At this, I watch as he stops to consider the situation. Lila is famous, even if everyone at the resort pretends not to notice thanks to the unspoken rules of privacy. There are many distinguished guests at this resort. Suddenly, I hear Claire's voice again. She is still on the phone and trying to get my attention. “Let them do their job.” Her words sink in, and I am conflicted. The need to rush to Lila's aid, to be at her side, is nearly overwhelming, but at last, I nod to the dispatcher.
“I'd like a radio to keep me updated,” I ask, and once I am issued one, I return to the bottom of the slope to stand with Claire and Madison. Waiting is torture, yet hearing the team deploy and then find her helps. She was in the tree line near the bottom of the run. When it’s confirmed she is alert and able to move, my breathing at last slows to normal. Claire wraps an arm around me.
“It will be all right,” she says, and I hear the relief in her voice, too. A glance at Madison shows the same, and when the medical team descends with Lila in a stretcher, she and I both rush to help.
“I'm okay,” Lila reassures us the minute we reach her. “But my wrist feels horrible.”
“She’ll need an x-ray,” the medical team leader says. “The nearest machine is down in the village. A small hospital, but well equipped for ski injuries like this.”
“Please no,” Lila says and reaches her uninjured hand out to me. Taking it, I am reassured at the touch. Her grip is firm, and her eyes, although showing a hint of pain, are bright. They are also pleading with me. Furrowing my brow, the situation is complicated. If Lila is recognized at the hospital or in the village, word of her location will be out everywhere. Gritting my teeth in frustration, a glance at her splinted arm, already significantly swollen, makes up my mind. It needs an x-ray.
With a sigh, I shake my head. “We can’t risk your injury becoming worse.” I glance at Madison, who nods and leans close to me so as not to be overheard by the medical team.
“I’ll alert the club members. We will address any problems that could come up,” she says. “Assuming it is necessary. It's late, and this might be quick. Maybe we will get lucky.”
“So, what are we doing?” the medical team leader asks from the other side of Lila. It is dark, and the snow is falling harder around us. Someone needs to make a decision.
I look at Lila. “Just to be sure,” I say giving her hand a squeeze.
With a sigh, she nods. “All right. Let’s go to the hospital.”
14
A sprain. Bad, but not broken. Sighing with relief, I am glad to finally get the news after the hours of waiting. Thankfully, the village hospital was extremely cooperative, particularly considering the patient. Although our plan was to keep Lila’s identity from the general public, the on-duty nurse and doctor had to know. Luckily, neither overreact, and I appreciate their professionalism. The delay was simply a matter of not being able to locate the x-ray technician to run the machine. Since we arrived at night, the young man was already long gone, apparently, to a movie with his phone set to silent. As unfortunate as the timing was, I know people have lives. Madison was not quite so patient, and it was touch and go as to whether she would call in a rescue helicopter or something to expedite the process. Watching Claire soothe her with a gentle hand to Madison’s cheek was a beautiful sight to behold. Their connection is nothing short of magical.
When the technician did arrive and was brought into the loop, I thought he might die on the spot for making her wait. Lila, as always gracious and lovely, took his hand to put him at ease. “Let's just get this done, shall we?” she said, and this seemed to clear the technician's starstruck head, because things went smoothly afterward. As I stand in the waiting room letting the medical team finish final tasks, I look forward to going back to the resort. After a night of lovemaking, followed by a busy and stressful day, I am ready to rest. Maybe even accept a drink should it be offered. Madison joins me suddenly, phone in her hand, and the look on her face makes my wish for a chance to relax evaporate. She is clearly not happy. “What is the problem?” I ask seeing no reason not to get straight to the point.
Madison leans in so her voice cannot be overheard. “We've been identified.” I immediately look around the room at the half a dozen other people waiting to be seen by the doctor. None appear to be paying us any attention.
“How do you know?”
She holds up the phone in her hand. “My friend Kris is on the phone. Let’s just say she’s a bit of a technology freak and caught wind of it on the Dark Web,” Madison explains.
“You need to get out of there,” I hear a woman’s voice say from far away over the phone. “Now. And I heard the freak comment.”
I like Kris instinctively. Anyone who can call out Madison, even in a crisis, is my kind of friend. “I'll go get Lila,” I say already moving. “I'll make sure we get back to the safety of the lodge as quickly as possible.”
“Wait,” I heard Kris’ voice call out to me. “Madison, give her the phone.” She does, and suddenly I hear a woman with an American accent telling me the worst of all scenarios. “Social media is starting to buzz about you four being in the French Alps. And exactly where. The resort is compromised.”
“Fuck,” is all I can think to say.
“Precisely,” Kris agrees. “The hospital will soon be swarming with paparazzi too, so go find a place to hide. Where no one would look. Quickly.”
My mind races as I think of and then quickly discard possibilities. Can we actually hide? It seems unlikely, yet my other options are not great either. Helicopter? Too slow getting here, especially in the dark. Drive out? Not with the new snow falling on the winding roads. Kris is right. We need to find a quiet place totally out of character. I know the doctor and nurse are with patients, so I can't ask them for recommendations. “Let me talk to the x-ray technician,” I tell Kris. “Hold on, I’m giving you back to Madison.”
Before Madison even has the phone back to her ear, I am through the double doors leading to the clinical part of the hospital. Luckily, the technician is the first person I run into as he is donning his coat to leave. “I need your help,” I say holding up a hand to stop him. “People are looking for us. We need an out of the way place to stay for the night.”
“Oh no. That’s horrible,” he says looking around as if people are getting ready to surround us immediately.
“Focus, please. This is important.”
He licks his lips. “Right! Let me think.” Taking a calming breath, I wait, already thinking I might have been wiser trying to intercept the doctor or nurse between patients. Finally, the technician nods. “I know just the place. It's pretty, um, old.”
“Doesn’t matter. That will actually be better. Where?”
“Edge of the village. There is an inn. The Monterie.” He points to the west. “It’s hardly up to her standards—”
I don’t let him finish. It will do. It must. “Thank you. And please, don’t tell anyone.”
“Of course,” he says to my back as I hurry away and find Madison with Claire, and thankfully now Lila, bandaged but ready. From the looks on their faces, Madison has apprised them of the situation. Quickly explaining the plan to go to a run-down inn, I lead the way out into the night.