Ellie rushed to my side. “You’ve been drinking water; I doubt you’re dehydrated. Could it be hunger?” Ellie had a point there. Often, when I am hungry, a headache starts.
“It feels like pressure in my head, where you all decided I have a stick stuck in my forehead,” I told her.
Ellie cradled my jawbones in her hands and looked closely at the wound. “The boys are almost back,” I heard Lydie say.
“It’s pretty red and swollen,” Ellie quietly said. “Maybe we do need to remove it now.” I nodded, praying that removing it would alleviate the forceful pressure above my right eyebrow. I was feeling weaker by the minute.
A moment later Sawyer and Marshall were at my side with the first aid kit. The guys helped ease me onto the beach chair snow boulder, and I leaned back, wincing as the sun hit my eyes. Ellie shielded my eyes with her hands, and Lydie passed a water bottle to Ellie, who helped me sip.
“Alright, who wants to actually do the removal?” asked Sawyer. No volunteers. He reluctantly nodded, “Okay, then. I guess I’ll do it. Marshall, you be ready with plenty of gauze and peroxide. Ellie, stay by her face and make sure she stays calm and holds still. And while you do that, please hold the headlamp so I can easily see what I’m doing, but without shining it in her eyes. Lydie, please pray.”
The delegates immediately did as told, beginning with Lydie’s heartfelt prayer over this medical procedure and the coming day, and our parents. I loved how Lydie prayed so confidently, with no fear of embarrassment – just her talking to her Heavenly Father. She inspired me. I think the others thought the same.
“Marlee,” Sawyer calmly explained, “I’m going to go about this as if I was removing a sliver, because that’s basically what we’re dealing with. Since it is a large sliver, it will bleed, so that’s why Marshall is ready with gauze. Once we get a handful of gorp in your stomach, you can have a mild pain reliever.” I nodded, ready for relief. As Sawyer lifted his hands toward my forehead, I held my breath in an attempt to stay absolutely still.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Marshall sterilize a small knife with an alcohol pad. I wasn’t supposed to see that, though. Since the twig, or sliver, had apparently gouged under the surface of my forehead, using a tweezers probably wouldn’t be enough. I focused hard on Ellie’s face so that I wouldn’t think about how Sawyer was removing the sliver. I felt a sting, followed by more pressure. I took a breath. Ellie’s face was serious and steady. I couldn’t see Sawyer’s face. I felt a tug, Sawyer impatiently sighed, another sting, then another tug. Ellie’s face suddenly relaxed and she smiled. The pressure was immediately less, and I knew that Sawyer was tugging the sliver out. Another small sting, and he held out the tweezers for us all to see the two inch long culprit. Sawyer’s estimate that its diameter was only that of a few pine needles was correct. It was the skinniest twig I’ve ever seen, but after this experience, I knew that it doesn’t take much to cause plenty of discomfort.
Lydie whooped for joy, and an instant later, I felt warm blood falling down my forehead. Marshall quickly passed the gauze to Sawyer, who swiftly cleaned the wound and applied compression. I sighed, feeling so much better already. I smiled up at Sawyer, who let out a deep breath.
“Your first backcountry surgery was a success!” cheered Lydie. I guess the excitement was perking her up.
Sawyer lowered his eyes and mumbled, “My first and my last.”
Lydie and I looked at him questioningly and he said, in a disgusted tone, “Once my admissions counselor at POGS hears about this, I can say goodbye to my future as a pro guide.”
“Why?” I didn’t follow what he was saying.
“We’ll be all over the news. The reckless kids who carelessly hiked at night and barely survived an avalanche. This will ruin my reputation. Nobody will ever hire me as a guide after this, Marlee.” Sawyer looked distressed.
“But why not? Natural disasters happen, and you’re guiding us to safety.”
Sawyer didn’t look convinced, but Marshall spoke up, “Marlee, you can see he’s upset about hiking us into an avalanche, and Lydie getting hurt. So just shut up with your cheerleading.”
Ouch. Okay, then. Point taken.
Sawyer looked at Marshall with wide eyes. Marshall tightened his jaw and looked away. I didn’t realize I had been such an annoying cheerleader. Boys. One minute you think you’re on good ground; the next you’re told to shut up. Weird! Maybe he was just feeling super “hangry.” I was embarrassed, but didn’t want to drag down the group, (since apparently I’m a cheerleader, of course), so I forced myself to focus on how much better my head felt.
I let my lungs fill with the clean mountain air, happy to relax my statue-still pose now that a knife was nowhere near my face. My headache nearly vanished, and though I was still famished, the weak and dizzy sensations were already feeling better. As Sawyer taped some clean gauze to my forehead, I actually felt able to hike today. I knew we’d still need God, but now at least hiking felt possible.
“You don’t look pale anymore, Marlee,” Lydie noted.
I nodded. “I feel tons better. Thank you all so much!”
Sawyer smiled, mischief in his eyes. “Well if POGS is out, maybe I can get into medical school. As long as my medical skills are so strong, what do you say we operate on Lydie now?” Ellie, Lydie, and I giggled.
Marshall rolled his eyes and gave his brother a playful, but surprisingly strong shove on the shoulder. While the shove was meant to be lighthearted, it caused Sawyer, who was resting his sore leg by my feet on the edge of the beach chair snow boulder, to stumble and flip across the snow chair, making his head and shoulders land in the packed snow. Ellie and Marshall rushed to his side. Lydie and I looked at each other with huge eyes.
“Sorry, man, you okay?” Marshall quickly said.
Ellie was at Sawyer’s head in a flash. Sawyer pushed up his upper body with his arms. He looked annoyed and humiliated, but otherwise okay. In a disgusted tone, he grunted and relied heavily on his arms to regain a standing position. His limp leg still hung. Ellie brushed snow off Sawyer’s shoulders and hat.
“Sawyer, I didn’t try to do that. Man, you just tumbled like a wet noodle. Are ya’ okay?” Marshall scrambled for words to apologize.
Sawyer gave his brother a glare and loudly whispered, “Seriously, man? In front of the girls? Come on!” Ellie blushed when he mentioned us girls, and I figured he really meant ‘in front of Ellie.’
Marshall looked down.
I was concerned about Sawyer’s leg. Not wanting to further embarrass him, though, I resisted asking. I walked a few feet away to where the guys had left the sticks that would serve as the poles for the stretcher. Since each of the two branches had a clean cut, I realized that Sawyer must have a handsaw in his pack. He sure was prepared! What a miracle that he is our guide, I thought, thanking God for his skill and preparation. The sticks were probably six feet long, and maybe three inches in diameter. They were even reasonably straight, as straight as sticks can be.
I looked back to observe Lydie. I sneaked a fast peek at the rest. Marshall had ambled slightly away from the group and was studying Sawyer’s map. Marshall was learning about orienteering and triangulation, which means figuring out a location on a map by looking at landmarks, like peaks or rivers, and using a compass. Dad was trying to teach me too, but it was going to take plenty more practice before I’d be able to find my way with a compass, map, mirror, and protractor.
Meanwhile, Ellie and Sawyer were talking, and Sawyer was lifting up his pant leg. A wave of shock flooded Ellie’s face as she checked out his lower leg. I guessed the bruising was awfully bad. Ellie gulped, but Sawyer tried to remain casual. I couldn’t hear their conversation, but I deduced that he was reassuring her that his leg was not as painful as it looked. Even though a shove literally knocked him to the ground.
Glancing back to Lydie, I thought of the bravery she was exhibiting through this. I hadn’t even seen her break down and cry yet. Maybe she was in a sort of emotional shock and once we found help, or help found us, she would be emotional. While I agreed with what Ellie had said last night, that Sawyer was our backbone, I recognized that Lydie was a well of positive energy for us. She was the one who was most injured, yet she had remained optimistic through our hunger and fatigue. While it was obvious that her energy and strength were waning, she was still chipper. Watching her now, I could see her face looked pale, and her eyes looked duller than before. They still had their happy spark, except with less vigor. I prayed we made it to help very soon.
Suddenly Marshall was at my side. He wore a guilty expression, as if he were ashamed to return to the group. “Hey,” I greeted him, remembering the Golden Rule talk with my sisters. And also slightly remembering how I felt when Bentley slung his arm over Sierra’s shoulder in the booth in front of me at Here’s the Scoop.
“Marlee, how are you such a peacemaker?” I was surprised by his question.
My eyebrows shot up, wrinkling the tape on my forehead and reminding me that I still had a wound. “Uh,” I began, and then paused, “I didn’t know I was. A minute ago I was an annoying cheerleader. Usually nobody has a chance to talk when Ellie is around, so maybe I’m just used to keeping my thoughts to myself.”
Marshall clenched his jaws. That was not the right thing to say. That probably sounded like I meant that Marshall should keep his thoughts to himself and stay quiet, but that was not what I meant. Well, not exactly. Unless his thoughts are that well-meaning girls should shut up.
“Sorry, Marshall, that totally came out wrong. Let me try again?” He gave a half smile, much to my relief.
“Okay,” I started after a moment of silent thinking, “first of all, thank you for saying that I am a peacemaker. I haven’t been told that before, so I appreciate your positive observation.” Marshall smiled and nodded, so I felt better about proceeding. “To be honest, I think a good share of it is due to being the middle-born child in my family. So that’s nothing I’ve accomplished. Since I’ve been a younger sister to Ellie and an older sister to Lydie, I have to be the follower and the leader. And, I mean, I love Ellie. She has so many good traits,” I took a breath, hoping that what I was about to say wouldn’t be gossip, “but sometimes she does react emotionally. I’ve seen how that can hurt people, like when she chucks objects at Sawyer, and well, I don’t want to be like that.” I felt my face grow red, and wondered what Ellie would say if she heard that. Feeling the need to further explain, I continued, “But don’t think that I’m perfect at keeping my emotions cool, or that I think I’m better than Ellie, or that I don’t want to be like her. I do freak out sometimes, and Ellie has so many traits that I would love to have. Does that make sense? Did I at all answer your question?” I was talking fast and my thoughts seemed all jumbled up.
Marshall nodded, “So basically, you follow the good example, use the bad example to help yourself be better, and don’t throw stuff at people?”
