"Crew chief has the target, continue to move forward fifty, forty, thirty, twenty. Tail and main rotor are clear, you can come down ten." Move was horizontal and come was vertical. Sean directed the pilot as close to the target as possible while keeping them all safe.
Ty waited, his heart pounding in his ears nearly as loud as the helicopter. It was moments now. The helicopter went stationary, hovering above the target.
"Rescuer will now be lowered out the door."
Sam began to feed the rope through to the breaker bar to lower Ty. Ty swung beneath the skid in a smooth, practiced move, the bottom of his boots snug against it to prevent oscillation.
"Rescuer one is going inverted," Sean reported to the pilot as Ty went upside down.
From that point the ball was in Ty's court. He signaled with exaggerated arm movements to the crew chief who relayed instructions to the pilot. Everything would depend on what he found when he reached the victim. Blood rushed through his body and his heart pounded almost as loudly as the violent waves below. Time seemed to slow, to tunnel, as he narrowed his focus to the waiting victim.
As he descended, he could see the waves breaking over the more jagged rocks farther below where the victim--a teenage boy--appeared to be conscious, but was writhing in pain. As Ty drew near, he could hear the boy screaming.
"Rescuer is four feet, three, two, one. Rescuer is on the ground. Come down five for slack."
Ty disconnected the moment he was stable on the huge rock formation.
"Rescuer is D.C.ing. Rescuer is moving left-front."
The rope began to retract as Ty made his way to the victim. The rocks were slippery and he had to use extreme caution.
"Rope is coming back into cabin. Rescue supervisor is into cabin. Crew chief coming into cabin. Crew chief in cabin. You are cleared for forward flight."
Ty took a deep breath as Brannigan took the helicopter back to the clearing and shut down to give him time to assess the patient without distraction. The boy's face was twisted with pain, but he tracked his rescuer with his gaze as Ty eased his way over the outcropping and around loose rock. To his astonishment, he recognized the kid.
Drew Madison was a leukemia patient. What in the world would he be doing climbing the cliffs of Sea Lion Cove?
"Drew. You've got yourself in a bit of a mess, but I'm here now. We'll get you out of this." He kept his voice soothing and calm. "Work with me. I know it hurts, but we're giving you a ride in the helicopter. How many people can say that?" As he talked, he quickly checked vitals and looked for places the blood was coming from. "Do you know where you are?"
Drew nodded, his eyes a little wild. "On the rocks."
"Good, good. And your name?"
"Drew Madison."
Ty grinned at him. "You appear to have fallen off the cliff, Drew, and you have a couple of broken bones. I want you to lie quietly and be very still for me. It's slippery up here."
Drew had a bump on his forehead. His legs had taken the brunt of the fall. He'd landed on his feet, gone to his knees and had fallen forward, facedown, which wasn't consistent with most falls. Most victims of a fall had massive head trauma from landing on their heads.
Drew had multiple fractures for certain on the left leg, and at least one clean break on the right. He had numerous scrapes and a couple of deep cuts, a possible broken rib where his elbow drove into his side on impact, but most importantly, his head had escaped with no more than a few bumps and bruises. He had signs of shock, his skin was cold and clammy, his pulse rapid.
"Copter one hundred and one, this is rescuer one hundred and one."
"Rescuer one hundred and one, this is copter one hundred and one, go ahead." Brannigan's voice came back very clear.
"I need second rescuer and stokes."
"Okay. We're about two minutes out, see you in two."
Drew grabbed at Ty's arm. "Don't leave me here. I shouldn't have done it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It hurts. It hurts so bad."
"I'm not leaving you, kid. We're taking a ride together." Ty's brain worked at rapid speed, assimilating data, and nothing about this fall was adding up. Drew Madison was a seventeen-year-old boy who had battled leukemia most of his life. He had no business climbing a cliff on any day, let alone one when it was pouring down rain and certainly not alone. Had there been some kind of dare? The boy that called it in, had he been a part of a stupid prank gone wrong?
Ty worked on Drew's wounds, stabilizing his legs for traveling in the stokes. The kid was in terrible pain, yet he fought back his need to scream and tried to cooperate with Ty. Shock was setting in and the boy shivered continually.
Ty kept talking to him. "It won't be long. You'll like the helicopter. And the medics are waiting and can give you something for pain right away."
"You won't leave me?" Drew kept a death grip on his shirt.
"No, we'll ride up together. Here's the helicopter now. They're sending down the stokes with another rescuer." The boy was shaking so hard Ty feared he might slide off the rock. He kept talking to distract him from the pain. "The stokes is a basket we put you in for the ride and then we'll hook both you and the basket to the collection ring and up we go. We'll be out of here in no time."
Doug Higgens was rescuer two and he dropped carefully to the rocks with the stokes in tow.
The pilot moved the helicopter. "Rescuer one, how long do you think?"
"About fiftee
n minutes," Ty answered.
"Okay, we're going back to the meadow and shutting down."
Doug and Ty worked quickly to package Drew in the stokes, doing their best to keep from jarring him as they immobilized his legs and double-checked his safety lines. They had done this before and, other than the rock being extremely slippery and the ocean pounding around them, the process was smooth. Ty kept up a running dialogue with the boy, his tone soothing and calm, noticing when he quit speaking the teenager became more agitated.
"We're ready," he announced to Brannigan.
"Okay, be there in five," Brannigan answered immediately.
"What if I fall out of the basket?" Drew asked.
Ty noted the boy's voice was beginning to get thready. He frowned at Doug over the kid's head. "You're connected to a collection ring separate from the stokes, Drew. Even if the stokes should fall, if something fails, you'd still be connected. Not to worry, I'll be riding with you all the way. It's like taking a ride in the clouds."
The helicopter was overhead, Brannigan maneuvering beneath the rim of the cliff with his usual precision. The rope dropped almost in Ty's lap. He connected his line to the collection ring first, then Drew's line and finally the stokes. He signaled to the crew chief to come up.
"Come up ten for slack," Sean instructed Brannigan. "Rope is taut. Stokes is coming off the ground, hold for rescuer adjustment."
Ty adjusted the prussic knots so that the stokes was in position with his body for the ride. The rescuer always rode with the stokes waist level so he could reassure the victim and keep them calm. He signaled ready.
Sean's voice in his ear relayed the signal to Brannigan and the helicopter began to continue to climb. Drew cried out, closing his eyes tightly.
"You're fine," Ty said. "You might want to take a look around you . . ."
Abruptly Ty's voice faded as terror gripped him. Utter shock. He was suddenly free-falling. No warning whatsoever, simply tumbling away from the stokes, away from Drew and down onto the jagged rocks below. Time slowed. He felt as if he were falling in slow motion. He heard the roar of the ocean and realized it was the sound of his own heart thundering in his ears. He saw the horror in Sean's face and then his vision blurred as his body tumbled and the rocks grew larger.
"Fuck! Oh, shit. Hold! Hold! Hold! Rescuer just fell," Sean blurted. "Damn it, rescuer just fell."