Sara sat by the phone and waited. It seemed like the longest wait in her life. There had been many times she waited for the phone call from Mark after a bad match but this was much worse. Finally the phone rang. She picked it up and practically screamed the greeting.
"Sara," Vince said with his low voice.
"Have you heard from Mark? He didn't call me tonight. Adam hasn't heard from Angel either," she asked praying he would tell her they just didn't have time.
"No. According to the hotel they went to a dealership to test a new motorcycle. They didn't come back." He waited and heard nothing. "The police are looking but it's dark now in New York. I called the dealership and the salesman mentioned some weather problems. They are probably fine. I will call you when I hear anything."
"I am flying there now. I was going to tell Mark I was leaving early anyway," she said, her voice quivering.
"I'm sure they're fine Sara, they probably broke down somewhere," Vince said trying to find something to say.
"If they are it will be a surprise. I will be on the next flight. Can you have someone pick me up at the airport?"
"I will call ahead and order a Lear for you, the boys are going out after the matches. Some of them know the area a bit. The whole group was scheduled off and they want to help out."
Sara almost choked with emotion. Time off was precious and they were spending it trying to help her husband and best friend that she held dear.
Angel kept feeding small branches into the fire until it had grown. She checked on Mark often. He was still out. With the little light that the fire offered she tried to recheck the bleeding of his wounds. Most of them had stopped, but when she touched the part of his leg that she knew was broken he still didn't move or make a sound. She wanted to make splints but doubted she had enough material on her coat to wrap his long legs.
Sitting there in the cold darkness her thoughts were starting to betray her again. She felt for her necklace and was happy she found it was still there. She held the small angel in her hand and prayed the meaning that Sara had given to it would come true, because right now she didn't think she could do this.
Thinking back she remembered how his face looked when she woke up and heard of what he did to Matt. She remembered all the times that they were there for her. It seemed bad things always happened to people she loved. Her mother had died a slow and painful death. Matt had almost tried to kill Mark. Now, because he had been thinking of her well-being and comfort, she was watching him lie on the ground freezing, and possibly paralyzed. What if something ever happened to Adam? How could she live without him now that he had completed her?
What if the roles had been reversed and she was telling Adam to go faster? He wasn't as experienced as Mark.
How could she look Sara in the face and offer a simple apology to her now crippled husband? How could she look Adam in the face and tell him that she asked him to go faster and not think of how the roads would be in the cold conditions? What if she didn't do the right thing when he lost control? How could she explain to Sara that she had left him alone when he was calling her back? The one thought that kept creeping back was bad things kept happening to the people she loved.
She reached over and felt his hand. It was warmer now but his chest and legs were still cold. Grabbing more wood she put a few more sticks in. She had nothing more to cover him with than her coat, so she took it off and laid it over Marks chest. The chill almost took her breath away. This was one of those rare times she was glad she grew up in the freezing climate that she did. You can learn to block out the cold if you try hard enough. Hearing another groan she went again to try to coax him back.
He opened his eyes again and she immediately told him to squeeze her hand. After a long while she felt a squeeze.
"Feeling better?" she asked hopefully.
He nodded slightly. "Sara?" he said weakly. She felt tears coming again.
"She isn't here. Just me, you lucky guy." She laughed but saw no response.
He felt something on him and saw her coat over him. He looked over and saw her in her shirt and tried to take it off.
"No," he mumbled as he tried to lift it off. She grabbed his hand and put it back under the material.
"I'm close to the fire. I will be ok. You need it." He looked at the fire questioningly and back to her.
"Be glad I brought my cigarettes. This is one time they may save a life." She meant it as a joke but didn't realize how distasteful it was until after it came out of her mouth. He shook his head at her and tried again to lift off the coat.
"Leave it there damn it!" she said forcefully and again put his hand under it. He didn't have the strength to try again.
"Where do you hurt?" she asked wondering if he was in any pain at all. He thought for a moment and tried to move his arms and legs and head, registering the pains he felt in various places.
"My head and my arm," he said barely above a whisper. "Are my legs there?" he asked again. Once again she felt pain shoot through her like a bullet.
"Yes they are. It will be dawn in a few hours. I will go looking for help," she said softly.
"No. Don't leave. Stay here," he said growing more agitated.
"I will as long as I can but you need help. This is a service road. There won't be any traffic. If I can get back to the main road a few miles back someone has to come by."
He was still shaking his head when she saw his eyes close again.
Suddenly feeling tired she lay down next to him, trying to get as close to the fire as she could stand. Before she knew it she was asleep.
She felt her eyes opening and she saw the fire had gone out. Looking over at Mark she saw his face was almost pure white and his lips were blue. With a shaking hand she felt his neck. She felt nothing. She put her head on his chest. She heard nothing. Feeling a loss she had only felt once before in her life she started screaming.
Jumping awake, Angel opened her eyes, trying to shake off the nightmare. The sun was just beginning to rise and she could see a sliver of orange over the horizon. The fire was still going. She looked at Mark and his eyes were closed. She felt for a pulse on his cold neck. Exhaling with relief when she found one, she piled more branches on the fire. Resigning herself for what she had to do she felt under her coat and felt a little warmth on his chest. After piling the rest of the branches on the fire, she looked briefly at her watch.
"Mark, I am going for help. I swear to God I will be back one way or another. I am not leaving you like before. I will be back." She placed her hand on his chest and made a silent prayer. He never moved or made a sound. She took one more look and turned away, starting for the road.
All the boys were on the road. All of them in their rental cars with maps in hand. All had their cell phones with police and Vince's number. In pairs they spread out, each taking different directions. They were all going to try the main roads and then the back roads. They all had flashlights that had been brought to them when Vince ordered them from a local store. Now that the sun was coming up it was easier to see.
Rey and Kane manned one car. Edge and Lita had another and so on. Some passed each other on the same highway and became frustrated at the lack of coordination on their part and never noticed one police car.
Angel kept walking. Several times she had tripped and landed on her knees when her balance was off. Every time she would stop to rest she would see Mark in her mind and she picked herself up and kept going. After what seemed like hours of walking she fell again. This time it took longer to get up. Her back was throbbing in pain and her hands were beyond pain as she kept falling on them and pushing herself up with them. The blisters from the burns had long since broken open and she saw small flaps of skin beginning to hang off. Strangely she didn't notice it very much.
She finally made it to the main road and tried to remember which way they had turned from here. Left or right held the same endless nothingness that she had just left. She chose the right as left seemed to be bad luck the day before. She could feel herself stumbling and continued on. There was nothing else to focus on but finding a house or a car or someone. She felt herself trip once more and landed again on her knees. She sat down for a rest this time. Her eyes were directed on the road ahead. Trying again and again to get up and finding she couldn't, she grew more frustrated.
Rey and Kane turned down yet another unnamed road. How anyone kept things straight was a miracle.
"Why would anyone want to live out here?" Rey asked in disbelief
"Some people like the solitude," Kane offered.
"This is a good example of why you need to live near other people," Rey said back with distaste in his mouth.
They were about to turn around and try another road, but something kept him on this one. After miles of nothing Kane spotted something way off in the distance, something that didn't match the endless landscape of trees and hills.
"What is that?" Kane heard himself say aloud stepping on the gas.
Rey spotted the
tiny thing Kane saw.
"Probably another animal," Rey
added.
Getting closer they saw it wasn't an animal. It was a person. The closer they got, it became a more familiar person.
"Not again," Rey said, throwing the door open before the car was stopped. He ran over to Angel who was sitting on the side of the road and not looking up in any way. She had no coat on despite how chilly the morning was.
Getting down on
his knees and holding her arms he tried to get her to look at him.
Her face was white and her lips were light blue. He could feel her
arms were ice cold. Rey took his coat off and wrapped it around her
shoulders.
"Are you ok?" he asked her, very concerned.
She didn't say anything. He noticed the blood stains on her knees
and she was holding her hands on her lap with the palms up. Gasping
as he saw her hands he yelled for Kane who he could hear was already
on the phone.
"Hey, are you ok?" he said louder. She slowly looked up at him.
"Help is on the way. Where is Mark?" Kane asked while trying to get down to her level.
"There was an accident. He is hurt very bad. I couldn't go anymore," she said in a very monotone way.
"Where? We have been all over here. You have to show us where," Rey said helping her up.
"He can't feel his legs. I promised him I wouldn't leave him but I had to. If he wakes up, he'll think I lied...that I deserted him," she said, showing no emotion despite the words as she walked slowly to the car. Rey shot a very serious look at Kane who had the same look on his face. They helped her to the car and she told them where to go.
They had gone about 5 miles when they saw the silver of the bike near the tree. They both ran out of the car toward Mark. His eyes were still closed and he didn't respond at all when they tried to talk to him.
"He looks pretty bad, but he is still alive," Kane said feeling his neck and putting his hand to his chest. He grabbed his phone again and gave specific directions on how to get there.
Rey tried looking under the makeshift bandages that she had made. He took note that her coat was covering him.
"He's a mess," he said not realizing she was standing behind them.
"His leg is broken, his head was bleeding" Angel said in a disconnected way.
"Sit down, the ambulance and police will be here in a minute," Rey said helping her down. Already, another car pulled up and it was Lita and Edge. Soon another car pulled up. They heard sirens in the distance finally, cursing to themselves that it took them so long to finally come and they weren't even the ones who found them.
She leaned over to Mark and put her head on his shoulder.
"I told you I would be back," she whispered.
One ambulance and one police car pulled over to the side of the road. Everything from that point seemed to be blurry to Angel. She saw them put a collar on his neck. She watched them put him on a backboard. She watched them splint his legs and arm. Yet it all seemed like a dream. She sat there quietly next to Rey until they tried to help her. One EMT reached out to check her hands and she jumped back defensively. Rey hadn't seen her do that since Matt was around. She grabbed onto Rey with a strength he didn't think was possible in her condition. After a lot of coaxing they got her to let them wrap her hands and help her into the ambulance. She lay down on the side while watching them work on Mark.
Now she knew the helpless feeling he described to her when he rode to the hospital. Now she understood the hell she put them through. She thought she had put those demons to bed but they were flooding back. She felt a pricking sensation on her arm but said nothing. In fact, she felt nothing all the way to the hospital.
Sara got off the plane and was greeted by one of Vince's assistants. They led her to a sedan and she got in. All they could tell her was they were taking her to the hospital. They didn't know anymore than that. She asked where Vince was and why didn't he call her. All they would do was repeat they didn't know anything and Vince was already there. All she could do was worry until she got there.
When she saw him she instinctively knew it wasn't going to be good news. If it were he would have just sent anyone. Slowly she walked toward him.
"What is it?" she said bluntly.
The look Vince had was the same look he had outside the ICU when Angel was brought in. He stood staring at his shoes hoping the words would be there. All Sara could think was some things never change.
"There was an accident. The bike skidded on ice and he was hurt," he said in a low quiet voice.
"How bad is he?" she said plainly.
"He has the best care, I made sure the best people are here"
"How bad is he? What is wrong with him?" she found herself yelling.
"The bike apparently skidded and he was dragged for a bit. His leg is broken. His other leg is pretty torn. He has a broken arm and a concussion. His back and shoulder are pretty torn too. He also has hypothermia despite what Angel tried to do." he looked her in the eye for the first time.
"What do
you mean despite what she tried to do? How is she?" she yelled
again, aware she was verging on hysteria but unable to stop
herself.
"Apparently she had a helmet on and was thrown off.
She had no head injuries, which is a miracle. She has a broken finger
and second degree burns on her hands. She has lacerations of her
knees. She had hypothermia. Both are dehydrated. She is exhausted.
Her back is hurt but they don't think it is any worse than it was
before. From what we can gather, she got the bike off him somehow,
and helped him move away from the bike to get him flat and she
bandaged him up as best she could. She cut up her sweater and shirt
to do it, built a fire and went for help. She left her coat on him
and walked in 30-degree weather for 5 miles until Rey and Kane found
her." Sara felt tears rolling down her eyes. She could tell by
the way he was acting there was more.
"What aren't you telling me?" she asked waiting for the next blow.
Vince took a
deep breath and took her hand which almost made her lose it right
there.
"She said he couldn't feel his legs. He lost
feeling in them shortly after the accident. He was between the bike
and a tree." She heard herself scream and saw several familiar
faces turn the corner. Vince shook his head and they went back.
Sara waited to compose herself again.
"Where is he?"
"He is still in with the doctors. Angel is in a room. We can't get hold of Adam yet. Do you want to see her until you can see Mark?" Rey turned the corner. He stopped cold when he saw her. His face said to her that he had seen Mark for himself.
"Rey and Kane found her," Vince offered.
"Not again," she heard herself say and was enveloped by his arms. "You are our guardian angel."
He have her a squeeze and walked away. Clearly he didn't want to offer any details of what he saw.
Vince led her to Angel's room. She slowly walked in. Angel was asleep. Once again, she looked tiny in that bed. Her hands were wrapped in bandages and she could see the bulk of bandages on her knees under the blanket.
"We don't know what happened but Rey said she was acting strange when they found her. He said it reminded him of the way she was when she was with Matt. She pulled away from the EMT's and was very withdrawn. Rey was the only one she would talk to." With that Vince left. His duty was done. He went back to the hotel to wait for any word.
Sara sat down and just looked at her. She didn't look as bad as the last time she was here. She looked almost peaceful. Sara looked up and saw the IV that was again next to her. There was an oxygen mask on her pale face. She wanted to take her hand but couldn't.
Sara had sat there for about 10 minutes in silence when she heard the door open.
"Mrs. Calaway?" a young doctor appeared in the doorway. She rose up to talk to him but dreaded every step.
"How is my husband?" she could feel herself trembling but couldn't stop it.
"He is stable. He has a concussion. He needed a few stitches in his head. His arm is broken, as well as his leg. He has many lacerations of his back, legs and arm. Some had to have pieces of gravel and dirt removed which is why we took so long. Right now there is no sign of infection, he has hypothermia but not as bad as your friend," he said very gently.
"I was told he couldn't feel his legs."
The doctor looked at her and tried to find the right words.
"His back hit the tree. I don't think he was going very fast when he hit it. There is some compression of his spinal cord, which right now is causing paralysis. There aren't any obvious fractures to his vertebrae and the cord is not severed or injured. It is just swollen from the impact. There is every possibility it will go down and there won't be any long term effects."
"If it doesn't?" she knew he was trying to make everything sound optimistic.
"I think it will. There are no guarantees of course when the back and spinal cord are involved but he is healthy, and strong. I have seen this happen before and the patient has walked out. There may be a long rehab but it is entirely possible he will walk after all this. Frankly, I am surprised he made it this far and is in better condition than others I have seen in a similar accident. Your friend did all the right things, although she won't believe it. She kept saying I shouldn't have moved him, and I left him." He tried to smile and stay upbeat. She appreciated his honesty and bedside manner.
"How is she? My husband and I are proxy for her, along with her husband." He opened his chart and saw her name on the forms that Vince had faxed to them.
"She will be fine. Only God knows how she got that bike off him. Her hands needed some work. It looks like she did more damage to them than from the burns. The gravel in the burns and in her knees indicates that she stumbled quite a few times. Her finger is splinted under the bandages. I got her old charts and at her stage of recovery I am surprised she was able to walk that far. Sometimes any lasting effects of an injury like hers would and could be affected by stress, and tiredness. She was very hypothermic. She tried to refuse medical help but obviously was in no condition to make that decision. Mental confusion accompanies severe hypothermia. She tried to leave and I had to 'intervene'. She is sedated right now, which she needs. The more we tried to help her the more combative she got. I am a bit concerned about her mental status. She was crying a lot and kept saying it was her fault."
"She hates hospitals." Sara dabbed her eyes with a Kleenex.
"She apparently hates doctors too. I have never heard some of those words before. I understand her husband hasn't been notified yet?" Sara shook her head.
"When she wakes up we will give her some pain medication for her back. There is considerable muscle strain and two of her discs show herniation from a previous injury. But no further damage. She has some road rash on her leg but not too bad. I think when they tipped she hit the ground and was basically pushed or thrown off. His legs were longer and didn't have time to get out of the way before getting caught or he might have been luckier. It is a miracle she has no further head trauma."
"She had a drug problem a little less than a year and a half ago. She was addicted to Soma, and a few painkillers." Sara didn't know how they would be able to give her anything without it starting problems again.
The doctor looked down and sighed.
"There are a few things we could try but we will have to keep it on a very limited basis and just the very minimums. Her tolerance for pain must have increased. She had to have been in severe pain since the fall. I can take you to see your husband now" she took a deep breath and followed him out the door.
Sara followed him down the hall and into the room. She looked at the floor the whole way. Even when they got into the room she didn't look up until she was mentally ready. With a deep breath she looked up and opened her eyes. The sight of Mark almost made her scream, but she made no sound.
Starting from the top she looked over every part she could see. His head was bandaged. He had several IV's and was hooked up to a heart monitor. His arm was in a cast. Every part of his chest around to his back was bandaged. With all the bandages on his legs he looked more like a mummy. His long leg was in a cast to his knee. On his face was an oxygen mask. She felt tears rolling down her cheeks. She slowly walked to him and wanted to hold his hand but even the other hand had bandages on it.
"The oxygen is heated to help bring his temperature up, so are the fluids. He started to come around when we were working on him and he asked for you." The doctor added and quietly walked out the door. Sara felt the tears streaming down her cheeks now.
Sara sat there for hours watching him. She watched his chest rise and fall. Now and then she saw a slight frown. After an eternity she heard him moan slightly. Instantly she was on her feet and standing over him. She kept repeating his name until he opened his eyes.
His eyes had a look of confusion and pain. Sara kept talking to him until she saw recognition on his face. She bent down and tried to hug him in some way without hurting him.
"I love you," she whispered in his ear. She saw his hand slowly reach up to the mask and tried to pull it off. She grabbed it for him and pulled it down.
"I love you," he whispered back. Sara dropped her head to his chest and started sobbing. She felt his hand on the back of her head. After a minute she sat down on the chair next to him.
"Angel?" he whispered.
"She is going to be fine. She is in a room down the hall" Sara didn't want to give too much information because she knew if she told him everything he would get upset. She reached up and put the mask back on. After a few minutes he fell asleep again.
