“That’s my girl.” He kisses her back then yells out to the rest of the room, “Ten minutes!” He glances over and sees Ryan and Gretch on the couch, oblivious to the new plan. “Taylor, remove yourself from Gretchen and get your damn skis.” He smiles and ducks to avoid the pillow Ryan chucks at him, and then we all start to depart to get our gear.
***
Once the cold air hits me, I feel invincible. As much as I know Brian sometimes has bad ideas, this isn’t one of them.
I’m with Mark on the lift, and up ahead, couple after couple is making out as we ride up the mountain.
Mark turns to me. “Want a go, Hamilton? I always thought you were pretty.” He leans in and then cracks a smile.
“You’re an ass.” I smack him in the head.
“Come on, everyone else is doing it.” He then shouts at the top of his lungs, “Oh, Todd! Stop! You’re so big and strong!”
I’m laughing so hard I can’t catch my breath, although I have now scooted as far over on the other side of our chair as humanly possible.
“Oh, Todd!” he continues to shout as we reach the drop off.
We both jump off to a crowd of our friends waiting. The guys are hooting and hollering, and the girls all have their arms crossed with disgusted looks on their faces, but they’re still smiling.
“Way to keep a low profile,” Blythe says, trying to hide her laugh.
“I’m sorry; it’s just so hard to contain myself when I’m around Hamilton!” Mark shouts, now gathering attention from other passersbys.
Rick and Adam are the last of our group, and as they approach the drop off, Adam shouts, “I’m riding with Hamilton next!”
“Don’t you know it!” I wink at Adam.
“Oh, no, you don’t.” Mark jumps on my back. “He’s mine.”
“Keep it moving, guys!” Ryan shouts back to us. He is already up at the starting position.
We finally meet up with the rest of the group while Mark continues to “fight” with Adam over me. We practically have the slopes to ourselves. We all put our headphones in before we push off. I’m blasting Fall Out Boy.
As we push off, I’m reminded of how much I love to ski. The rush of the speed is exhilarating, freeing. I have never skied at night, which turns out to be incredible. The lights are glistening off the pristine surface of the snow, and the sky is filled with stars. I didn’t even know this many stars existed. At home, we must only see a third of these. There are more sparkling stars than deep blue sky. It’s an entire sky of stars.
I’m in deep concentration on the bends, curves, and bumps left from other skiers. I am one with this course. I have never felt so alone yet so surrounded by friends in my life. My body feels the bends and turns, and I start to anticipate them. I’ve never skied this run before, but it’s like my body has. I no longer feel the cold; instead, I’m working up a sweat. I’m so glad we did this. Once again, Brian was right.
Up ahead, I see something blocking the path. It’s hard to make out because, even though the course is well lit, it’s still dark out. As I get closer, I see it’s moving, but not fast enough, and I know I need to swerve or I’m going to run right into it. Without even reading what’s to the right of me, I swerve on instinct, and my ski catches something. I don’t have time to think.
I’m on the ground at full speed. The control I had a second ago is lost, and I’m on my side, being dragged through the powdery soft snow from the sheer gravity of the slope. I can’t stop myself. I don’t even see the marker until my leg slams into it.
Searing pain slices through my right leg. Fuck. I instantly know it’s bad. It’s like my soul knows.
“Todd!” I hear Ryan’s voice cut through all the other noise. Somehow, he ended up behind me. I don’t know where I am, but I know I can’t move.
“Don’t move him!” I hear Ryan again.
“Oh, my God,” I hear Gretchen saying over and over.
“Gretch, do you have your phone?” Ryan asks.
“Shit, man. I’m so sorry,” I hear Mark. “I thought it was a good idea to sit down. I was going too fast,” he’s saying to someone else, but I’m not sure who. It was Mark on the slope I almost ran into.
I hear Ryan’s voice again, closer now. “Todd?” he keeps repeating my name.
I open my eyes, not even realizing they were closed.
“Oh, thank God,” Ryan says quickly, mostly under his breath. “Are you okay?”
“No,” I try to say, but I’m having a hard time forming words. “It’s my leg.”
I see the look on his face as soon as realization sinks in, and then he quickly erases the panic for my sake and goes into automatic lifeguard mode.
“I called the ski desk for help,” Gretch says as she makes her way over to us through the snow. “They’re sending a rescue team up.”
“It’s marker seventeen,” I hear Blythe coming up, and then Brian is in my face.
“Todd? Todd, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m great,” I say, though my voice sounds off. I don’t like the way it sounds, as if it’s verifying something is wrong.
“It’s his right leg,” Ryan says. From his tone, I know the look he just gave Brian.
“Shiiiit,” I hear Brian, but he’s farther away now.
I’m in so much pain I can’t move. I know it’s bad. I’m trying to put on a brave face, but I know what this means. I don’t need Ryan to try to protect me from reality. Broken leg equals broken future.
“Is everything okay?” I hear a voice I don’t recognize.
“Yeah, we called for help,” Gretchen answers, surprisingly in control. Maybe she’s more like Ryan than I ever realized.
“Why don’t you guys head down? We’ll stay here with him until help gets here,” Ryan says to the rest of our crew.
“I’m staying!” Brian barks back in a tone I recognize; there’s no use arguing with him.
“Okay, everyone is gone; it’s just us.”
I look up to see Ryan, Gretch, Brian, and Blythe all staring down at me.
“It’s going to be okay, Todd,” Blythe and Gretchen say over each other.
Regardless, I can see it all over Ryan and Brian’s faces; they know the truth.
Nothing is okay.
ASHLEY
Sid is on a date with Simon, so it’s just me and Shane tonight. Since Shane and Johnny are still “just friends” and we’re both feeling lonely, we decided to have a wallow-in-our-sorrows old school movie night. We rented every John Hughes movie we could think of and are camped out in my family room. Thankfully, we have a TV in the basement, so my dad can still watch college playoff games.
I can tell my dad misses Ryan, because he keeps coming up to give us the scores. I don’t think he’s figured out that Shane couldn’t care less. Each time my dad leaves the room, Shane gives me a look, making it clear he has no idea what my dad is talking about, but he’s nice enough to pretend to seem interested.
When the house phone rings, my dad shouts out to us from the kitchen, “I’ve got it.”
Then I hear him say Ryan’s name, and his tone changes, capturing my attention.
“How bad?” he asks. “I see ... Right... Okay ... I’ll tell her … Okay … Tonight? Which hospital?”
My heart drops into my stomach as I quickly sit up, startling Shane who’s obliviously engrossed in the movie.
“What?” he mouths to me, but I hold up my finger, trying to listen.
“I think Ryan is in the hospital,” I say in a low voice.
I can’t catch my breath. My heart is slamming in my chest as a million thoughts fly through my head. Not again!
Shane instantly sits up straighter, and then we both strain to hear what’s happening in the kitchen. As we do, Shane’s hand finds mine on the couch, and he squeezes it. I’m so glad he’s here.
“Okay ... Surgery? … Yes, I have the address. It will probably take us two or three hours to get up there.”
Shane squeezes my hand even tighter, while I feel my throat constrict with a hard swallow.