The Harder They Fall

by Sandrine Gasq-Dion

  Caleb was dazed, but he knew his arm was broken. The car had landed right side up after it rolled down the embankment. It rested partly in water and partly on a frozen edge of the lake. He looked around and saw they weren’t too far from solid shore.

  “Mark?” Caleb looked over at Mark. He was covered in blood and had a compound fracture; a bone was sticking out of his leg.

  “Tyler?” Caleb strained to see Tyler in the back seat. “Fuck!”

  He tried to move using his right arm. The confines of the car were so damned tight, but he undid the seatbelt and tried to open the door. It barely moved and ice-cold water seeped in.

  “Oh that’s fucking great,” he muttered. He twisted in the seat and managed to kick the door with enough force that it opened and he was able to squeeze through.

  He hit the water and immediately gasped. It was freezing, and it felt like thousands of needles pricking him all at once.

  He pulled his way along the side of the car and grabbed the bumper to haul him up on the ice. The passenger side of the car was resting on a fairly solid edge of ice along the lake. It wouldn’t stay that way for long. Large cracks were starting to form.

  Caleb slid across the ice to Mark’s door. It was caved in, but the hinges looked okay and he prayed it would open. He pulled and it creaked open. He unbuckled Mark’s seatbelt and gently shook his shoulder to wake him. He knew he probably shouldn’t move either guy in case of causing further injury. But he had no choice. The car was going under; it was just a matter of when.

  “Oh shit,” Mark moaned.

  “Mark you have to help me get you out. I can only use one arm. Can you help me?”

  Mark tried to move and screamed when his leg bumped something.

  “Fuuuck!!”

  “Give me your hand.” Caleb put his out and Mark grabbed it. “This is going to hurt like a motherfucker.”

  Caleb pulled Mark out and winced when he started screaming. His broken leg hit the ice and Caleb dragged him to shore. Caleb glanced down at Mark, who thankfully had passed out. Probably better that way.

  He slid back across the ice to the car, hit the slide release on Mark’s bucket seat and realized it was jammed. The only other way to get Tyler out was to go through the water again to the driver’s side of the car. Caleb wracked his brain. He didn’t think he could take the cold water again and still function. He was barely able to do it now.

  “Goddammit!” Caleb looked around. “Fuck, fuck, fuck! Come on!” Caleb scanned the ground and found a hefty rock. He climbed on the back of the car and hit the back window. Nothing happened.

  “JESUS! COME ON!” He brought the rock down again on the back window with everything he had. Thank God, it shattered.

  The ice cracked again and Caleb panicked.

  He grabbed under Tyler’s arms and pulled. Tyler didn’t budge. “Fuck, seatbelt!”

  Caleb leaned halfway into the Mustang and hit the seatbelt release button.

  It was stuck.

  “FUCK! Can I get a break here?”

  He reached in his pocket for his pocketknife — thank God it was still there. He cut the seatbelt, and wedged his hands on Tyler’s underarms. He lugged him out the window, somehow fighting the pain in his broken arm, and dragged him down the back of the car. The ice was giving way when Caleb stepped on it. He pulled his foot back and knelt on the car again.

  He had no choice. He stood and picked Tyler up, dislocating his shoulder, and jumped for the shore for all he was worth. He landed on his back with Tyler in his arms. He scooted them the rest of the way across the ice as the cracks began to get bigger beneath him.

  The ice finally gave way and the freezing water sucked the car under. He collapsed on the shore, breathing hard, his lungs on fire. He was fucking freezing and he knew they all had hypothermia and probably frostbite.

  The pain in his arm was excruciating, and now it was bleeding. He crawled between the two boys and pulled them as close as he could with his good arm. His phone was gone and he didn’t have the strength to search Mark and Tyler. Caleb looked at the sunlight filtering through the trees and closed his eyes. He was so fucking cold and he didn’t know how much longer the three of them could last outside. His last thought before passing out was of Heath.

  ~*~

  Stefan and Jordan approached the bridge and saw that it was impassable. It was a short bridge and they could see Heather on the other side. She called them, crying.

  “I can see them down on the shore! The police and paramedics are here!”

  “Jordan, we can’t just stand here!” Stefan began crossing the bridge.

  “Stefan, we can’t risk it!”

  A car skidded to a stop behind them and Heath jumped out with Damon and Paul.

  “What’s going on?” Damon stomped over to Stefan and Jordan.

  “What are you doing here? If we wanted you to come with us we would have said something!” Jordan yelled.

  Life Saver helicopters arrived and Jordan directed them to the other side of the bridge.

  “Heather, what’s going on?” Damon shouted.

  Damon strained to hear her, but the noise from the helicopters was drowning her out.

  “Look, we have to go now. The bridge is out and we need to be at Medical Center West.” Jordan took Damon’s hand.

  Damon pulled back. “What’s going on?” He turned to see a paramedic pulling someone up on a stretcher toward one of the helicopters.

  Heath and Paul joined him.

  “Is that...?” Paul strained and saw Mark’s jacket. “Oh God, no,” he whispered.

  Damon looked at Paul’s face and the color drained from his. He ran forward.

  “Damon, don’t!” Stefan grabbed his arm. “The bridge is out!”

  “They’re down there, Dad!” Damon yelled.

  “There’s nothing we can do here! If we try to cross the bridge, we all go down. We have to go to the hospital, now. COME ON!” Stefan grabbed Damon’s hand.

  Heath was in a daze. Stefan used his other hand to drag him to the truck, too. He tried to get Heath inside but he wasn’t responding.

  “HEATH!” Stefan slapped him.

  “Dad? Caleb…” Heath’s eyes were filling with tears.

  “Get in the fucking truck!” Stefan pushed him in, along with Paul, and they took off.

  Jordan’s phone rang. “Heather, meet us at the hospital. The police will want to talk to you there.” Jordan was trying to navigate through the still slippery, but melting snow.

  She was on the lake bank, watching from a distance as the paramedics worked on Tyler. “Dr. Youngblood, I don’t think Tyler made it.” Heather started crying harder.

  “We’ll see you at the hospital, Heather.” Jordan hung up and cut his eyes toward Stefan.

  “Who?” Stefan mouthed.

  Jordan touched his hand and shook his head; he barely tilted his head to the seat behind him.

  Stefan moaned quietly.

  ~*~

  Down on the bank of the lake, paramedics were examining Caleb.

  “No! Check Tyler and Mark! They’re worse off.” Caleb tried to move.

  “Sir, please don’t move.” The paramedic checked Caleb’s leg; he motioned to the other paramedic. “Look, we have to get these guys in the copter now; they definitely have frostbite. The older one has something in his leg. We need to leave it in, but move him carefully.”

  He looked at another helicopter crew. The two medics were trying to revive the other kid. “Jesus, what the fuck happened here?”

  The helicopters arrived at the hospital before Jordan and Stefan; Caleb, Mark, and Tyler were in emergency surgeries. The hospital waiting room was full. Jordan was on the phone.

  Stefan was sitting with Heath, Damon and Paul. They each sat with their face in their hands.

  Jordan was just getting off the phone with Charlie when Heather finally showed up, her face red from the cold, her eyes bloodshot. Jordan grabbed her arm and stopped her.

  “Not one word to
Damon, understand? Are you okay?”

  Heather nodded, hearing the concern for her in his voice. It touched her and she started crying again. Jordan put his arm across her shoulders and took her down the hall. He didn’t want the kids to see her and start asking questions. He motioned for the police officer working the incident and they all went into an exam room.

  “Keep her in here for her statement, please.” He looked at Heather. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  “They were trying to revive Tyler at the scene. I don’t think he made it, Dr. Youngblood.” Heather broke down.

  Jordan ran his hand through his hair. “Fuck. What happened to the driver who hit them?” Jordan asked the officer.

  “They pulled the truck out, driver was drunk. She’s in surgery; minor hand injuries.”

  “Just fucking great. Drunk driver hits my kids on purpose and she gets to live.” Jordan motioned to Heather. “Stay here.”

  They had been waiting for five hours. Damon was trying his best to keep it together, but he was barely hanging on. One of the surgeons came out and talked to Jordan. He nodded and headed for the waiting room. They jumped up when he came over with an update.

  “All of them have frostbite on their hands, feet and parts of their face. Caleb has a broken arm and a dislocated shoulder. They had to perform surgery. He also had a nice big chunk of car in his left leg. They repaired the damage; it’s amazing what he was able to do out there. Mark suffered a compound fracture of the fibula. Because it’s an open fracture, they’ll have to watch him very closely. They have surgically cleaned the fracture site, started him on antibiotics and stabilized the bones. He may need more surgery later. He has stitches in his head and some broken ribs. Heath, Paul — you can see them when they wake up; they’re in recovery. Tyler is still in surgery, Damon.”

  “What? Why?”

  “He has massive internal injuries, baby.” Jordan took Damon’s hand.

  “But they can fix him, right?”

  “They’re trying, Damon.”

  Damon stumbled to his chair in a daze and sat down.

  Stefan approached Jordan. “There’s something you’re not telling him, Jordan,” Stefan whispered.

  “They had to revive him at the scene, Stefan, and again during surgery. Even if he does survive, he is looking at a lot of recovery time.”

  “I called his parents. They should be here very soon; I sent the jet.”

  “I hope they get here soon; I don’t think he has long.”

  “You said he might survive, Jordan.”

  “Stefan…” Jordan took Stefan’s face in his hands. “The odds are not in his favor.”

  ~*~

  A few hours later, Heather came out of the exam room. She had fallen asleep after giving her statement.

  Damon grabbed her shoulders. “You were there. Is Tyler okay?”

  A door opened behind him and a doctor walked out and took his father aside. The doctor was shaking his head, and Damon glanced at his father’s saddened face. They both looked over at Damon. In that instant, Damon’s world began to fall apart as Jordan shook his head and began to open his mouth.

  Damon backed away, his whole body shaking and his heart aching.

  “No,” he whispered. “No, no, no — oh, God! NO!” He turned, ran outside and threw up. His heart hurt; the pain was crushing him. He couldn’t breathe. Oh God. Tyler was dead. Tyler was dead!

  Damon hit the ground and lost consciousness.

  ~*~

  Chaos hit the waiting room as Damon lost it; he went white as paper and ran.

  “Damon, wait!” Jordan hurried outside. Damon was face down in what was left of the snow.

  “Damon!” Jordan picked him up and brought him inside, heading for the first exam room.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Stefan shouted.

  “Just give me a minute, Stefan. We have to do a full blood work up; he may have just passed out. But since he’s healthy and he hasn’t come to yet, I have my suspicions.”

  “Then what, Jordan? Tell me something, dammit!” Stefan pulled Jordan around.

  “I think he has Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.”

  “What?”

  “It happens when…oh, Jesus. Look, Damon has a broken heart, Stefan.”

  “How do you fix it?” Stefan shouted. “Dammit, Jordan, how do you fix it?”

  “I want the cardiologist to confirm. Please, Stefan, go sit down.”

  “I’m not leaving him, Jordan!”

  “Well, he’s leaving you. He has to go for tests.” Jordan palmed Stefan’s face. “I won’t leave him, okay?”

  Stefan wiped his eyes and Jordan hugged him close. “I promise I won’t leave him. Go check on the kids, all right?”

  Paul was with Mark from the second they allowed him to see him. Mark was still unconscious, and his leg was in a cast. They shaved his head where they had stitched him up and his frostbitten hands and feet were wrapped.

  The Andrewses had arrived and his mother squeezed Paul’s shoulder in comfort.

  “He’ll be okay, Paul. He’s tough,” she assured him through her tears.

  “They said they’ll have to keep him sedated, the pain is too much for him. Mark is in pain.” Paul covered his face with his hands.

  Mark’s father took his shoulder. “Stay with him; he needs you. Now that we’ve put our hands on him, and know he’ll be okay, we’re going to get some food. We’ll bring you something.”

  “I’m not hungry.” Paul shook his head.

  “Honey, you need to keep up your strength. I’m bringing you food. No arguments.”

  ~*~

  Heath sat with Caleb, just staring at him. His face was a mass of bruises and his hands and feet were wrapped. A bandage snaked around his thigh and one arm was in a cast and sling.

  The paramedic who treated Caleb knocked on the doorframe to get Heath’s attention.

  “Hey, I just wanted to tell you that if it hadn’t been for that young man, all of them would be dead. He took great risk to his own life to pull the other two out of the car.”

  “What do you think happened?” Heath glanced at his unconscious fiancé.

  “From what we heard, a truck hit them at full speed and sent them off the bridge. He was the first one out of the car. Even with a broken arm, he managed to pull the Andrews kid out, and then went back for the Dion kid. He had to break the back window of the car to pull him out, then he jumped from the car onto shore holding him, while the ice was giving way, which made the damage to his arm and shoulder significantly worse.”

  “Who saw it?”

  “There were some people fishing on the other side. They would have helped but had no way over there. The police have their statements.”

  Heath nodded and thanked the paramedic. He took Caleb’s hand and leaned down to kiss his forehead.

  “You’re so brave, baby,” Heath whispered.

  ~*~

  Jordan spoke with the cardiologist on call. After a battery of tests and bloodwork, he confirmed his suspicions.

  “Now what?” Stefan paced the waiting room.

  “We wait, we give him the medication; there’s not much more I can do. Wait. I have an idea.” Jordan crossed the emergency room waiting area and took Stefan’s hand. “Come on.”

  They went to Damon’s room, worked together and moved his bed to the side of the room. Jordan left the room and Stefan stood beside Damon’s bed, holding his hand. Jordan returned and both worked to move two beds together.

  “Wait,” Stefan said. He walked over and moved Damon’s hand, adjusted it and then stepped back.

  “Do you think it will work?” Jordan asked. “He never even gave me a chance to tell him Tyler had made it through surgery.” He shook his head.

  “It has to work.” Stefan smiled sadly.

  Stefan and Jordan had pushed Damon and Tyler’s beds next to each other. Stefan put their hands together as well. He walked to Damon’s side of the bed, leaned over and whispered in his ear.

/>   “Wake up, baby; Tyler needs you. He’s alive, Damon, and he needs you to wake up.”

  “Tyler’s going to need all the help he can get. Right now, it’s touch and go. Tyler’s in charge.” Jordan smoothed Tyler’s hair back. “Your parents are on their way now.”

  ~*~

  The next morning Stefan took Tyler’s parents out for breakfast. Jordan stayed at the hospital to keep an eye on Tyler’s progress, as well as Damon’s. Tyler’s vitals were the same and Jordan knew Damon was the only one who could help him now. Damon still hadn’t awakened, and Jordan sat by his bed repeatedly telling him that Tyler was alive.

  Heath fell asleep beside Caleb’s bed. He had been moved from recovery to a private room, but the heavy medication had kept him mostly asleep, and incoherent if he awoke.

  He felt a hand on his shoulder and jerked awake.

  “Steve?”

  “Hey dude, I heard. I came as fast as I could.”

  Heath stood up and Steve took him in his arms, hugging his friend tightly.

  “How did you hear?” Heath stepped back.

  “Charlie told me. She figured you could use a friend.”

  “What happened to you?”

  Steve was on crutches. “Tore a ligament in my knee. I’m okay, though. Just going to need therapy for a while.”

  “I’m glad you’re here,” Heath admitted.

  “So this is the fiancé, huh? Good-looking guy.” Steve winked.

  “Brave, too.”

  Heath and Steve sat down and Heath filled him in on what Caleb had gone through to rescue Mark and Tyler.

  “Stop talking about me like I’m some kind of hero,” Caleb croaked.

  “Oh God, baby, you’re awake!’ Heath jumped up and leaned over his fiancé.

  “Easy there…sore arm.” Caleb smiled weakly.

  Heath kissed him lightly. “I’m so glad you’re okay, I was so worried.”

  Caleb narrowed his eyes at Steve. “You replace me already?”

  Steve laughed. “Hell no, dude. Heath and I have been friends since grade school. Besides, I’m not gay.”

  “Well, we can’t all be perfect,” Caleb croaked again.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t talk, Caleb.” Heath touched his cheek.