He tumbled for what seemed like several minutes, although he didn’t know how long it actually was. His hand flailed as he desperately grabbed for stationary objects but couldn’t get a grip. He arched his back and dug in his ski poles and his heels, but he couldn’t overcome the force of the avalanche. He was helpless.
His body jerked as he crashed against something hard, possibly a large bolder. He bounced off whatever it was like a rag doll and crashed back down onto another hard surface. He felt excruciating pain as something in his leg snapped.
“Ahhh!” he screamed out in pain, but he hadn’t stopped tumbling. Then everything went black.
Chapter 14
When Adam finally came to, his eyes shot open. Maddie’s face hovered above his. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she frantically dug in the snow.
“Adam, wake up! Are you okay? Can you hear me?”
He tried to ask how long he had been out but couldn’t speak. His eyes widened as he realized that his mouth was packed with snow. He tried to move his arm to get the snow out of his mouth but an unknown force held it down. As he became more alert, he realized his entire body was buried in snow. He breathed rapidly as he tried to flail around to free himself. He was drowning in the snow.
Maddie saw him struggling and quickly scooped the snow out of his mouth with her finger. He sputtered and coughed and gasped for air.
Maddie blurted out, “Adam, you’re alive! Oh my god! I was so scared that you were dead. Are you okay?”
All the while tears continued to stream down her face as she continued to dig his head and upper body out of the snow.
He barely managed to get the words out. “I…don’t...know. I’m in a lot of pain. It’s my right leg.”
She began digging his legs out of the snow. When she had moved enough snow to see his leg, her face contorted. She covered her face with her hands and tried to hide her reaction, but it was too late. Adam saw her look of horror, which confirmed his fears.
Maddie sucked in a deep breath, steeled herself, and said, “Your leg is badly broken. Try not to move.”
She began to pack the snow back on top of his leg.
Once his entire leg was re-covered with snow, she said, “The snow will keep the swelling down and help with the pain—hopefully.”
Adam’s teeth chattered audibly and his body began to shake—probably as much from shock as from the cold—as the temperature grew more frigid and the sky grew darker. He felt dull-headed and couldn’t organize his thoughts. It finally occurred to him to check to see if Maddie had been hurt. As his eyes scanned her over, he noticed that she had a big gash on her left forearm that spanned the length of her arm from the inner elbow to the wrist. Blood streamed out of the wound and stained the snow crimson.
The sight of Maddie being hurt snapped him out of his stupor. His concern for her made him temporarily forget about the pain in his leg—maybe the freezing snow helped with that too.
“Your…arm…is…bleeding,” he managed to say through chattering teeth.
She glanced down at her arm and back at him and said, “Don’t worry about that right now. I’ll be fine.”
Adam sat up, despite the excruciating pain that he felt in his leg. His head spun and for a moment he thought he was going to pass out. He shook his head and forced himself to sit up and focus. He started to unzip his ski coat.
“Adam! What are you doing?” she screamed. “Stop it! You’re going to freeze to death.”
He ignored her and continued to unzip his coat. He reached in under his sweater and ripped off part of the t-shirt that he wore underneath. He tore the shirt into strips and wrapped them around Maddie’s arm to stop the bleeding. When he was satisfied that the bleeding had stopped and that she would be okay, he collapsed back into the snow without even bothering to re-zip his coat.
He winced in pain. It was becoming unbearable. He closed his eyes as Maddie re-zipped his coat. He felt himself fading and wasn’t sure how long he was going to be able to remain conscious. When he opened his eyes again, the look of panic was back on Maddie’s face. She was saying something about needing to get him down the mountain and to a hospital as soon as possible. He was losing the ability to focus on what she was saying.
Adam thought he heard her say, “Do you think you could walk if I helped to support you?”
“I don’t know,” he mumbled. “I…can…try.”
His own voice sounded distant to him. She tried to lift him. He screamed and tasted bile. The usually simple act of sitting up and trying to stand almost made him puke and pass out.
“Please stop,” he pleaded weakly.
Maddie seemed to be talking to herself as she said, “Stay calm, Maddie. Stay calm. I wonder if I can drag you down.”
She gripped his jacket and tugged hard. She managed to move him a couple of inches. Adam gritted his teeth and growled in an attempt to stifle a scream of agony.
“Stop!”
It was then that they both realized the full extent of the dire situation. It was unlikely that anyone would be able to find them on the mountain in the midst of the storm. Besides, who knew where the avalanche had taken them? And even if any rescuers knew where they were, they would not be able to get to them. There was no way Adam could make it down the mountain unassisted, and Maddie wasn’t strong enough to carry him.
Maddie looked up at the western
