Disclaimer and Spoilers: See Chapter 1
A/N: Okay, here comes what you've all been waiting for. Well, maybe not, but anyway: Max and Logan going skiing and a small appearance of Chris. Hope you like it.
And - as usual - thanks Kasman!
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4. IT'S A LONG WAY TO THE TOP
When Max woke up after about two hours sleep, she arose and went to the kitchen to brew herself a cup of coffee. With the cup of coffee in her hand, she strolled to the living room, grabbed one of the books from the bookcase and sat down in the armchair.
She read it, checking her watch every once in a while, until she decided it was time to get dressed. In the bathroom she took a shower and got dressed. Then she carefully knocked at Logan's door, listening to his undisturbed sleeping noises. She knocked harder, but still nothing happened.
The guy's deep asleep. But the early bird catches the worm.
Slowly she opened the door and peeked inside the room. Logan lay under the covers, in the middle of the huge bed, on his right side, his upper body crouched like a fetus, his legs spread out. His glasses lay on the nightstand next to an alarm clock.
Max smiled at the sight of him, a response to the small smile that lay on his lips. He looked happy and peaceful, as if none of the day's struggles haunted him at night, or early in the morning.
She hesitated, trying to decide if she should really wake him up, but she had plans for this day. So she stepped closer to the bed and carefully touched his shoulder, trying to shake him awake.
"Logan? Logan?" she said softly, not wanting to startle him.
He stirred, turned on his back and slowly opened his eyes. "Hey," he yawned. "You're already up?"
"For hours," she grinned.
He grabbed his glasses from the nightstand and put them on to check the clock. "Max, you're kidding. It's only half past seven."
"Yeah, and that mean it's time to get up. So get out of that bed."
"I thought this was supposed to be a vacation?!" he complained.
"It is. But that doesn't involve staying in bed until noon. We have to go and rent skis."
Logan sat up and raised his eyebrows. "Rent skis?"
"Yep. So move your ass out of the bed and into the shower."
He sighed and watched her leave, before obeying her.
When he came to the kitchen he saw that she had put milk and cereal on the table. After finishing breakfast, they drove to the center of the town.
"So why did I have to get up in the middle of the night? Only to drive you here to let you rent your skis?" Logan asked, obviously still tired.
"Nah, not because of me renting skis. Because of us. You didn't listen to me, did you? I said we are going skiing and we are going to rent skis."
"We? You're kidding, right?"
"Nope, I'm not kidding. Met this guy yesterday. We're going to meet him here. So get out of the car."
Skiing? She must be kidding. What guy? But just look at her.. she's serious. If I don't want to mess things up, I better do what she says.
Logan hesitated, then reached behind and grabbed his wheelchair.
A moment later they entered Chris's store. Max discovered the guy from the evening before behind the counter, obviously engrossed in this bookkeeping.
"Good morning," she greeted him. "As promised, we're here," she added, when he looked up.
"Hey, Max! Glad you came. So you're gonna try it out?"
"Yeah, we are," she answered.
"Speak for yourself," came Logan's comment from behind, making a smile appear on Chris's face.
Max remembered her manners and turned around. "Oh, sorry. Logan, this is Chris, Chris, this is Logan. He's the one who's going skiing with me."
Chris came from behind the counter and grinned at Logan. "She's stubborn, huh?"
Logan looked at Max and smiled a warm smile. "Yeah, she is. First dragging me on this trip and now she keeps telling me we should go skiing today."
"So you're not up for it?" Chris wanted to know.
"No idea," Logan admitted. "I used to go skiing on legs, don't know any other way to do it."
"Then come and follow me," Chris ordered and wheeled to the back room of the store. When he saw a young woman on a stool in the back room he told her, "Lucy, could you please go and help Max? She's still out front and needs skis and shoes and everything?"
Lucy nodded. "Sure thing, Chris. Hey," she greeted Logan and walked pass them to help Max.
Logan followed Chris through a room with skis and shoes into the last room. Looking around he saw a lot of things he didn't recognize at first, but which he guessed were for paraplegics to go skiing.
Pictures on the wall showed several men on mono skis, sometimes posing, sometimes in the middle of skiing down a mountain. In a few of them he recognized Chris and asked, "You do that?"
Chris nodded. "Yeah, sure. So you skied before you earned your wheels?" he asked.
"Often. Started as a kid and kept doing in throughout the winters. But does that matter any longer?"
"You're gonna have an easier job learning to handle a mono ski if you've been skiing before."
"Don't tell me it's the same thing going down a mountain on two legs as on your butt," Logan said, frustration in his voice.
"Of course it's not the same. But as you can imagine it's the same technique." He pulled a mono ski with a seat shell from the wall and put it on the carpet. "Okay, this is how it works. You're gonna sit here," he said, indicating the seat. "And you're gonna take those with you," he pulled two crutches from the shelf, "to stabilize and help you direct the ski. How high is your level of injury?" he asked.
Logan looked at the guy who was so sure of what he was saying. "I still don't think this is a good idea," he told him. "I'm sorry. I'm not that optimistic, 'cause I just can't believe that this is going to work."
Chris let go of all the stuff he'd collected and came back to Logan, stopping to face him. "Why are you so negative? You look as if you're in good shape. Your upper body is strong, you know how to handle a wheelchair and you've got this wonderful woman out there who wants to go skiing with you. Why are you hesitating?"
Logan grimaced. "Because I don't wanna look like a complete idiot."
"That's all?"
"Isn't that enough?"
"I promise you won't look like an idiot. It's really not that difficult. And isn't she worth it?" Chris asked.
Logan raised his eyebrow. "Oh, we're not like that. Of course she's worth it, but we're just friends."
Chris smiled at the comment, knowing that Logan would never admit how much he wanted her to be more than a friend. He was obviously in love with her and scared that she'd run away. He could see that in his eyes when he heard her name, could hear it in his voice when he spoke about her.
"Whatever you say, man. But back to skiing. You wanna try it out?"
After another moment of hesitation, Logan nodded. "Okay. But if I make a complete idiot out of myself, you owe me a beer."
Chris laughed. "Okay, deal. So what level of injury? It's important for the height of the backrest."
"T-8," Logan answered shortly.
Nodding, Chris continued picking up things Logan would need. He explained everything carefully, let him try out different seats and adjusted everything so it fit well.
Some time later they came back to the front room, where Max was waiting for them, skis and shoes ready in a corner. When she saw Logan coming, a smile appeared on her face and a glow of anticipation showed in her eyes.
"You ready?" she asked.
Logan smiled back. She seems so happy. "Yeah, sure. Chris gave me some instructions and told me everything's gonna be fine."
Max laughed. "If he says so. Lucy told me about the beginner's hill. We should start there."
Logan nodded and turned to Chris. "Thanks. And see you tonight."
Chris smiled. "Don't worry about bringing back the skis. Bring them back whenever you want to. You might find out that you actually enjoy this."
Laughing at Chris's comment, Max took the skis and walked out of the store, waving goodbye from the door.
Logan followed her and soon they were on their way to the beginner's hill. It wasn't far away and to Logan's relief, almost deserted. Only very few people were trying to learn how to ski. The worries that had been dwelling up in him since he'd realized that Max had really meant to go skiing with him, became stronger and stronger when they placed their skis in the snow next to the lift and started to get ready.
The man who was working at the lift station came to them and asked, "Want to leave your wheelchair here?"
Surprised at his easiness Logan nodded and sighed. "Yeah, I think I have to."
"Your first time?" the man asked.
Logan nodded, then indicated towards Max and said, "She forced me."
The man smiled. "Good girl." To Logan he said, "Use the lift alone, it'll be easier. Here, stop there," he showed him a spot underneath the passing t-bars. "Give me the tow rope."
Logan did as he was told and handed the man the rope that was attached to his seat.
"I'm gonna put this around the t-bar, okay? You just lean back and relax, maybe stabilize a little, nothing else. When you reach the end you either pull the t-bar with the rope close and pull it out or you simply use the safety release mechanism, okay?"
Logan swallowed and nodded. I'm going up this hill. I must be crazy.
The man smiled and pulled the next bar close. A second later Logan felt himself being pulled up the hill.
Max was next. She wasn't worried about herself getting up or down this hill. If this skiing thing wouldn't work for her, she could still carry her skis and walk back. She was more worried about Logan. If this won't work for him...No, don't think about it, she told herself. It's gonna be fine and it's gonna be a great day.
She was given the bar and leaned back against it, continuing thinking as she was pulled up.
He seems to be doing fine, she thought, watching Logan in front of her. He deserves some fun in his life. He's always so serious.
A little later they both paused on top of the hill, looking down the slope.
"Didn't you tell me you were afraid of heights?" Max teased.
"Not on ski slopes," Logan answered, but he kept looking down. "You sure we wanna go down there?" he asked, knowing that this really was an easy hill, but feeling scared nonetheless.
Max smiled. "Yeah, I'm sure. Hey, I haven't done it before, myself. So we're just gonna try, okay?"
Logan didn't answer, he only kept looking. "You're gonna go first?" Max asked.
"Logan?" she asked again, when he didn't answer. "If you're not going down there by yourself, I'm gonna push you," she threatened him.
He looked up at her, realizing that she was serious. Okay, Cale, get down that hill. It can't be that bad. And otherwise she's going to push you and then you will never be able to keep your balance. So if that's what it takes to make her happy, go down that damn hill.
Breathing deeply for the last time he pushed himself over the small edge and went down. Faster and faster. But then he remembered what Chris had told him and started to drive curves in order to slow down. And he did great. It worked. Maybe it looked horrible, but it worked. He was able to brake and get faster again, letting the skis slide down the hill. And suddenly it was back. The feeling he used to have when going skiing. The snow below, the sun shining above, him in the middle, going down the mountains. Or this little hill. It didn't matter. It was fantastic.
Lost in his thoughts he sped down, going faster as he continued to feel more secure. Coming closer to where they had started he tried to brake, but glided over an ice-plate. Loosing control over his ski and, not being able to stabilize himself with the crutches, he felt himself falling to one side, sliding down the last few feet on his arm instead of his ski.
"Logan?!" he heard Max's voice. A moment later she stood next to him, having somehow managed to come down herself. "You okay?" she asked.
Logan lay there in the snow, staring at the beauty above him. "Yeah, I'm fine. If I hurt myself I did it on the lower half of my body."
"Ha ha, very funny."
"No, I'm okay. That was great!" he added, a wide smile on his face.
That was great. Did he just say that it was great? Max asked herself. I can't believe he's smiling that wide. You can see the smile in his eyes, they're full of sparks. Haven't seen him like that in a while.
"Does that mean you're up for another try?" she asked.
"Of course," he answered. "But this time you're first to go. I missed seeing you come down."
Max smiled and reached out a hand to help him up. He took it and pulled himself up. The man from the lift had obviously watched everything, 'cause he said, "You sure that was your first time?" he asked Logan. "That was very good."
"Thanks. It's great."
They practiced on the hill another three or four times until Logan waited for her near the lift. By now he had watched Max skiing down the hill and - as he had expected - she moved as gracefully as if she'd been on skis all her life.
When she stopped next to him, he suggested, "What do you think about going to the real mountains?"
Max looked at him surprised. "You think you're up for it?"
Logan nodded. "Yeah. I feel pretty safe on this ski now. So we gonna try it out?"
"Sure," she nodded, smiling. "Whatever you say."
