šŖ- A memory about a dangerous situation
It was the same camping site theyād camped at every Fall Breaksince Finn had gone off to college. It was Finnās way of reminding his kidbrother that he wasnāt ever too far away or too busy to see him. That Fall wasthe start of Finnās senior year of college. He was twenty-two and Patrick was seventeen,just starting his Junior year of high school. It was the perfect week- just thetwo of them, hiking, kayaking, goofing off and swimming in the lake. ByThursday the beautiful weather theyād been enjoying turned sour. The rain wascold and came down in steady heavy sheets. Finn awoke late in the morning butit was dark and grey outside. Patrickās sleeping bag was empty. Always theconcerned protector, Finn quickly pulled on a t-shirt and clambered out of thetent, phone in hand. He searched the camp site, the car, the outhouse, anywherehe could think of, but there was no sign of his brother. Panic rising in hischest he dialed 911, informing them of his location and that his brother wasmissing. He set out along the mountain path, calling his brotherās name. Abouta half mile down there came an answer. It was almost inaudible due to thepouring rain, but Finn couldāve picked his voice out anywhere. Finn rushed tothe edge of the path, seeing that there was a drop just behind the trees. Helooked over the drop off and his breath caught in his throat, it was a roughrocky incline, dropping hundreds of feet down to a stream. Patrick was clingingto the rockside about forty feet down. His red hair looked dark with what wascertainly blood.
āHang on, Iām coming down to get you!ā Finn frantically torehis backpack from his back, pulling out the length of rope and scrambling tofasten it to a tree. It was only a forty foot rope, the end hung about sevenfeet above his brotherās head. Finn tore a waterproof flare out of his pack andsnapped it, tossing it back towards the path and praying that whoever came tofind them would be able to see it. He moved quickly rappelling down therockface towards his shivering brother. āPatrick! Grab hold of my hand!ā Themuscular college student reached his right hand down for his kid brother,stretching his arm span to its limits. Their fingertips brushed once, twice, butPatrick couldnāt reach him. āJump up!ā Finn called out, tightening his grip onthe rope. āBut...If I miss I might not catch myself!ā The panic in hisbrotherās voice was warranted, the rocks were slick, but they were running outof time. Patrick was soaked through and clearly injured, and the cold rain was freezing Finnās hands. If they didnāt get up the cliff-sidefast he was going to lose his grip on the rope and theyād both be in trouble. āYou have to jump now, Patrick. Now!ā Theyoung man grimaced in concern for a moment, but then he launched himself up thoseprecious few inches and Finnās hand closed around his wrist. The immediate painsent a scream tearing from Finnās lungs. Fire shot from his outstretched arm upacross his chest. He felt something in his right shoulder tear and he nearlylost his hold on his brother. Thankfully Patrick was already gripping his olderbrotherās arm with both hands. āFinn! Fuck, what happened? Finn!ā The high schooler wasfrantically trying to find footing, but with the stone slick from rain, hecouldnāt keep in any one place for long. āStop!āFinn cried out, eyes screwed shut. āStop moving, Pat!ā He was sick with painnow, but he had to hold on, he could hear the sirens of the rescue team pullingup to the cliff.
The rescue team pulled Finn and Patrick up within minutes, a middle-agedfirefighter pulling Finn up on to solid ground as the other wrapped his brotherin a blanket and hurried him to their truck. Finnās right arm hung motionlessby his side, his face grey. The man whoād helped him was spreading a blanket across Finnāsshoulders but Finn couldnāt feel the warmth. He felt like the world was slowlymoving away from him as the adrenaline of the situation left him and exhaustion and pain set in. āYouāre a courageous young man, you know that?ā The older man smiled, clearly trying to comfort youngFinn and lighten the situation. Finn nodded with grit teeth. His legs gave outsuddenly and his eyes rolled back in his head as a soft groan left hislips. He slumped hard against the stranger who was prepared enough to catchhim before he hit the ground. āJesus, kid!ā The man gently set him down and immediately recognized whatwas wrong. āShitā¦ā He looked up to the other firefighter with a frown, āJerry, call for twoincoming, this oneās hurt too. Looks like a separated shoulder, possible jointtear.ā The men loaded Finn in the truck with his brother. Finn had moments ofconsciousness where he could hear Patrickās voice, but he didnāt wake up fully untilhe was comfortably in a hospital bed with his arm in a sling and only the bandages from his shoulder surgery left to remind him of what had gone wrong. Patrick was safe and that was all that mattered to him.