Page 9 of Double Exposure

She says something.

I lean even closer, “What?”

“Jade” comes out as a whisper. Then she completes her answer: “Jade Choi.”

“Okay Jade, we are almost ready to pull you out of there.” I dig for another minute until both her hands are free. We are near the fifteen-minute mark, but at least her head and upper chest is exposed. And her breathing is deeper, more even.

Waving to Ryan, I scramble up and stand for a second and lower my voice. “We're going to have to take her out on a board.” Somehow, she hears this.

“I’m fine,” she says between breaths. “Just get me out of here. I have nothing wrong with me.” But her jaw quivers and her lips are blue. Hypothermia.

I lay down on the snow again to speak to her. “You could have a spinal injury and you wouldn't know it.”

She shakes her head and tries to use her arms to shovel snow away. “I don’t have a spinal injury. I had my back against that rock the whole time.”

“You can be—"

“I'm fine. I'm just really c-c-cold.” She tries to squirm her way out. Bad move. This will lock her feet even more.

“Just relax,” I say, taking her gloved hands in mine. “Let us do the work. You need to hold still so we can get you out.”

She glances up and licks her lips. Her glance, so full of trust, fear, and exhaustion, tugs my heart.

Ryan leans down and grabs her other arm and starts to pull. “Can you wiggle your feet at all?” he asks.

She shakes her head. “It’s like they’re in cement.” Her voice fades and her eyes close again. She’s exhausted. The adrenaline that flooded her system during the avalanche is gone.

“I’m really uncomfortable getting you out of there without a board. We could make you one in ten minutes.”

Ryan juts a thumb toward the mountaintop. “Not sure we have that kind of time.”

Snow is beginning to blow sideways, but even through the flurry of white, it’s clear the top crest is caving again. The chance of another avalanche is high.

“All right. Let’s try to pull her straight up,” I say to Ryan. To her I add, “Any hint of pain, you tell us. Got it?”

She nods.

Not knowing if I was about to be responsible for leaving a woman in a wheelchair for the rest of her life, I glance at Ryan. He just grins and gives her a thumbs up.

His happy optimism works until it doesn’t. I’ve seen both sides.

I lay back down on the ice, reach down, slip an arm around under her chest her left and start to lift. “Can you kick as I pull?”

“I think so,” she says. But her legs are weak and her attempts are clumsy and inefficient. Then she hisses in pain. I immediately stop.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“It's my ankles. I think you moved up just enough and now I can't go back.”

I have no idea what she means.

“Keep pulling,” she says and grips my arm with both hands.

“Let’s just take it slow.” With my other hand against her back, I start to release her again so I can find another angle to pry her out. But her body stiffens.

“Never mind,” she says, “No, no, no. Stop.”

I remain squatting, one arm still hooked around her chest. “Ryan, can you keep digging? I’m just going to hold her here. Keep coming from the side. I think her feet are locked.”