“It’s 4:50. Where the hell is Ally?” Mike screamed frustratedly at Nick.
“She said that she would be here at four.” Nick countered.
“Well, she’s not.” Mike yelled curtly.
Nick was a little worried. Ally had never been late for a shoot. He hadn’t seen her since right before the last run that he, Ally, and Rachel had taken. “I’ll go look for her if that will help.” He offered.
Mike motioned for Nick to go. Quickly, Nick left the snowbank and headed back to the lodge where Matt and Rachel were seated around a fireplace sipping hot chocolate. When Nick reached them, Rachel was telling Matt some long-winded story. “Hey you guys, have you seen Ally?”
“Not recently,” Rachel said. In her mind, she was giving herself props for getting rid of Ally for a little while.
“Are you sure that she said that she would be back in time for the shoot. She’s 50 minutes late.” Nick asked Rachel.
“Positive,” Rachel lied.
Nick could see that Rachel was hiding something. “Are you sure?” he emphasized.
“Geez Nick. I’m completely positive. God.” Rachel said, a little annoyed.
“Okay, see you guys later.” With that, Nick turned with rage and practically ran out of the lodge. “Ally has to be up there.” Nick thought.
Thirty minutes later, Nick was retracing his steps on the black the three of them had taken. About half way down, Nick stopped. At his feet was a little blue glove with a huge white snowflake on the palm. The same glove that he made fun of Ally for wearing only hours ago. Nick looked around expectantly. It was then that he noticed that the boundary line ribbon had been broken. He inched his way over towards the edge of the cliff and peered over. His heart nearly stopped at what he saw. Ally was lying on her side, eyes closed. The snow under her head was blood red and her left leg was bent oddly out of shape. “Oh my God!” Nick thought. “Ally!” he screamed. Silence. “Ally!!” he screamed again.
Ally could faintly hear someone calling her name. She attempted to open her eyes, but it was useless. If only Nick were here to help her, she would be okay.
Nick popped off his skis and slid down the hill a little ways until he was inches away from Ally. “This isn’t happening,” Nick said. “Not again.”
He reached Ally seconds later. He felt around her neck for a pulse. He found only a faint, almost indistinguishable one. He remembered back to the time that Kevin had attempted to teach him first aid. Nick wished that he had listened harder. Nevertheless, some of Kevin’s words were drifting into Nick’s head.
“Keep the victim warm. Don’t move them. Find help.”
Nick took off his coat and placed it over Ally’s motionless body. “I’ll be back.” Nick said more to himself than to Ally. Quickly he climbed up the cliff and started calling for help. Ten minutes into his search, a ski patrolman could be seen starting at the top of the hill. Nick began calling for help until his voice hurt.
Ally could feel herself become colder and colder as the minutes ticked by. “What was going on?” she thought. Her entire body was fighting to stay alive.
“Ally?” she could hear. “Ally?”
Was she dreaming?
“Ally,” the voice said again.
“I can’t be dreaming.” Ally thought. A second of clarity ran through her mind. It was Nick! Nick was the one calling her name. Ally’s lips parted. She tried calling his name but found that she couldn’t. Finally, with her last ounce of strength Ally finally whispered “Nick.”
Chapter Twenty
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