Chapter 4

It wasn't particularly warm up on the mountain, but the fire was nice, and Tony made sure that it didn't die. Tim got the blankets, of course. Jesse had left a thermal blanket and Tony put that one over Tim, first. Once he was sure that Tim was as comfortable as possible, he sat down where he could protect Tim from the wind.

Not knowing how long he'd have to wait, he decided to talk.

Talking would fill the time, and if Tim could hear, at least, he wouldn't be bored, either.

"Man, Tim, you sure know how to ruin a trip. I know you weren't really excited about coming, but falling off a mountain? That really takes the cake for screwing things up." Tony took a breath and looked to see if there was any reaction.

Nothing. Another breath and he kept talking.

"I mean, really. You fall off the mountain, but you wait until we're almost at the top to do it. Come on! I know what you're going to say. You're going to say that I got us lost, that you were right and we weren't on a trail. That's beside the point. If you hadn't fallen off the mountain, we would have gone back down the way we came and still ended up at the parking lot with no problem. But no! You have to have a major accident and leave me wandering around in the dark, forcing me to rely on some old shepherd for help while you just lie there doing nothing."

Still nothing, and Tony tried not to let himself worry that Tim was dying.

"Yeah, and guess what, McGee. If you think you're going to be allowed to lay there and die, you've got another thing coming. I am not going to sit by a dead body all day. And you are not going to leave me to explain to Delilah what happened. She'd probably kill me."

He waited in silence again, but he hated the silence.

"Tim...you've got to be okay," he said. "I'd never forgive myself if you weren't. ...and you wouldn't want that, would you? I mean, I understand if you'd want to haunt me for the rest of my life, but you wouldn't want me to be unable to forgive myself. Right?"

A sudden strong gust of wind made the fire flicker. Tony quickly fed it and moved to keep the wind from putting it out.

"This... This really sucks, Tim. I never would have thought that this would happen. Never. A sprained ankle or something like that? Sure. You wimping out before getting to the top? Almost guaranteed. ...but falling off a mountain?"

Tim didn't seem to be moving at all. Suddenly, Tony was worried that Tim had died and Tony just hadn't noticed. He scooted closer and put his hand on Tim's chest.

He felt the heartbeat. Slow, not the most steady, but it was there. As long as it was there, Tim was alive and Tony would take what he could get. Instead of moving back to where he'd been before, he stayed right there, his hand over Tim's heart, feeling the evidence that Tim was still alive. He really couldn't bear to think too much about the alternative.

"I hope that the old guy doesn't have a heart attack and die. Now, granted, he pretty much could have left me behind while we were hiking, but that doesn't make him He-Man or anything. He's still old. Somewhere between Gibbs and Ducky."

He looked around. Even with what had happened, he had to admit that it was an amazing view.

"It's actually pretty nice up here. If it weren't for the fact that you're laying there like that, I'd say that it was worth the trip. As it is..." Tony sighed. "You've managed to ruin this trip, Tim. I hope you're happy."

He leaned back against a rock and stared up at the sky, feeling Tim's slow heartbeat, hoping that it didn't stop. For a while, he just couldn't think of anything to say. So he sat there, hoping for the best.

Then, he felt something on his hand. He let out an undignified yelp and pulled his hand away.

Then, he noticed what it was.

Tim's eyes were open a little and his hand was on his chest.

Tim had moved! On his own!

"Tim! You're awake!"

"Hurts..." Tim whispered.

"Yeah, because you stupidly fell off the mountain," Tony said.

Tim actually smiled weakly and whispered something that Tony couldn't hear. He leaned closer.

"What did you say?"

"I...told you...I'd regret it," Tim said and let out a breath that might have been a laugh if he'd been able to do that much.

Then, he winced and his eyes closed again.

"It's okay, Tim. Don't worry. We're just waiting for help to get here. Jesse should be back anytime."

Tim opened his eyes again.

"Who?"

"A shepherd."

"Shepherd?"

"Yep. I ran into his flock when I was trying to find help last night."

Tim was breathing irregularly, but he was still awake and he seemed to be in his right mind, more or less.

"Are you thirsty?"

"I hurt," Tim said.

"Well, I'll bet you're thirsty, too."

Tony got the canteen and helped Tim drink. Tim did, but he wasn't really happy about it. It seemed to hurt him to move at all, but Tony was sure Tim was dehydrated after all the time he'd spent lying in that crevice.

"No more," Tim whispered. "I'm fine."

"Yeah, right, but I won't make you drink any more water for now."

Tim's eyes closed once more and he seemed to fall asleep...or fall unconscious or whatever.

"Tim? Can you hear me?"

No response. Tony put his hand back over Tim's heart and felt the heartbeat. Still slow. Still not steady, but it was still there.

"Tim, I don't care what it takes. We're both getting off this mountain. I don't know if I much liked being called a sheep, but I'm with Jesse. I'm not leaving you here. Got it?"

Still nothing.

Tony hated having to sit here and wait, but he really didn't know what else to do. He couldn't leave. He couldn't really do anything while he was sitting here...except make sure Tim stayed alive...and even then, what if Tim died? It wasn't like Tony could do much to stop that from happening.

Another hour passed with Tony talking every so often and then lapsing into silence again. Tim didn't wake during that hour.

But then, he woke up. Tony felt him tense. Whatever was wrong beyond the broken bones Jesse had found, it was definitely causing Tim a lot of pain.

"Awake again, Tim?" Tony kept his voice light, but he could tell that Tim wasn't in a good state.

"I'm...ready to go..." Tim whimpered.

"Go where? I don't think we're making it to the summit this time."

Tim started shaking.

"Want to...go...go..."

"Hey, Tim. Calm down. We can't go anywhere until the cavalry gets here."

"...hurts..."

"What hurts?"

For a few seconds, Tim just breathed without speaking. Then, he looked at Tony.

"My...feet don't hurt," he said.

"Your feet don't hurt?" Tony asked.

"My...hands don't hurt," Tim said.

"And?"

"And...that's it."

Tim tried to smile, but Tony could see how hard it was.

"Man, Tim...I never thought I'd say this, but I wish I could trade places with you."

Tim squeezed his eyes shut.

"Me, too," he whispered. "Any...time...you want to."

For once, Tony felt like he had to be completely honest and not try to pretend he was fine with what was happening. He put his hand back over Tim's heart. It was beating fast, now, but still not regularly.

"Sitting here...watching you... This is harder than I thought it could ever be. I'm sorry this happened, Tim."

Slowly, Tim lifted his left hand and rested it on Tony's.

"Thanks," he said.

Tim's hand clenched around Tony's as another wave of pain washed over him.

"How...much longer?" he asked.

"I don't know, Tim," Tony said. "Soon."

"Sure you...trust him?"

"Yeah. He said that he never left one of his sheep when they got lost. I think he'll extend that to people, too."

"Okay."

"You thirsty?"

"Not if I have to move."

"In other words, you are."

Tony tried to think of some way for Tim to drink without moving him at all. He hated that even something as basic as a drink of water was so agonizing for him. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of anything where Tim didn't have to move at least a little bit, and Tim needed to drink, even if it hurt.

"You have enough problems, Tim. You can't add dehydration to the mix. You'll just have to grin and drink it."

"I don't...want to."

"Well, I don't care," Tony said. "If that's what you need, I'll force it on you and resisting will hurt more and take longer than just getting a quick drink will."

Tim didn't open his eyes, but he nodded slightly. So Tony got the canteen and helped Tim get a drink of water. The effort was apparently too much for Tim's meager energy reserves. After he finished, he fell asleep again...or unconscious again. Tony had no idea which it was. Come to think of it, what was the difference in a situation like this? Was a bout of unconsciousness really all that different from falling asleep?

He had no idea.

Another hour passed and the only thing that changed from before was that thick clouds started rolling in. They looked rather threatening and Tony wasn't enamored at the thought of sitting out here in the rain. He also knew that Tim couldn't take something like a rainstorm. He needed to be protected, no matter what.

Tony didn't know if it would rain, but he figured it would be better to be prepared, just in case.

He searched through the first aid kit and found an emergency poncho. He could prop that up over Tim and keep him from getting wet.

Anything for me, too?

Tony knew that he wouldn't take any of Tim's protection. Tim needed it more, but he was hoping that he could find something that would cover him or at least protect him from the elements a little bit.

If it did start raining, it was likely that the fire would go out. Nothing Tony could think to do about that. Unfortunately.

He decided to do what he could for Tim, first. He unfolded the poncho to see how big it was. He was disappointed to find that it wouldn't cover Tim completely. One part of him would be exposed. That would have to be his legs, not his head. So Tony grabbed some rocks and piled them up around Tim and then anchored the poncho to them, creating a kind of roof that hung just a few inches above Tim's face. Tony made sure that, if it did rain, the water would drain away from Tim, not around the stretcher.

That done, Tony searched through Tim's pack, as well as his own. He did find another poncho in Tim's small first aid kit, but that was pretty much it. Well, that was better than nothing. No warmth to be found there, but he could stay mostly dry. That would help.

He pulled out a granola bar from Tim's pack and ate it. He'd just finished when the first raindrops fell.

"Thank you," he said, looking up at the sky. "Thank you so very much. When I was thinking about what would make my day a little better, the first thought I had was that I hoped it would start raining!"

He sighed and pulled the poncho over his head. He built up the fire as much as he could in the hopes of keeping it from going out, and then scooted close enough to Tim to keep tabs on his heartbeat.

"These mountains hate us, don't they, Tim," he said.

Tim didn't move. He didn't wake, and Tony looked at him and then around the area as the rain picked up.

"Everything's gone wrong and what am I doing? I'm sitting around, waiting for the old shepherd to get back with help. He claims that he never lost anyone before, but I have my doubts. If I could do it without hurting you, I'd start down the mountain and just pull you along. ...there is the problem that I still don't know where we are, but..." He sighed. "I don't like having to rely on someone else, Tim. I don't like that your life doesn't depend on what I can do. There's nothing I can do to make this better. And I hate that. I became a cop because that means that I am the one doing things to make it better...or at least to keep it from getting worse. I can't even do that, here."

The rain got pretty heavy, and Tony started feeling a little cold. The fire went out. It felt like the clouds were all around him instead of up in the sky. Tony was feeling antsy. He didn't want to sit here waiting. He wanted to be doing something, something useful, something heroic. ...even something stupid if it got help here sooner.

"Tony!"

At the voice, Tony automatically turned toward Tim, but that wasn't right. For one thing, the voice had been shouting, and Tim could barely manage a whisper. For another, it hadn't sounded like Tim.

Tony looked around.

Then, to his surprise, he saw Jesse, and he wasn't by himself, either.

Jesse waved.

"Tony!"

Tony got to his feet and waved back.

Jesse and whoever was with him resumed walking. They didn't rush over. Tony wanted them to, but he guessed that it was a little dangerous right now with all the rain.

"The helicopter had to turn back because of the storm. Too much rain, wind and everything else. So I promised to bring a doctor back here. When the storm ends, the chopper will try again."

"Took you long enough," Tony said, trying to smile.

"You were more lost than I thought you were," Jesse said. "That takes time to fix."

"That sounds like an excuse," Tony retorted.

Jesse laughed.

"I can see that you were waiting with bated breath for me." He thumped Tony on the shoulder. "How's your friend?"

Tony shrugged.

"I don't know."

"This is Brandon Cutler. He's kind of the go-to for mountain rescues."

"You have this happen a lot?" Tony asked.

"More often than any of us would like. How is he?"

"He's been unconscious more than he's been awake. When he's awake, he said everything really hurts. I got him to drink a little bit, but he didn't want to move."

"How was his mental acuity? Was he aware?"

"Mostly. He seemed a little out of it one of the times he woke up, but he did talk to me."

"Okay. This storm should blow itself out before nightfall, but let's see what we can do right now."

Brandon headed to Tim. Tony started to follow, but Jesse held him back.

"Hey!"

"You need something more than a piece of plastic to wear," Jesse said. He handed Tony a jacket.

"Oh... Thanks." Tony was surprised that Jesse had even thought of something like that. He hadn't asked for it, and he certainly hadn't expected that kind of consideration.

"I realize it's not the height of fashion, but it'll keep you warm."

"No, really. I mean it. Thanks."

Tony pulled the jacket on under the poncho and was glad to have the extra warmth. He'd been feeling the chill for a while.

Brandon knelt down and lifted the poncho Tony had secured over Tim. Quickly, Tony moved over and grabbed the poncho, lifting it higher, but making sure it still blocked the rain.

"Thanks," Brandon said, absently.

As he checked Tim over, Tim woke up again.

"Tony?" he asked.

Brandon was the only one in view.

"I'm here, Tim. We got a doctor."

"I'm Brandon," Brandon said. "The helicopter will be here, soon, but I came ahead of it."

Tim's eyes closed again, but he was too tense to be unconscious.

"I know it hurts, but I need to know as much as I can about your injuries."

"Hurts."

"I understand."

He checked Tim's head but moved it as little as he could. When he finished Brandon got up and gestured to Tony and Jesse.

"We need to get him off this mountain as soon as possible. I think there's internal bleeding. He's dehydrated. The broken bones... Honestly, I'm surprised he survived the night with the injuries he's got. I don't think he can survive another one out here."

"Neck injury?" Jesse asked.

"I don't think so, but we'll be careful when we get him on the chopper. I'm going to see if there's any way they can get out here, now."

Tony looked down at Tim, half expecting him to die right then, but all that happened was that Tim kept breathing irregularly. He knelt down.

"Tim, we're getting you out of here. So you have to keep dealing with it. I don't care how much it hurts. You're staying. Got it?"

Tim's eyelids lifted slightly.

"You hear me, Probie?"

Tim's head moved in a way that could be construed as a nod. Tony chose to take it that way.

"Good."

He heard Brandon on a radio, but he didn't pay much more attention than that. He was focused on making sure Tim stayed alive.