Unlikely.
A few minutes later Chris stopped in front of one of the routes popular for beginners. It wouldn’t last long, but they’d come early enough they had the spot to themselves.
Climbing was one of the few things worth getting up early for.
Graham dropped his helmet, ropes, and shoes and uncapped his water while Chris told Tyler about the climb.
“I’m not sure if you’ve done multipitch routes, but just to be on the safe side I thought we’d start here. It gets a little awkward halfway up, but the bolts are in good spots and it’s relatively even. We’ll set up a top rope for belay.” Chris glanced at Graham. “Wanna handle the anchor?”
“Sure.”
“Climb it or you can get to the top on foot if you head around the north side.”
He’d rather climb but it would be faster to hike, and they’d be waiting on him. He tossed his water to the ground, grabbing the equipment. He headed toward the path Chris pointed out but paused when Noah called out to him.
“Take your helmet for when you get up there,” Noah said, holding it out. “Just in case. It’s a decent height.”
Graham didn’t argue, looped one finger through the strap, and got moving. The mountain air filled his lungs as he hiked, the sounds of nature surrounding him.
Right on cue, he thought about Nathan.
Sometimes he wondered how different he might be if his best friend hadn’t died. He and Noah would have had an extra man on every climbing trip, for one.
Would Graham have been a godfather by now? They’d been at Nathan’s bachelor party the night of the accident, which meant he’d have been married for a decade and, knowing Nathan, would probably have had a kid or three by now.
Like Noah, Nathan had always been the relationship type. Neither had held the same casual, no-strings-attached dating style Graham maintained—one of the few things Graham and the Agnew brothers differed on.
Noah wasn’t the kind of friend who pushed his opinions on anyone, so even if he joked Graham would settle down one day, he’d leave well enough alone if Graham asked him to. He let people be who they were and accepted them as such. Nathan, on the other hand, had always been sure his was the opinion and wouldn’t stop until he’d made his case. Repeatedly. About women and anything else.
Would he have sold Graham on the idea of matrimony eventually?
Unlikely.
Graham brushed the thought away when he reached the top of the climb. Mostly because the guys would be able to see him from below and to avoid Noah yelling at him when he got back down, he put on his helmet. He grabbed four carabiners, a sling, and the rope and approached the edge.
Glancing down, he saw Chris and Tyler adjusting their harnesses. Noah glanced up and yelled something.
“What?” Graham called down.
“Anchor yourself!”
Shit. Usually if he placed a top rope he did it after climbing up and placing several pros along the way to catch him if he fell. Since he’d come up on foot he wasn’t on belay and had no safety net.
Leave it to Noah to keep him in line.
Just as he spun around to double back to where he’d dropped his gear, a strong gust of wind whooshed past, knocking him off balance.
His foot slipped and his arms flailed, seeking purchase and finding none. His stomach plummeted as his back hit the rock and gravity took hold. Graham had one last thought before pain shot through his body and everything went dark.
If I survive this, Claire’s gonna kill me.
7
Claire always tuned in at the mention of firefighter injuries. But traumas from the plethora of outdoor activities Denver and surrounding areas were known for?
Not so much.
They were just such frequent fliers in the ER she expected at least one per shift. Which was why when she heard Ruthie take the call about a climber coming by ambulance with several injuries, she’d caught very little other than to hear the patient would go straight to the trauma bay upon arrival.
Must be pretty bad, then.
Claire sat in front of her computer to chart and catch her breath for a few seconds. Two of the three patients currently assigned to her were high maintenance and she’d been running around for the last three hours getting medication, bringing ice chips and warm blankets, and providing written information on various potential medical conditions.
She hadn’t even taken a break to pee.
Might be wishful thinking, but she hoped things would be different once she was on shift as a provider. She loved being a nurse, always had, but had never been great at taking directions from other people. She’d still report to a physician once she officially made the move, but she’d also have more autonomy than she did now.