Page 61 of Mountain Impact

She shivered. The only thing she knew for sure was, she wouldn’t have jumped.

Minutes later the small round fire crackled. Just looking at the fire made her feel warmer.

Drake fired off a quick message to his teammates. “Good news. Damien remembers this cave. They’ll be here to pick us up first thing tomorrow, as soon as the storm breaks.”

“What do we do in the meantime?”

“We wait here. We try to stay as warm as possible.”

“What about Amélie? I’m worried about her. She’s been unconscious for a long time.”

Drake shrugged. “Her pulse was steady enough. She had a shock to her system. Jens will come with Damien so he can assess the situation. In the meantime, all we can do is keep her warm and hydrated.”

Isolde kneeled beside the young woman.

“She could have died, Drake.”

“Excuse me if I’m not as sympathetic as you, Isolde. She wanted to kill you.” He flexed his muscles. “I’m not going to let her, or anybody else, hurt you.”

#

Drake

Drake clenched his hands, which made pain flare up his arm. Amélie had really done a number on his arm―pretty amazing considering she’d had almost no leverage from her hanging position.

He watched the slim woman now. Unconscious, she looked completely harmless, but Drake wasn’t going to forget the dead look in her eyes as she’d asked Isolde to jump.

The moment he’d left the chairlift, he’d started running. Something told him Isolde needed him. When he’d finally seen the two figures emerge through the fog, he’d breathed a sigh of relief, until he’d realized what was happening.

You’re going to jump.

Amélie’s words would stay with him for as long as he lived.

Isolde sat on his coat, her hands stretched out towards the fire. She looked fragile and vulnerable, and he wanted to reassure her―and himself.

“Are you okay?” he asked, kneeling beside her.

Isolde nodded, but her eyes were unfocused. “Amélie had a few sips of water, but it looks like she’s sleeping now.”

“Have you had any water, Isolde?”

She shook her head.

“It won’t do Amélie any good if you don’t take care of yourself. That’s the first rule of search & rescue.”

“Is it?” Isolde asked, incredulous. “Have you had any water yourself? Because it seems to me all you’ve done since this whole thing started is take care of us.”

He could tell her he knew exactly how long he could go without water before being incapacitated, but he didn’t think that would appease Isolde.

“It’s time for both of us to have some water, then,” he said. He pulled out his water bottle from the pack and tipped the water towards his mouth, though he only had a small sip. He then took her smaller hand in his and handed her the bottle.

For a moment, Isolde refused to take it. Drake waited patiently.

“What if we run out of water, Drake? How much water do we even have? I came so unprepared. I put on my hiking boots and waterproof and ran out the door after Amélie called me. I wouldn’t even have my water bottle except it’d been in my backpack and I refilled it at the chairlift before I started walking. What was I thinking?”

Her last words were full of pain.

Drake carefully put the cap on the water bottle and set it on the ground beside them. “Come here, Isolde,” he said, putting his arms around her. She stood stiffly inside his embrace for a moment, but he pressed on until she eventually relaxed. Her arms came around his middle. Her touch branded him.