A/N - I hope everyone had a lovely Holiday weekend. Thank you kindly for the reviews, it really is nice for an author to know whether or not folks like what is being put up out there. Enjoy this chapter. Chapters nine and ten are currently going through final revisions and editing so they will be forthcoming soon.

Chapter Eight

Don got up quickly and almost fell forward. The adrenalin pumping through him, coupled with waking suddenly out of a sound sleep, was enough to throw his equilibrium off momentarily.

"Donnie!"

Don straightened up and took a second to gather his senses. "I'm all right, Dad, I just got up too fast." He looked around, still slightly disoriented, trying to find his phone. He looked down and noticed that his shoes were off. He didn't remember taking them off.

"Where is he?"

The urgency in his father's voice brought Don back to himself. "Braddocks Ravine…
…Dad, where are my shoes?"

Alan was frowning at Don trying to understand what he was on to. "Braddocks Ravine?" Alan saw Don looking under the coffee table and crossed the room. He had removed Don's shoes and set them aside after he had fallen asleep.

Don spied his cell on the table and snatched it up. He hit Jack's number on speed dial and impatiently paced while waiting for the line to connect. Alan brought Don's shoes over to him, anxious to ask where Charlie was, but held his tongue as Don began speaking frantically into the phone.

"Jack, I know where Charlie is! He's in Braddocks Ravine. He left Thursday morning to go to Larry's office at Cal Sci. Well, Larry's office is on the east end of campus. Charlie told me once that he would often ride by the ravine when he wasn't going directly to the math building. He has been trying to master a fear of heights when he tries to go rock climbing. Jack, if he had one of those seizures, where he spaces out, he could have ridden right over the edge!"

Alan, who had been holding Don's shoes, dropped them as his hands went numb. "Dear, God!" Then he stepped over to the front closet and pulled out his jacket as Don was giving directions to Jack.

"Have David find some search lights. It's going to be very dark in that ravine. Oh, and have Terry to get a bunch of radios, so we can communicate with each other."

Jack was pleased to hear that Don was back. Whatever sleep he had gotten had worked wonders. He sounded a lot more like the star trainee he knew back at Quantico. Don sat down to put his shoes on as Alan searched for his car keys. He had been so focused on Don last night that he couldn't remember where he had put them down.

Saturday 3:30 AM - 44 Hours Missing
Don and his father arrived at the head of the trail that ran along Braddocks Ravine within ten minutes of leaving the house. They knew it would take Jack and the others at least another twenty minutes to arrive.

Don was so certain that he was right about this that he was unwilling to wait. "Dad, stay here and wait for Jack and the others. I'm going to start down the trail." He reached into the car and grabbed the flashlight that he had thrown into the back before leaving the house.

"Donnie, please be careful. It's so dark down there; I don't want you falling over the edge."

"I'll be fine, Dad," Don said, as he headed down the trail. He turned on the flash light and started looking for Charlie's tire tracks, but quickly realized that it was useless. This path was used by many bicyclists and runners. He stopped for a moment and closed his eyes thinking about his dream. After a moment or two he opened them again and shined the light at the edge of the trail as he walked along, trying to see if there were tracks that led off the path.

The trail edge was covered in medium tall grass and shrub making narrow bicycle tire tracks extremely difficult to see, especially in the dark. Don had picked up the pace a little while he was searching and had to force himself to calm down and move more slowly. He had walked nearly a quarter of a mile down the trail when he stopped and shined the light back the way he had come, then out in front of him. This portion of the trail was fairly straight, and there was little chance that Charlie had gone over the edge here. He needed to find a bend in the trail. The ravine was on his left as he faced the direction that Charlie would have been riding. If he rode off the trail into the ravine it would have happened at a bend that went off to the right. As Don stood, contemplating where Charlie might have ridden off the trail, he didn't hear Jack and the others approach.

"Did you get some rest, Don?" Terry asked as she walked up to him.

Don looked up, startled. "What? Oh, yeah, I did. Look, I've been thinking about this, and we need to search anywhere that the trail veers off to the right."

Jack, who was holding a large search light, turned it on and shined it down along the trail. "That would make the most sense." He turned to the team and said, "All right, we are looking for any indication of a bicycle going over the edge. Split into teams of two, and make your way down the trail, but no one is to attempt to go down into the ravine while it is still dark out." Jack walked over to the edge and, using the search light, looked down the slope. It wasn't particularly steep at first, but after about five yards, it dropped off sharply into blackness.

Alan had joined the search party and, taking one of the large lights, was going to pair off with Don. Jack handed the light he was holding to Terry and said, "Okay, Terry and David, head up to the first bend in the trail that you see. Don, I want you and your father to move ahead of them, to the next right bend. Blum and McGrail, start here and work your way up to the pairs in front of you. I have called in the LAPD to assist. They will be sending a couple of helicopters for aerial assistance. Danny, you and I will wait for them to coordinate the search. If anyone finds something radio back to me and I'll get the helicopters to mark your position from above. LA Search and Rescue (LASAR) have been alerted, and are assembling a search party the go into the ravine at daybreak."

Everyone nodded their understanding and moved off into the night. Alan, Don, Terry and David moved quickly down the path looking for the first bends in the trail. They were moving at a fairly quick pace and found the first bend about a quarter of a mile down. They all stopped and Terry handed the search light to David. "David, you shine the light and I'll search for tracks."

Don and his father moved ahead. At the next bend in the trail the path veered off to the left and Alan slowed slightly looking around. "We need to move further down, Dad." Alan nodded his understanding, and they moved off again. It was another quarter mile before they came to a rather sharp bend in the trail that turned to the right. They both stopped and Alan aimed the light down into the ravine. Here, the drop off was closer to the trail, and so steep that it was difficult to see the depth without going down into the gorge at least ten feet off the path. Alan shuddered as he thought about what would happen to someone who rode a bicycle off this edge.

"Dad, let me have that light."

Alan's arms were actually getting a little tired, holding the heavy light, and he willingly handed it over. Don took the light and went back down the trail the way they had come about thirty feet. Then he shined the light along the left side of the trail, moving it slowly. After about ten feet, he stopped and looked up ahead of him. Alan had moved off to the right side of the wide path so that he was not in Don's way. Don stood for a moment, trying to picture himself riding along toward the university. He aimed the light up the trail ahead of him in an attempt to see where a relatively straight line would lead him.

"Dad, I'm going to shine the light in front of me on the trail and move it straight up until it goes off the path. When the light comes to that point, I want you to stand in that spot marking it for me, okay?" Don started to move the light slowly up the path, then stopped when it hit the grass and brush on the left side. "Go to where the light is, but be careful where you step. I'm going to be looking for two day old tire tracks."

Alan moved over to where Don was shining the light but stayed on the actual path, rather than stepping into the grass on the side. "All right, Dad, stay there. I'll work my way up to you."

Don brought the light back to the edge of the trail directly in from of him, and again began moving slowly toward his father. There were a couple of places that he stopped to examine closely, where it looked as though a tire had left the path. In each case, he was either able to follow the track back to the trail, or found no further evidence of disturbance past where he lost the tire tracks. By the time that Don had made his way to the position his father was marking, he was so completely focused that he almost bumped right into Alan. Don stood up for a moment to stretch his back. He had been walking slowly up the trail hunched over, scrutinizing the ground carefully, and it had given him a crick in his lower back. "Dad, can you hold this light up a little over this area?"

Alan took the light from his son, who got down on his hands and knees looking over the ground carefully. He found what could have been tire tracks that led off the trail into the brush and tried to follow them. "Dad, see these? Give me a little more light, okay?"

Alan, who had been holding the light above the level of his head, brought it down to about waist level over Don's right shoulder. He could see the tire tracks that Don was pointing to. He felt his heart skip a beat when they seemed to head straight for the steep drop-off. Don followed them carefully, then sat back on his knees and sighed. "These are not from Charlie. Look, there are foot prints here, and see this where the earth is disturbed, there's a small hole. Someone got off their bike and stood here looking out over the ravine. The hole is where the kick stand rested. Hang on, let me see that light." Don stood up and aimed the light around, and it only took him a moment to find the faint impression of the tire tracks leading back onto the trail.

Terry and David caught up to Don and Alan as they made their way up the trail a little further. "Did you find something?" Terry asked anxiously.

"No. How about you?"

"Nothing that would suggest someone rode off the trail into that," Terry said pointing into the ravine.

Don rubbed his hand over his face and looked up at the night sky. It was actually beginning to lighten somewhat. "I know he's down there somewhere, Terry. We just have to keep looking."

They all turned at the sound of several people walking toward them up the trail. Jack was leading a group of LAPD officers, and called out to Don as they approached. "Don, have you found anything yet?" As Jack approached he didn't need to hear Don's reply, because he could see the frustration in the younger man's face. "We have positioned officers at intervals along the trail, and they are all searching for signs of tracks leading off into the ravine. It'll be light soon, and that should help our search tremendously. Two helicopters are on their way to help shed some light on the search."

Just as Jack said this, Don looked up at the sound of one of the helicopters headed their way. It was flying high enough up that the downdraft from its blades wouldn't cause too much disturbance in the grass and brush, but its powerful search light was illuminating the trail and the drop off into the ravine much more effectively than the hand held search lights could. Everyone fanned out again to continue the search and proceeded up the trail, which became far more winding as they went along. Alan had dropped back with one of the LAPD officers, while Don and Jack moved ahead to the next set of bends in the trail. Danny had stayed behind, to communicate with LASAR as the rescue teams began to gather.

Saturday 6 AM - 47 Hours Missing
The sun was coming up, and making it easier to see down into the ravine. Don and Jack had abandoned the hand-held search lights. While Don continued to scan for tracks, Jack moved to the edge of the ravine, and was now searching for the bicycle itself down the steep slope. As they moved along the ravine, Jack noticed a torn piece of what looked like tan colored cloth, about fifteen feet down, clinging to a branch. "Don! I see some cloth! Check the trail edge over here."

Don, who was moving more slowly than Jack, jogged slightly to reach the point of the trail that Jack had indicated. He stooped down and searched the grass and brush closely. There were several impressions of bicycle tires along the trail itself, but after carefully scrutinizing the area, he did find a track that led sharply off the trail and into the grass. He stopped, and looked back down the trail, using his arm as a guide to see if the tread matched a roughly straight line. It seemed to, and he turned and tried to follow the tire impressions through the grass. He lost the impression about three feet from the edge of the trail. Again he used his arm to see where the tracks would have continued if there were no course changes, and found himself pointing into the ravine, near where Jack had seen the cloth. Don pulled out his radio and paged out, "Terry, David, come in. We've found something."

After a moment David answered, "Where are you, Don?"

Don looked over at the trail, and called back, "We are just north of marker 14. That would put us about two miles down from the head of the trail. Where is Dad? I need to know what Charlie was wearing the morning he disappeared."

After only a moment's pause Don heard his father's voice come on the radio. "Don, I'm here with David. Charlie was wearing the tan shirt that you got him for his birthday last year. Did you find him?"

"I don't know, Dad. Maybe, but we are going to have to go down into the ravine. We can't see his bike from up here."

"David and I are on our way to you."

Meanwhile, Jack had gotten on the radio with Danny, and told him send the LASAR team to marker 14, as Don started down into the ravine to get to the cloth hanging from the branch. It was difficult to reach when he got to the tree where it was dangling. As Don looked up at the cloth, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. It did look just like the cloth from the shirt he had gotten Charlie. He glanced back up the slope to the trail, and realized that if the cloth was from Charlie's shirt, he must have been traveling at a good clip when he went off the trail. He would have had to have been launched into the air in order to have this tree branch catch on his shirt.

"I can't reach that cloth, Jack. It could be from Charlie's shirt, but I'm not sure. If only there were some way to confirm that this is the place where he went over…"

Just then Don's cell phone rang. He dug into his pocket, annoyed by this untimely interruption. "Eppes!" Don said, a bit sharply into the phone. "Oh, Larry, sorry, right now is a really bad time. No, Dad's fine, he's with me. Look, Larry we may have found Charlie, I'll call you later."

Don hung up the phone and reached to put it back in his pocket, while still looking up at that elusive scrap of cloth. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. "That's it!" He hastily pulled out his phone again, but before dialing he looked up at Jack. David, Terry and his father had just arrived and were looking down into the ravine, as if hoping that they could see something from their vantage point.

The LASAR team was only steps behind David's group. "Everyone, be very quiet for a minute!" Don hit Charlie's cell number on his speed dial and held the phone down, listening to the still morning air. After a moment of not hearing anything, he glanced at the display on his phone to see if the connection had been made. "Damn it!" he shouted. "My battery just died!"

Jack pulled out his phone and tossed it to Don. "Try this one."

Don dialed the number, and this time watched the display, to make certain that the phone connected. Again, everyone waited in silence, straining their ears for the sound of a ring. Faintly, down the slope, Don heard the familiar tone of Charlie's cell phone, and let out the breath he had been holding. "He's down here!"

"Don, wait for LASAR!" Jack shouted as he began to climb down into the ravine.

Don paid no attention to Jack. He had heard him, but his baby brother had been down in this ravine for the last two days, and Don wasn't waiting for anyone. The slope was very steep and slippery with moldy leaves from the wet season, and Don slipped more than once. Luckily there were plenty of trees and small saplings to grab onto for support. '…or to hit, on the way down,' Don thought to himself, as he quickened his pace. Nearly one hundred feet down the slope, Don saw something that caught his attention, and he made his way over to the familiar object. The strap of Charlie's school satchel was tangled in some brush. One end of it was torn right off the bag and the flap was hanging open. Several of the loose papers had slipped out, and were scattered down the hill. His cell phone was on the ground about three feet below the opened satchel along with a heavy manila envelope. Don looked down the slope further for a sign of his brother, but couldn't see past a drop-off about twenty feet below him. He grabbed the satchel and a few of the loose pages that were scattered nearby, as he continued downward. He had stuffed the pages back into the torn leather bag. When he reached for Charlie's cell, his hand froze as he caught sight of the envelope. It had something written on it that sent a shiver down Don's spine.

Upon my death, or permanent incapacitation, please forward this package to Alan and Don Eppes.

Don took the envelope with shaking hands, and stuffed it along with the phone into the satchel. He stopped for a moment to look down the slope. If the satchel was here, then Charlie must have gone over that drop-off. He headed straight forward carefully. It was very steep and slippery here, and he didn't want to end up going over the drop himself. There was an uprooted tree hanging over the edge and Don made for it, so that he had something to hang onto as he peered over the edge.

The drop was about twenty to twenty-five feet straight down, and at the bottom, lying just a foot or so from a fallen tree, was the limp form of his brother, Charlie. Don felt his heart sink. He wasn't moving, but he was too far away to see if he was breathing. "CHARLIE!" There was no movement to his call, so Don pulled out his radio and called up to Jack at the top of the ravine. "Jack, I found him. There is a drop off that he fell over. He is about twenty-five feet below me. We are going to need ropes."

"The LASAR team is putting on harnesses, and will be starting down for your position. Can you tell what condition is he in?"

"He's not moving, Jack, and he didn't respond when I called to him. Have them bring a complete ALS kit. I'm going to find a way to get down to him. I'll radio back when I can give you a better idea of his injuries."

"Don! Damn it, wait for LASAR! We don't need two victims today!"

Don switched off the radio and looked around for some way to get to Charlie. He scanned the drop-off for anything that he could use to get down safely. Jack was right; two victims would be a major problem, but he had no intention of waiting, either. It had taken him nearly fifteen minutes to get down here and to just sit there at the edge looking down at Charlie for that time was simply not going to happen. The uprooted tree that was hanging over the edge looked like his best bet. If he climbed out onto the trunk and made it to the lowest branch hanging down, he could drop down to Charlie. The branch was hanging low enough that he would only be dropping about eight feet or so.

Don pushed against the tree with all of his weight and it didn't budge. It should be sturdy enough to hold him so he carefully climbed onto the trunk and inched his way forward. The moss-covered trunk was slippery and wet with the early morning dew, and he almost slid off as the trunk tilted downward, but he had a strong hold on the tree. He carefully made his way up the trunk to the low hanging branch until he was able to wrap an arm around it. Once he had a firm hold of the branch he swung his legs over the side of the trunk, quickly grabbing hold with his other hand.

He was dangling from the branch now, and started to inch his way down hand over hand. He was about half way down the branch when he heard it crack. He looked up and saw that the branch was somewhat rotted, and had begun to tear away from the trunk under his weight. He continued to slide down the branch a few more feet until it gave way, and he and the branch came crashing to the ground. He had only dropped about twelve feet, but he landed painfully on his left ankle, twisting it. Ignoring the pain, he got to his hands and knees and crawled over to Charlie.

He was lying on his side. His clothes were torn and it looked like his left arm was badly broken. The arm bent inward toward his body between his elbow and wrist. Charlie's left leg was also bent above the knee at an unnatural angle. 'Please, God, don't let him be dead.' Don, thought over and over, as he got closer to his brother. "Charlie?" Don reached out and very gently felt for a pulse in his brother's neck. Relief washed over him as he felt a pulse, and Charlie moaned softly at his touch.

He carefully rolled Charlie onto his back, making sure to keep his head straight. He had a deep gash across his forehead with dried blood covering the right side of his face. His helmet, which was still strapped on, had a long split in it running down the left side. Charlie's eyes fluttered open and Don smiled broadly. "Hey, Buddy."

Charlie stared up at Don looking warily at his brother. In a hoarse whisper Charlie said, "Don?" He reached up his right hand to touch the person leaning over him. "Are you real?"

Don took Charlie's hand in his own and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'm real, and I'm going to get you out of here. Everything will be all right now, Buddy."

Tears formed in Charlie's eyes. "She said you were coming." Charlie closed his eyes, blinking the tears away. His voice was weak and breathy as if he was struggling to breathe, but he looked at Don and spoke again. "I'm… sorry. Tell, Dad… I'm sorry." His eyes slid closed and the hand that Don was holding went limp.

Panic filled Don. "No, Charlie you have to hold on! Charlie, you can't leave me." Don bent down close to Charlie and said softly, "I can't lose you, Buddy, I can't live without you. You're my best friend, Charlie, please don't leave me. I need you." Tears fell from Don's eyes, dropping onto Charlie's cheek.

Charlie opened his eyes again and he looked into his brother's face. Fear filled his own eyes and he spoke between short gasps. "Don't go… I'm scared… I don't want… to die alone."

Don squeezed his brother's hand again and said, "You are not going to die, Charlie. Do you hear me? You are not going to die! You have to hold on. You can't give up. Charlie, please, help is on its way. We are going to get you out of here, and to the hospital." Charlie's face went slack and he just stared straight up with unseeing eyes. "Charlie! God Damn it, Charlie, don't you do this!" Don felt his heart in his throat, but a voice in his head told him to look at Charlie's chest. He was still breathing, if raggedly. Don realized that he was having a seizure and just held him watching his brother's face closely.

After a few more seconds Charlie's eyes came into focus and he looked at Don. "I didn't tell you… I wanted… I wasn't… strong enough."

"No, Charlie, you were stronger than I would have been. Charlie, you have nothing to be sorry for." Just then Don looked up at the sound of people approaching the top of the drop off. Two LASAR officers in repelling gear looked over the edge. "He's badly hurt. He has a broken arm and a broken leg, from what I can tell. He probably has a concussion as well, and he is having trouble breathing. You'll need to bring down a litter."

"We already have one. We're coming down." The two paramedics tossed the lengths of rope that they were using to repel down the ravine over the drop-off. Within a minute or two they were down next to Don and Charlie. The man who had spoken at the top shifted a large orange medical box that he had hanging from a short length of rope at his waist, to free it from the clamp holding it. "I'm Marty, and you must be Charlie. I'm going to look you over and get you ready for a ride back up to the top." As Marty stepped over to Charlie's side, Don tried to move out of the way, but Charlie wouldn't let go of his hand.

"Don't go." Charlie's voice was barely a whisper, but his eyes told Don how frightened he was.

Don gave his hand a squeeze. "I'm not going anywhere, Buddy, but I have to give these men room to work. I'm right here, Charlie. I'm going to stay with you, okay?"

Charlie nodded in understanding, and Don moved off out of the way. The two LASAR medics moved to Charlie's right side and the one named Marty smiled down at him. "Try to relax if you can. I'm going to check that head to start with."

Marty carefully removed Charlie's helmet and set it aside. The gash across his forehead went right up into his hairline. Then he took a pen light and used it to shine into each of Charlie's eyes. "I'm going to cut your shirt open so that I can get a better look at you." He then took a pair of medical scissors and cut the front of Charlie's shirt as well as the sleeves on both arms. The other medic cut at long split up the seam of his left pant leg revealing an unnatural bend in his leg about an inch above the knee.

Don tried to keep his face calm as he stared, horrified, at his brother. Charlie had indeed lost weight, and Don wondered to himself how he could have not noticed this. Charlie's ribs were clearly visible and he was deeply bruised all down the right side of his chest. His left arm looked even worse now, than it had through his clothing. It was clear that his forearm was broken badly, as well as his left leg.

Marty gently felt the ribs on Charlie's right side and he moaned weakly in pain. He pulled a stethoscope out of the medical kit and listened to Charlie's breathing on both sides of his chest for a moment before hooking the device around his neck. "I have no breath sounds on the right, and his breathing is labored. Jerry, radio in for Mercy flight, we are going to need to get him to the hospital quickly once we get him out of this ravine."

"What does all of that mean? Is he going to be all right?" Don sounded truly frightened as he watched Charlie struggling for breath.

Marty was pulling out a re-breather mask to administer oxygen to Charlie, and answered Don without looking up from his work. "I think a broken rib has punctured and subsequently collapsed his right lung, because when he breathes, I can't hear any air moving on the right side. It is highly probable that many of his ribs are broken." Marty indicated the heavy bruising all over Charlie's chest. "He should be fine, once we get him to the hospital, but first we need to stabilize him and get him out of here." Charlie looked frightened too, and Marty smiled at him "Don't worry, you will be just fine. I'm going to feel your neck, then put a collar on you. That is quite some fall you had, and I want to be sure that your neck is safe when we take you back up the hill." Then Marty gently slid his hands under Charlie's neck and cautiously prodded the length of his cervical spine. Once he was satisfied that there were no serious fractures, he slid the hard cervical collar under his neck and secured it in front.

Marty pulled out some needles and a large bag of clear fluid. "I'm going to start giving him some IV fluids because he is dehydrated and other medications can be administered through the line." Then he took a couple of alcohol wipes and cleaned a large portion of Charlie's right arm by his elbow. He placed another needle covered with a hollow plastic sheath in his arm. Once he had a positive blood flow, he removed the needle leaving the small tube in Charlie's vein and hooked up an intravenous line then attached it to a bag of Lactated Ringers. He handed the bag to Don and said, "Could you to hold this up while we get ready to splint his arm and leg?"

Don took the bag with one hand and held it high over his head. Marty reached out and touched Don's arm gently. "It doesn't have to be that high, just so long as it is level with, or above, his heart." Don brought the bag back down feeling slightly foolish. Marty turned his attention back to Charlie. "Charlie, look at me now." Charlie tried to focus on the medic but was finding it difficult to keep his eyes open and see past the mask that he now wore. "We have to splint your arm and your leg. Moving them to put the splints on is going to hurt, but try not to fight us. That will make it hurt more. Do you understand?"

It was difficult to nod in the cervical collar but Marty understood Charlie's slight head motion. Charlie turned his head as much as the collar would permit, to try to see Don. The pain he was feeling was so clear in his eyes that Don moved up to Charlie's head and took hold of the hand on his uninjured arm. "I'm here, Charlie."

"Jerry, grab that splint and try to get in on his left." Marty instructed the other medic. "Okay, Charlie, I'm going to splint your arm, now."

Charlie squeezed Don's hand and nodded his understanding to Marty. The collar prevented Charlie from looking down at his arm, for which Don was grateful. Marty lifted Charlie's arm up and Jerry fitted three stiff narrow boards along the length of his arm. The first went from half way down his upper arm to his elbow, the second from his elbow to the fracture in his forearm, and the third from the fracture down to his wrist. Once the arm was supported by the splints, Marty began to wrap gauze bandaging all the way around Charlie's arm and the boards. The pain was intense and Charlie fought to keep still.

Jerry then pulled out a large 'L' shaped metal rod with various velcro bands attached at intervals down the length of the device.

"What is that?" Don asked with no small amount of trepidation.

"This is a Kendrick Traction Splint." Marty turned his attention to Charlie. "Charlie your leg is broken and I have to straighten it and put it in this special splint before we can move you up the ravine. I am going to be honest with you here; this is going to hurt like hell. I would like to give you something for the pain but with that head injury I can't. Are you ready?"

Charlie closed his eyes for a moment and swallowed hard but nodded his head slightly as he gripped Don's hand harder. Marty moved down to the end of Charlie's body and with the splint lying next to his injured leg. He securely attached a wide band around his ankle and lined up the rod next to Charlie's leg. Then he moved up to Charlie's waist and threaded a strap around the top of his leg and across the top of the left side of his pelvis. Marty adjusted the length of the pole so that it extended about twelve inches beyond Charlie's foot before inserting the pole into the receptacles on the hip strap.

Marty looked carefully at Charlie now. The movement that was necessary to thread the hip strap had been painful for him but now he was about to apply traction. "Charlie, I have to straighten your leg out now and attach the traction strap to the end of the splint. You have to try not to fight me when I do that. Do you understand?"

After his patient indicated that he understood Marty moved down to the ankle strap and began applying a strong even pull on the traction strap which slowly straightened Charlie's leg. The pain was far worse than either Charlie or Don had expected. Charlie screamed and automatically tried to sit up but Don, who was still holding the IV bag with one hand, placed his other hand firmly on Charlie's shoulder to keep him down.

"Hang in there, Buddy. The worst is over now." But Charlie didn't hear his brother's words as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Once the medics had Charlie's leg splinted they loosely bound both of his legs together. Then Marty got up and moved over to the stokes-basket that they had brought down and took a back-board out and handed it to Jerry. They log-rolled Charlie onto his side and Jerry slipped the board underneath him. They strapped him firmly to the board and placed large stiff pads on either side of his head before securely taping them down to the board. Together the medics lifted the board with Charlie on it up and over into the litter as Don followed along still holding the IV bag. Marty took the bag from him as Jerry began fastening the back board to the litter. Marty noticed that Don was limping heavily and asked, "What happened to you? You're limping."

Don's face reddened slightly and he said, "It's nothing. I twisted my ankle coming down."

Marty frowned and said, "Take a seat. I want to check that ankle before we all try to climb out of here." Don obediently sat on the fallen tree that Charlie was lying near and lifted his pant leg. Marty removed his shoe and sock and saw that Don's left ankle was swollen and turning black and blue. Don did his best not to wince at Marty's manipulations. "Well, I doubt that it's broken but it certainly looks like you have a bad sprain." He dug into the kit again and pulled out an air splint and fastened it securely to Don's ankle. "Go ahead and put your sock back on. That should allow you to get up the ravine, but you'll have to have that seen to."

Marty took his shoe and put it in the litter with Charlie so that Don had both his hands free to climb. He held up a harness for Don and asked if he had ever used one to which Don nodded. He took the harness and got himself strapped in while the medics went back to fastening the lead ropes to Charlie's litter.

Two other LASAR officers were now at the top of the drop off and they hauled the litter up to the top. Then the medics and Don climbed hand over hand to get up themselves. Using the ropes, the four LASAR techs got Charlie up the hill fairly easily, without too much jostling of the litter. Don, however, was having a bit of difficulty climbing up the slope with one foot in nothing but a sock and a splint, but he was determined to keep up with his brother and pushed ahead.

Once they all gained the top of the slope, Alan ran over to the stokes-basket that Charlie was in. "Oh, God, Charlie! Son, can you hear me?" Charlie looked horrible. His face was covered in old blood and his shirt was cut open, revealing his bruised and battered chest.

Charlie didn't move or respond to his father, and Marty said, "The climb was tough on him, sir. He'll be fine once we get him to the hospital." Then he reached into the litter, and grabbed Don's shoe, handing it to him.

Alan turned around, looking for Don only to find him standing right by his side. He looked down and saw the splint on Don's ankle. "What happened?"

Don waved him off and said, "It's nothing, Dad. Come on, we can drive to Cedars. They are going to take Charlie in a helicopter." Don was untying the satchel from his belt, and started down the trail after the LASAR team carrying his brother, with his father following closely behind him.

Don was so focused on staying with his brother, that he didn't even realize that he had said nothing to Jack or the rest of the team, to thank them for all they had done to help him find Charlie. No one held it against him; they knew that there would be time for that later, as they started to gather up their search equipment to take back to the vehicles at the head of the trail.