Chapter 16 – The Rescue Part Two

Lina looked down over the edge and tried to mask her horror at the sight of the man dangling below her. His face was battered. Ugly purple, red and yellow-green bruises marred right side of his face. A fresher looking cut along his hairline that was matted with blood explained the unfocussed look in his eyes as he stared back at her. His jeans were dirty and looked as though he had got wet at some point as there was a half-dried tide mark around his mid-thigh. His grey tee-shirt was covered in dried blood down one side and she could just see the thick pad of a field dressing through the torn material. She was amazed to see that somehow he had managed to create a sling from silver duct tape and that his left arm was firmly taped to the waistband of his jeans. His right arm was wrapped around the rope and his right hand held the walkie-talkie in a grip so tight she could see the whites of his knuckles and the livid red marks around his wrist.

She forced a smile. "Hey there Mac. I'm Lina. How are doing? Can you list your injuries for me?"

Mac grimaced as he tried to focus on her face but no matter how he tried he couldn't seem to concentrate. He closed his eyes. "Been … better. Er … shoulder … is dislocated..." Lina wasn't happy. She could see he was struggling. He was clearly exhausted and his attention was wandering. She needed him to focus. She had to keep him talking.

"Okay I need you to lose the walkie-talkie." He didn't move. "Mac!" His eyes flew open at her raised voice. "Lose the walkie-talkie and then I'm going to pass you a … " She broke off as she looked further down spotting a length of orange cord looped around his right foot. "Is that a Prusik?"

Mac put all his effort into answering her question as he fumbled with the walkie-talkie reluctant to just let it go. He attempted a smile. "Er yeah, kind of. Had to stop the spinning. Felt sick … but I only had a paracord knife."

Lisa grinned at him. "Okay I'm not going to ask where you got a paracord knife and a roll of duct tape ..." She glanced up to see her father rappelling down the cliff-face behind her. She willed him to hurry.

Mac huffed. "There was a survival kit in the wreckage. I … " He paused as a wave of nausea rolled over him. He shivered. "... may have purloined one or two items … I thought … might come in useful."

Lina's smile broadened. "Tut tut Detective. Don't tell me you are guilty of looting?"she teased. She was heartened to see him smile.

"Nah, not even a misdemeanour," he quipped.

"Okay Dad's here." Lina sighed with relief as her father joined her. "Mac here has been keeping busy. Constructed himself a sling and a foot Prusik." She gestured down to the orange cord. Although her voice was light and confident the look she gave her father told all he needed to know. They needed to get him out of there. And fast.

Carl looked impressed as he leaned over the edge. "Hey there Mac. I'm Carl. Lina been keeping you entertained?" Quickly Carl tied off. "Looks like you're pretty much ready to haul ass up here." He pulled an item from the gear sling he had lowered earlier and set about fixing a rope to a point just above there heads. Once he was satisfied he handed the clip on the end to Lina. And pulling another piece of webbing arranged it so it hung over the ledge on Mac's left.

Lina lay flat on her stomach leaning as far as she dare without her father holding her legs. "Okay Mac, pass me the end of your daisy chain." Slowly and painfully Mac reached round behind his back and unclipped the end of the length of webbing, the other end of which was tied to his harness. Holding it in his hand with the carabiner just above his fist he reached up the rope as high as he could. Gritting his teeth he pushed his right foot down on the so-called Prusik loop he had constructed from the cord and levered himself up. He could feel Lina's hands fiddle with the carabiner. "Got it." He felt her hands latch around his wrist. The webbing was pulled tight and the pressure on his leg eased as Carl pulled down on his end of the rope. "Grab hold of my wrist. Ready?" Mac nodded. "Go " In one gut-wrenching movement he felt the pressure on his harness lift him up. Lina pulled on his wrist with both hands and he was pulled up towards the ledge. "Okay hold it." Lina shuffled forwards a little and adjusted the Prusik where Mac had attached it to his rope. "Okay Mac, almost there. Press down with your right and you'll find another loop to your left. See it?" Mac nodded again. "Ready? One, two, three ..."

With one huge burst of energy Mac pushed down with his right leg, his leg trembling with the effort and swung the other towards the webbing that Carl had hung down the side. Lina kept a firm grip on his shirt. His head was now almost level with the edge of the overhang and he was able to reach for the ledge. Once he had his feet in both loops he was able to stabilise himself and equalize his weight. They all paused for breath.

"Okay Mac I need you to let go and grab hold of my harness. Then I can adjust the loops for you. One step at a time. Dad will take your weight. Okay?" Mac nodded. "Right then left." Mac shifted his weight accordingly and was able to 'step up' as Lina hitched up the loops one foot at a time with Carl hauling back on the rope. Soon the ledge was at waist height and Mac was able to lean forward. He felt a hand grab his harness and he was pulled onto the ledge. He felt hands roll him over but he was unable to do anything other than breathe.

.

"Mac?" Someone was calling his name. They seemed so far away. An acrid scent filled his nose and he turned away from it. His eyes flickered open and he looked up into a smiling face of a young woman. Her sandy coloured hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her blue eyes were full of concern. "You with us?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm good." She gave him a scathing look. He offered a weak smile. "All things considered." He blinked hard and took a deep breath trying to clear his head.

"Yeah, well you gave everyone a helluva scare. Stacy said she heard shots."

Hearing her name was like a slap in the face. With all the effort of getting back to the ledge he had forgotten about Stacy. Guilt washed over him. "Oh God. Stacy, is she all right? She's not hurt?

"It's okay. She's fine. She's with Jo."

Mac couldn't help smiling. "Jo? Jo's here?"

Lina smiled at his reaction. "Yeah, she's here with Danny and Don. They're waiting for you." She pointed upwards. Narrowing his eyes he looked upwards and was just able to make out four faces peering down at him. He raised his arm in a wave. The smaller of the figures began waving furiously and Mac could just hear his name being called.

Awkwardly Mac shuffled himself into a sitting position. He found a strong pair of hands ready to pull him up into a leaning position against the rock wall. Looking up he thanked whoever it was. Carl squatted down beside him and unscrewed the top off a bottle of vile-looking blue liquid. He offered it to Mac. "Energy drink. You're gonna need it." Mac nodded and took it gratefully. He didn't like the taste but energy was one thing he needed right now. "So how are doing Mac?"

"Better."

"Well you're not out of the woods yet ..." Carl broke off with a grin. "Sorry!"

Lina rolled her eyes and Mac laughed. "You've been spending too much time with Danny!"

Lina giggled. "Nah, Dad's always like that." Mac looked between father and daughter, finding it a little easier to focus on their faces now he was no longer dangling from the end of a rope. He could see the family resemblance. They both had the same light blue eyes with grey flecks and similar bone structures though Lina's nose was long and thin where her father's looked like a slab of clay that had been abstractly plastered to the centre of his face but they both had the same infectious grin.

Lina opened a kit and waved a pen-light in his eyes. She took his pulse and blood pressure. "Pretty good all things considering," she commented though she was concerned to see he was running a slight fever. What's that?" She pointed at the dressing under his shirt.

"Gun shot wound," Mac grimaced as he hitched himself a little straighter. "It's only a flesh wound. Nothing to worry about."

"I'll be the judge of that," she announced firmly and she lifted his shirt and carefully peeled away the dressing. "What the …? This isn't fresh. It looks like it's been ..."

"Cauterized," Mac finished for her. "Happened yesterday ..." Or was it the previous day? Mac hesitated for a moment. It seemed such a long time ago. "I think." Father and daughter exchanged horrified looks. Mac took another mouthful of the drink and found that his head was beginning to clear a little. He looked up and could see the others looking down at him though he couldn't see their faces clearly.

"So what do you think?" asked Carl. Lina opened her mouth to answer her father but Mac, whose attention was still focussed on the rock-face above him, didn't realize that the question wasn't directed at him, and answered in her stead.

"Just give me a few minutes and I'll be good to go." He brought his attention back to his two rescuers who were staring at him open-mouthed. "If you could just pop my shoulder back in for me and strap it up."

"Just pop it back ..." Lina's eyes almost popped out of her skull.

Carl couldn't believe his ears. "Mac ..." He gestured upwards. "This isn't an easy climb and you're injured."

"I think we should call the medevac," suggested Lina glancing at her father nervously.

"No." Mac was adamant. "I've climbed this once today. I can do it again … although I may need a little help," he added with a shy smile.

.

The climb had been arduous but he had made it, each slow, agonizing step drawing him closer to Jo and Stacy and Danny and Don. He had gritted his teeth ignoring the pain that flared in his shoulder and side with every movement. Carl had climbed first creating extra hand and foot holds. Then he, Don and Danny had taken up the slack and used every ounce of their strength to take as much of Mac's weight as possible. Lina had climbed a parallel course advising, encouraging, cajoling him. But to everyone's surprise he made it to the top though by the time he did he was gasping for breath, clearly totally and utterly exhausted.

As Don pulled him away from the edge carefully cradling his injured shoulder in his arms, Danny unclipped the rope and helped him out of the harness. Stacy immediately dropped to her knees beside him and threw her arms around his neck. Mac hugged her back, his good arm wrapped tightly around her and buried his face in her hair. "It's okay Stacy. It's over now."

Standing alone, as though rooted to the spot by invisible chains, Jo could do nothing but helplessly watch the four of them. She felt an arm go round her shoulders. Turning her head, Jo found herself looking into Lina's concerned face. Lina smiled her reassurance. Jo tried to smile back but found that she couldn't. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you for bringing him back." Lina nodded and turned to look at Mac with a huge sigh of relief. At that moment Jo wanted nothing more than to push them all away and feel his arms around her but instead she remained standing looking down at him feeling as though there was an ocean between them. Then he raised his eyes to hers and the message that she saw in their smoky depths was all she needed to know.

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