I felt like crying, but I needed to see clearly to climb down there somehow and help Papa out.
I frantically looked around to find a way to get down to him, and when I saw a big rock I could jump onto before climbing down into the river, I ran over to do exactly that.
“Papa, are you okay?” I asked, hopeful to hear his voice.
He was groaning but not moving, and neither was Fennec.
“For fuck’s sake, Fen! Come help me!”
I reached him and knelt next to him in the freezing cold water.
“It’ll be okay, Papa. I promise. Oh, God…Did you hit your head?”
“No, it’s just my leg,” he groaned, and after inspecting his wound, I could tell he didn’t get away with just a very bad abrasion.
His leg looked broken.
It wasn’t a pretty sight.
“Fennec!” I shouted, finally seeing him move up there. “You need to go to the hospital. We need to call someone. Can you sit up?” I asked, trying to get to his backpack where he kept his emergency cellphone for cases like this.
He never had to use it, until now.
Papa pushed himself up with both hands, and when Fennec finally made it, he helped steady him.
“Call Jason,” he suggested nonchalantly.
“What the hell is wrong with you? You should’ve come down here sooner!” I barked, showing him just how upset and angry I was.
I pulled the phone out of the backpack and pushed the green button to make the screen light up.
It was an old phone without a touchscreen, but Papa didn’t need anything fancy to communicate with whoever he needed to.
He barely used it though, and surprisingly, the battery lasted much longer than those new phones.
I looked for Jason’s name in Papa’s contacts, and since there were only two numbers saved on it, it was easy for me to find.
Only seconds after holding the phone up to my ear, Jason picked up.
“You okay?” he asked, thinking it was Papa calling him.
“Jason, this is Vespyr. Papa is injured and we need to get him to the hospital.”
“What happened?” I heard him move and Sitka barked in the background, thinking they were going out to play.
“He fell down a cliff into the river. I think his leg is broken,” I told him, sighing. “Can you come pick him up?”
“That might take a while, kid. Can’t take anything other than my quad up there,” he told me.
“That’s fine. We just need to get him to a hospital.”
“He doing okay with the pain?”
I looked at Papa, seeing more rage than hurt on his face. “How badly does it hurt, Papa?”
“I can handle it. Next hospital is in Fairbanks,” he pointed out.
“Can you drive Papa to Fairbanks?” I asked Jason, and although he didn’t sound too happy about it, he said yes.
“Can you get him to camp? Are you far away?” I heard as he told Sitka to stay inside, then I could hear his footsteps in the snow before his garage door opened.
“I think we can make it to camp. Fennec’s here with me. He will help me steady Papa.”
“Good. I’ll be there in a few.”
“Thank you!” I managed to say before he hung up, and after pushing the phone back into his backpack, I got up and wrapped my hands around Papa’s arm.
“Can you try and stand up? We’ll help you walk. Come on, Fennec. Help me!” I hissed.
As much as I didn’t want to, I was starting to lose my patience with him.
He didn’t seem to care about Papa’s fall, nor did he look compassionate enough to help him get back to camp.
No. There was nothing but emptiness in his eyes.
34
Jason’s quad echoed through the forest as he got closer to camp, and while we waited for his arrival, I made sure Papa was keeping warm enough as the sun slowly disappeared.
“We need to call Mama and let her know we’re driving back to Fairbanks.”
“You can call her once we’re in Jason’s car. God, she’s gonna be upset,” Papa muttered under his breath as he watched me wrap one of his sweaters around his leg.
His pants had ripped when he fell, and to avoid an infection, I covered his wound to at least avoid another reason for Papa’s visit to the hospital later today.
“She’ll understand. You fell. It’s dangerous out there with all that snow,” I sighed.
Papa watched me for a little while, his eyes unsure. “I should’ve known there was a cliff. I know this forest.”
“It was slippery, Papa. But I’m glad you didn’t hit your head or fallen right onto your back. That would’ve turned out far worse.”
He nodded, then looked up as Jason finally appeared between the trees.
“Shit, man. How the hell did that happen?” he asked as he got off the quad.
Papa didn’t reply, and I tried to help him get back up so he could sit on the trailer Jason had attached behind the quad.
He usually used that to put firewood on it and transport it back to his cabin, but today, it was a great option to get Papa down the mountain.
“Do you think it’s broken?” Jason asked.
“Sure feels like it. Can’t move my ankle,” Papa responded, moaning as we helped him get onto the trailer.
“Are you coming too?”
I turned to Jason and nodded. No way I was going to leave Papa alone.
“What about him?” Jason nodded behind me, and I knew who was standing there all quietly.
“No. I think he’s staying here,” I told him, trying not to sound sad but rather angry.
Fennec didn’t seem to care about Papa hurting himself, and for once, I didn’t want to have Fennec around.
I didn’t look back at him as I climbed onto the back of the quad to sit behind Jason and hold on to him so I wouldn’t fall off.
I could feel Fennec’s eyes on me, but as much as I loved him, he didn’t deserve my attention at this moment.
Papa didn’t say a word either, knowing that Fen knew how to survive out here on his own.
He’d be okay.
Maybe it would even help clear his head after being down the past few days.
As Jason drove us back to the cabin, I looked back to make sure Papa was okay and holding on tight since it was a bumpy ride, but we made it safely and quickly got into Jason’s truck with Sitka joining us since she couldn’t stay behind on her own.
“Do you mind if I call Mama to let her know we’re driving to Fairbanks?” I asked Jason.
He handed me his phone, and after typing in Mama’s number, I held the phone to my ear and waited for her to pick up.
“Jason, is everything okay?”
“Mama, it’s me.”
“Vespyr? Are you okay?” She sounded concerned, but it wasn’t me she had to worry about.
“I’m fine, but Papa isn’t. He fell down a cliff and hurt his leg. His ankle hurts, so Jason is now driving us to the hospital.”
“Oh, dear God,” she gasped. “When will you arrive?”
“Late tonight. We only just started driving.”
“Call me again when you’re at the hospital and I will come over. Let me talk to Papa.”
Without saying bye, I handed the phone back to Papa who was leaning against the window and with his leg propped up on the seats.