time than they would have had with the tree, but Jake still needed Ephram awake.
The only way they could think of to wake him up was to make some noise, louder than Jake's screaming. The helicopter would have to do. If Amy were there, she might have known what to do, but she wasn't. She was pulling onto her street, back in the middle of Everwood.
******
Amy looked out the window as the streetlights turned on. She wished Ephram could be seeing this, but he couldn't. All he could see was the back of his eyelids, although Amy didn't know that.
She knew he had to be cold, with that small jacket on, and it getting increasingly darker outside. Even though there were so many things for her to be upset about that night, she had things to be thankful for, too.
She was thankful that people like Jake and Abby were there with Ephram, and people like Ephram's family, and Amy's, were there when she got home. She pulled up in the driveway and was greeted by the smiles on her parent's faces.
She was happy to see them, and, for once in her life, she was actually happy to see her brother too. Bright was sitting in a swing on the porch. He stood up when he saw the car pull up.
When she got out her family came running towards her, glad that she was okay, and thankful that she was home. Amy's heart sank when Dr. Brown and Delia walked outside with Nina and Edna, Amy's grandmother, right behind them. She was in the middle of hugging her dad when she saw them.
She stopped and looked right into Delia's eyes. They were big, and she looked very upset. It was obvious she had been crying, and so had Delia's father. Amy went straight to the both of them when they stepped down into the yard.
She wanted to say something to make them feel better, but she couldn't think of anything comforting to say, so she didn't. It put her mind at ease when Dr. Brown looked at her and smiled.
"I'm glad you're home Amy. I'm sure Ephram will be here soon." She looked up at him, trying not to cry. She knew she wouldn't be able to hold it in, so she just walked closer to him and gave him a hug.
"I'm so sorry, Dr. Brown." Amy took a deep breath, "I'm sorry." That was all she could say, over and over again. She let tears roll down her face, not caring if anyone saw her. She knew it had to have been hard for the both of them, not having your son, or your brother around, but knowing where he was and how much danger he was in
******
It kept going through Ephram's head, that song,
I'm hanging by a moment here with you, Letting go of all I've held onto, I'm standing here until you make me move, I'm hanging by a moment here with you.
That's what kept him going. He knew Amy was singing that song for a reason, not just to calm herself down, and not to make Ephram mad because of the coincidence of the situation, but to tell him something. To let him know how things were between them.
That's the reason he woke up. Well, that and because the helicopter was getting louder and louder as it advanced towards him.
"There you go!" Ephram looked up at Jake smiling down. He was relieved to know he was still alive, with someone there with him. He remembered that Amy was gone, but he didn't really mind that. Ephram just wanted to go home.
Jake looked at him and then yelled down, "I need you to work hard until we get back up there, Ephram! I promise you will be just fine!"
The helicopter, once again, moved in as close as the pilot dared, but this time it didn't make Ephram feel all that safe. He didn't want to move knowing the blades were that close. He looked up at Jake and shook his head. There was no way he was going to budge with the monster machine there.
Jake waved the copter away, and the pilot obeyed. He circled back past the mountain he first came around. Ephram took a deep breath, and carefully, as Jake pulled Ephram up, took step by step until his feet were placed firmly on the ledge, again.
"What are you doing?" Ephram should have known the answer to that question, but he wasn't thinking too clearly.
"As much as I would like to, I can't pull you up all the way by myself. I have an extra rope here, and I would like for you to tie it around yourself. I'll attach it to my rope, and I'll instruct you on how to get yourself up from there." Jake lowered a rope down to Ephram and started tying his end to the rope he was on.
"Oh boy," Ephram muttered, "This should be fun." His hands were shaking from exhaustion and hunger, but he knew he had to keep going, "I've only done this once with my mom, how did I survive through that hike?"
Then Ephram remembered what his mom told him to do if he fell like this. She had packed a rope in his backpack then, but she knew he wouldn't fall. She had told him if he landed on a place where he could safely stand and move, then he would need to wrap that rope around him. She explained to him that she had another rope with her, and that she would lower that end to him, so he could tie them together.
Ephram knew that if he fell that time, she wouldn't have been able to lower the rope far enough to reach him, but the idea of her planning made him feel safer as they hiked. But he was thirteen then, not fifteen.
She, after all of that, had told him that once the two ends were together, and she could pull him up, if he ever came close to hitting the side of anything, all he had to do is push off of it with his feet.
This time that wouldn't be so easy, though. It was night out, and he could hardly see his hand in front of his face.
Then Jake turned on a light. It was extremely bright to Ephram, but rather dim to Jake and Abby. None of them cared; all they wanted was for Ephram to be safely on the ground.
All Ephram could hear was his mother speaking, and then he realized one thing. He was getting his wish. He was able to hear his mom again. He knew he was going to make it through this, even if he was going to HAVE to go to the hospital.
Ephram could already see Delia's face, and his dad's smile. He was glad that he was finally going to be able to go home.
Finally, after nearly nine hours of being on this wretched mountain, he would be safe and warm in his own bed. Well, after the hospital. Ephram didn't care as long as he could sleep peacefully.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt himself jolt downward a little. He frantically looked up at Jake, who was looking up at Abby. She was looking behind her, with some very bad news to tell whenever she turned around again.
The knot was beginning to come loose in the rope around the boulder, and she knew she wouldn't be able to tie it back around, because Jake and Ephram together were much too heavy.
Jake already knew what she was going to say, so he tried speeding Ephram up, "Come on kid! We don't have much further, you can do it!" Jake felt like he was encouraging himself instead of Ephram.
"I know we don't have much further, but I don't know if I can do it!" Ephram didn't even stop to think how much he was hurting. He could hardly move a muscle without it aching horribly.
The rope moved again, which made Ephram start to climb again. He had a bad feeling about that rope, and was beginning to get queasy. He could barely convince himself to keep going, but he managed.
After what seemed like forever, Jake reached the top. Ephram, at that point, knew he had only inches left to go, so he felt safe already.
******
Amy had told everyone everything she knew up until the point the cliffhangers told her she was going home. She had cried so many time while telling them, and every time she got pats on the back and comforting words.
"I'm really sorry you guys, but I have GOT to go to bed. I think you know why." Amy smiled as she walked toward the stairs.
"Um, Amy," Dr. Brown stood up and walked over to her. She stopped, turning back around in the process, "I want to thank you for being there for my son today. I know he will be just fine. With a friend like you he has to be working hard."
"Thanks Dr. Brown." Amy's smile grew bigger as she turned back around and walked up the stairs.
******
'I'm finally going home.' Ephram couldn't get that thought out of his head. He was so excited. He knew exactly what he was going to do first.
'I'm going to get home, and I'm going to watch that movie with Del. I promised her, and even if it isn't tonight, I'm going to watch it with her!' He kept pushing himself further than he ever though he would make it.
Ephram's hand touched the top of the mountain, and he could wait until his feet did the same.
******
Amy quickly and easily fell asleep after she reached her room. She fell into a deep sleep, and started to dream about different, peaceful things. That was something she never would have imagined doing after a day like this one.
******
Downstairs in the Abbott's living room, everyone, except for Edna who had gone back to her house, was talking and laughing about so many things they thought they would bust.
Andy was thinking about Ephram, but kept a smile on his face every second. He wanted to be there for Delia. Andy knew she was having a very difficult time with all of this, and it wasn't getting any easier for her.
Delia had been promised something, and with all of her heart wanted that promise to be kept, even if it wasn't that day or the next, or even that week, she wanted that promise kept.
The only reason was because if it was, that meant Ephram was still alive. More than anything in the entire world, even more than her mother being with her and everyone else, Delia wanted her big brother to live through all the things that had happened to him.
******
"What's taking you so long, Ephram? You're almost to victory; you can make it the rest of the way!" Abby was getting impatient. Not because Ephram was taking so long, but because of the knot in the rope. It was steadily come loose, and she didn't want Ephram attached to it if that happened, "Hurry up!"
"You have to give me a minute, I'm exhausted!" Ephram leaned back in his harness, putting even more pressure on the knot. He hadn't been told about it, so he didn't know to not do that, "Besides, what could happen now?"
Jake wished those words had never come out of Ephram's mouth. He knew the problem that was at hand, but he didn't have the guts to tell him. Jake knew Ephram shouldn't have been leaning on the rope, but it didn't faze him until Ephram got ready to climb again and the knot loosened even more.
He told himself it was no use now because the loosening had already been done. Jake was relieved Ephram was still alive at that point.
"Okay, I'm coming up so you don't have to worry." Ephram painstakingly shifted his weight, got into his climbing position, again, and started upward.
Ephram wouldn't make it all the way on that rope. He wouldn't put his feet on the ground when he wanted to, either. Because, just then, the knot loosened the slightest bit more.
It unwrapped around the boulder and Ephram was no longer safe. He started to fall one last time.