Thunder boomed overhead, almost mocking her decision.
“Riley!”
She had no idea if he could hear her. “I’ll be right back!”
Decision made, she didn’t waste any more time. She hooked her leg back over the rope and pulled herself up. God, that took a lot of energy. She needed to be careful not to fall; it would take too much time to get back up.
She fought her way through the rain and wind, moving as fast as she dared along the rope. The balancing rope continued to bite into her hands, but there was no way around that. If she loosened her grip, she was going to fall.
If she fell, it would waste minutes Riley didn’t have.
Her breathing was already labored by the time she made it back to the ravine’s edge. She unclipped her harness, mostly numb fingers wet with rain and blood from her palms, and ran for the RV.
She was soaked to the skin and breathing raggedly by the time she made it. She found her med bag exactly where she’d left it, already packed and ready for any emergencies. She threw the walkie-talkie inside, slipped it all on and ran back out into the cold.
Every step toward the rope bridge seemed more impossible, but she ignored the screaming of her lungs and muscles and pushed forward faster than she thought she was capable of.
Riley would do the same for her. She knew it without a shadow of a doubt.
By the time she made it back up to the bridge, the storm had decided to make things more interesting. Rapid bolts of lightning and cracking thunder echoed all around her.
Wyoming storms were notorious for a reason. Going out on that rope bridge might very well be suicide.
It didn’t matter. She was not leaving him out there. Seeing him dangling so completely still had her heart lurching in her chest. Was she too late?
“No. No, no, no, no.”
She strapped the safety line back onto the harness, cursing herself for not grabbing some gloves while she’d been at the RV, and went back out on the rope.
This time she ran.
She kept her balance longer than expected and was almost to Riley before she felt the sickening lurch of the fall again. But the safety rope held, and she used her momentum to swing closer to him, catching his dangling body with her legs.
Please let him be alive. Please let him be alive.
She didn’t even wait to check his pulse, just drove the EpiPen into the muscle of his hard thigh.
It was only then that she allowed herself to take his pulse, nearly sobbing with relief when she found one.
He was still alive. That was the most important thing.
If there was one thing the Linear Tactical guys preached like a pastor in church, it was that survival was the most important thing. Everything else was secondary.
Of course, neither of them was going to survive if lightning struck the bridge. She was going to have to drag him. She wasn’t sure she could do that. She’d used up the last of her reserves just getting to this point.
Dragging him back the way she’d come would be the best option. If he needed further medical attention, the RV was his best bet.
But getting him off this bridge was the most important thing. If she collapsed halfway, they both could die here.
She’d have to take him the shorter way. Even that was going to be hard enough.
“Talk to me, Riley. Open your eyes and talk to me!”
“Wildfire.” The word was mumbled and barely discernible, but it was something.
“Ry, can you pull yourself up?”
He made a movement with his arm, trying to grab the rope, but then his hand fell back to his side. He was completely out of it.
“Okay. It’s okay. I’m pulling you to the edge.”
Silence.
“I’m going to hook one of my safety lines to you to pull you over.” It was the only way she’d be able to move him.
She reached up and unclipped one of her safety ropes and clipped it into his. She crossed over him and began shimmying toward the ledge about ten feet away.
The second rope was taut enough to start pulling Riley’s weight. Instantly, it took a huge effort from her exhausted body just to move a couple of inches.
She forced herself to keep pulling.
“Talk to me, Riley. Say something. Anything.”
Another yank on the rope, another few inches moved.
No sound from Riley.
She could feel hysteria growing inside her.
“Come on, Phoenix. Open those eyes and talk to me.”
The last word came out in a sob as she pulled again.
She felt some movement on the rope, and when she pulled again it was slightly easier. She looked back at him in a panic.
He had unhooked his backpack, allowing it to fall into the ravine. It didn’t help much, but it meant less weight she was trying to move.
When he saw her looking, he held up a hand briefly. At least he was conscious. Breathing.
She renewed her efforts, ignoring the rope biting into her palms. Ignoring the screaming of every single muscle in her body.
She set her gaze on the end of the ravine and gritted her teeth. She was not stopping until she got there.
Riley had taught her that. He’d taught her the importance of focusing on the goal and moving toward it, even if it was only the slightest bit at a time.
She sobbed in relief when she finally reached the edge and climbed up. She turned and pulled the rope until he was resting against the cliff.
It took every bit of her strength and a lot of help from gravity to pull on that rope until he was against the ledge. She finally shoved her hands under his armpits and then just threw her body weight all the way back, bringing him with her. And that only worked because somewhere along the way, he’d become coherent enough to use his legs to help.
As she lay on the grass with him at her side, her legs began spasming. She didn’t know if it was MS or just what she’d been through in the past thirty minutes. Either way, it didn’t matter. She’d gotten them off that bridge and Riley’s breathing was already clearer. The EpiPen was working.
She needed to get them to shelter, but there was no way she was moving from this spot.
She’d done everything she could do. Her body was done.
She didn’t even try to fight the blackness that overtook her in the middle of the storm.
Chapter 18
There had been quite a few times over the years when his life had flashed before his eyes, but none of them had been like he was stuck in some sort of molasses.
He’d been feeling weak by the time he left camp. He’d written it off as just being pissed at having to start so much later than everyone else. But by the time he’d gotten to the rope bridge, he’d known for sure something was wrong.
Riley took risks all the time, but well-calculated ones, ones where he was fully aware of the danger and had accounted for it. This had been totally different.
By the time he’d gotten to the rope bridge, he’d known he needed to stop. Get help. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.
But then Wildfire had been there. And she’d told him over and over to just go.
Her voice had been all he was able to process, and he trusted her above all others, so he’d gone.
Taking a step out onto that rope bridge, he’d known he was going to make it across because Wildfire had told him to go. He would do anything for her.
From there, it all became blurrier and blurrier. Literally.