Note: Happy Valentines Day guys!!!
Chapter 31
Rishab had been working on Deepali and Sikander's tent with Harpreet when he heard the scream and his eyes widened in shock when he realized he couldn't see Deepali anywhere.
Deepali winced when pain shot through her leg as the lower half of her body hung over a ledge. She had dropped one of her gloves on her pack so she could reach under her glasses to scratch her face and the wind had caught the glove and blown it outside of the marked perimeter. She had glanced around and decided that it would be safe if she just made a quick grab for it, but the wind had pushed it even farther out and she had taken three more steps before she had heard the cracking sound that indicated ice breaking under too much weight and she had just barely had enough time to yell before twisting her body around and grabbing onto what was left of the ledge.
Rishab straightened up and glanced around. It took him several seconds before he pinpointed Deepali hanging over a ledge out of the perimeter he had just warned them about minutes before. "Akash," he shouted to get the other guides' attention.
Akash was just finishing with Adam, Abby and Madhu's tent when he saw what Rishab was gesturing to. He quickly grabbed the rope and threw it out to Rishab.
Rishab pointed back at Madhu, who was coming out of her tent with the other to see what was happening. "Keep her back!" Rishab quickly secured himself and pulled the ice tool off of his belt as he crossed over the perimeter and carefully dropped to his stomach. He inched across the ice and snow, his calm gaze locked on Deepali's terrified eyes. "Look at me!" he yelled when Deepali turned her head. "Don't look down!"
He shook his head as he inched closer, keeping his expression neutral when he heard the dangerous sound and he turned his head to look at the crack slowly moving along the ledge. "Damn it," he muttered. "Deepali, I want you to stop moving! You're putting too much pressure on this ledge!"
Deepali wasn't able to say a word. She could feel her strength slowly fading and she knew it would only take another few seconds before she wasn't able to hold on any longer.
Madhu tried to get a better look at what was going on, determined to see what had happened. How had this happened? She couldn't tell.
"Hey! Focus on me! Stop thinking about anything else!" Rishab knew the ledge was going to give out at any second and he glanced back over his shoulder, giving a quick signal to Akash to let him know to brace for the fall.
Akash nodded. "Get in the tent, Madhu," he ordered.
If he was going to get a hold on Deepali before it gave out he was going to have to risk moving quickly and forcing the ledge to break off. He felt the line jerk and knew that Akash was ready so he took a deep breath and lunged forward, throwing himself over and grabbing Deepali just as the ledge made a sharp cracking sound and gave out, falling from beneath them.
He barely heard the frightened scream from the girl he was holding onto as they fell through space for a heartbeat before the line went taut and their descent stopped abruptly. "I've got you," he yelled at Deepali. "I won't let go."
He looked down when Deepali suddenly went completely limp and her body weight increased. "Are you f**king kidding me?" he growled when he realized that she had fainted.
"Harpreet," Akash called out for the third guide who had been busy getting all of their gear in the tent. "I need your help here, dude."
"Akash!" Rishab shouted. "We'll pull you up, now," Akash shouted back. "You guys are gonna have to pull me up without my help... she's f**king fainted!" "Alright," Akash nodded at Harpreet behind him and they started to pull them both up. "Kundra, when we get down, I swear I'm putting your ass on a diet." "Remind me to kick your ass when I've got my feet back on firm ground, asshole!"
The other two guides needed all their strength to pull them up. The wind was blowing hard and had taken Harpreet's feet out from under her twice. Akash sighed, relieved when he finally saw his partner's body coming up over the edge of the cliff. Rishab used his feet to push back away from the wall and turn so they didn't drag Deepali over the edge face first.
"Alright," Akash moved forward slowly without letting go of the rope to grip Rishab's clothes and pull them over the edge.
Harpreet felt the rope go slack once they were once more on solid ground and Rishab and Akash hurried to carry Deepali back within the safety markers. She joined them, giving Rishab the once-over to make sure he was alright before leaning over the man who had fallen. "What happened?"
Deepali was vaguely aware of voices around him and as her eyes slowly opened she also became aware of the pain in her leg. "Owww..." she moaned.
"Get her in our tent," Rishab said to the other two guides. The first aid kit and the emergency supplies were all in there. To save time in severe conditions the three of them would share a tent for the night and they quickly carried Deepali over to it. "We've only got room for three people in here," Harpreet said as they maneuvered the injured girl inside.
"Take care of her," Rishab shouted back. "I'll finish getting her tent ready first," he motioned to the one Madhu was in; it wasn't completely grounded yet. "I'll bunk with someone else," he gestured to the radio on his belt, "just let me know how she's doing."
Akash gave him a thumbs-up and nodded at Harpreet, letting him know to zip the flap up. "We'd better get her leg taken care of and get her bundled up for the night."
Akash closed the flap and turned around to dig out the first aid kit. "Did she hit her head or do we just have the leg injury to tend to?"
Rishab finished securing Madhu's tent and motioned for her to move back when she unzipped the flap at his shouted request. He hurried to crawl inside and sit down on one of the sleeping bags as he jerked his gloves off and blew on his hands.
Edited by luvera - 12 years ago
Veer Hanuman
Anupamaa
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
