Rescue

Jack knew he had to go slowly down the steep, winding road. The wet leaves made it even slicker. It was only seven o’clock in the morning, and the sun was trying to break through the morning fog. He was riding the break as he eased around the tight curves. He and his wife had arrived at the lake house late the night before. He was going down to the general store at the bottom of the hill to get coffee and some breakfast food. He first noticed a whisper of smoke coming up from the side of the narrow road that dropped into a deep ravine along the right side. As he got closer to the spot, he saw the skid marks through the wet leaves. He slowed to a stop, and looked down the rocky edge of the road. He could see the black SUV on its side being held up by a small tree keeping it from dropping even farther down the ravine. It was leaning down on the passenger side. The front and back wheels on the driver’s side were off the ground, and still slowly spinning. He pulled to a stop about twenty feet passed the spot, and jumped out.

Jack ran back to spot above the SUV.

He yelled, “Hey, can you hear me?”

He heard a muffled voice. “Help, please, help us!”

Jack said, “Hold on. I’m calling for help.”

The voice answered, “Please, please hurry. My daughter is with me.”

Jack’s cell phone showed no bars. He hit the Emergency button on the phone, and nothing.

“Please help. I can’t get the door open, and I’m afraid to move. I don’t want to fall down the hill.”

It was just a month ago when Jack had the same panicked feeling. They had recently moved into the upscale neighborhood in suburban Philadelphia. Jack was 32 and was working at one of the city’s top law firms. His wife was a college professor. Their world revolved around their two year old daughter Katie. He couldn’t get her face out of his mind as he looked down into the ravine.

“Hold on. I’m coming down,” he said as he started making his way down the rocky incline holding on to the small bushes and trees as he climbed down about twenty-five feet to the SUV. He could see right away it was unstable. He could hear the little girl crying.

“I can’t get the door open. I think my wrist is broken,” said the woman whose face seemed bruised from the airbag. The SUV was sitting at a 45 degree angle.

“Please be careful!”, said the woman. Jack could see she was about his age and she was crying and breathing fast.

“My daughter is in the back. I can’t get to her,” she said.

Jack looked back at the little girl who was crying. He remembered the awful crashing sound outside the master bedroom in their house. He tried to brace himself. He reached up to pull open the door handle. The SUV started to move.

“Oh God, please be careful. It’s moving,” the woman said.

“I know, I know. It’s okay. What’s your name?”, asked Jack trying to calm her down a little.

“Julie,” she said.

“I’m Jack. We’re going to get you out of this,” said Jack whose heart was pounding and he had serious doubts about what he could do.

He tried to pull the handle again, and it opened, but the SUV rocked. The door would only open about halfway. Jack reached in and grabbed Julie’s seatbelt.

“Can you pop the seatbelt?”, he asked.

Julie reached down with her right hand and managed to unlocked the belt.

“Okay, I want you to try to swing your legs around toward me and out the door,” said Jack as he took her by the shoulders and tried to turn her toward him. The SUV swayed. Julie tried to reach out to Jack with her left hand, but she couldn’t put any pressure on it. She was sure it was broken.

“Put your right hand around my neck and hold on. I’m going to try to lift you out. But, move slowly,” said Jack.

He started to pull Julie up and out the seat. Julie moaned from the pain in her wrist.

“I’ve got you. Just keep coming,” Jack was straining to pull Julie out without shaking the SUV. He finally got her clear of the door, and turned her around and got a few feet back from the SUV where the cliff wall jutted out. Jack then put his arm around Julie’s waist, and carefully pulled her back up to the edge of the road.

“Oh God, thank you. Charlotte! You’ve got to get her out. Please, Please,” Julie was crying.

Jack gave her his phone.

“I want you to keep dialing 911. I couldn’t get a signal, but keep trying. Can you manage with your hand?”, said Jack.

He put the phone in her left hand that was already swollen from the break so she could dial with her right.

“I can do it,” she answered.

Jack went back down the embankment to the back driver’s side passenger door. He gently pulled it open, and managed to open it all the way. Charlotte was crying and looking right at him. He remembered it was a routine morning a month ago. He and his wife were in the bedroom getting ready for work. His wife was in the master bathroom, and he was just finishing his tie knot when he heard the noise. Katie was outside the bedroom in the hallway. The door was half open. She had been sitting out there playing with a Minnie Mouse doll. There was a safety gate across the top of the stairs. He couldn’t understand what the noise could be. He pushed open the door and could see Katie teetering on the top step as the safety gate went tumbling down the stairs. He was at full speed after his first step. Katie looked back at him as she was tilting forward. Jack felt a surge running through his body. It was a fear he never felt before. This can’t happen.

Jack could see he would have to climb at least halfway into the back seat to undo the car seat buckles. He knew if he moved too far into the SUV it could go crashing down a hundred feet into the rocky ravine. He felt the same fear he felt that morning. But, now it was someone else’s little girl. He braced himself with his left hand, and slowly pushed himself up and laid face down on the back seat. He slid across the back seat a few inches at a time. He could feel the SUV starting to tilt slightly downward. Charlotte was looking right at him and crying. He could see Katie’s face as she started to tumble forward down the stairs.

“It’s okay. I’m gonna get you. Don’t cry,” Jack whispered trying to convince himself.

He managed to reach his right hand across the seat. Now came the real challenge, unsnapping those damn buttons on the strap that run between Charlotte’s legs and the harness that snaps in the middle of her chest. Those were a real pain in the ass when you weren’t hanging off the side of a cliff. He struggled to get his hand inside the strap between Charlotte’s legs. The button felt stuck. He pressed as hard as he could. He felt as if this had been going on for an hour, but it was just a few minutes. He felt Charlotte squirming. He could see Katie going forward off the top step as he lunged to grab her. He was sweating. He pressed the button again. It clicked and released the strap. Now, he had to get the harness around Charlotte’s chest unlocked.

He could hear Julie say “There’s been on accident.”

She finally got a cell signal.

“My car went off the side of the road. My daughter’s inside. It’s hanging off a cliff. Please, Please send someone. I’m not sure where we are. It’s on Mountain Road down from Hidden Lake. There’s a man trying to get my daughter out. God, hurry please! Yes, yes, I’ll stay on the phone.”

Jack used his left hand to brace the car seat, and got his right hand inside the buckle on Charlotte’s chest. He got it to pop open. He now had to get the harness off Charlotte’s two shoulders and pull her out of the seat. He pulled himself up on the seat on his knees. The SUV was starting sway. He flashed back to Katie tumbling down the stairs as he raced down behind her. My God, he thought this is happening again. He pulled Charlotte up and out of the car seat. He could hear the small tree that was holding up the SUV snap, and could feel the vehicle starting to give way. He wrapped his right arm around Charlotte, and used his left hand to push himself  back along the seat as the SUV was moving downward.

“Hurry, hurry, please. It’s falling!” Julie was screaming.

Jack got his legs out of the SUV and tried to plant his feet. The weight of the SUV was pulling him forward. He got his feet under him and pushed backward as hard as he could with his arm around Charlotte’s chest. He fell back into a sitting position just clearing the bottom of the SUV as it crashed in slow motion down into the rocky ravine. Julie screamed. Jack saw himself at the bottom of his stairs reaching to pick up Katie. The stairs were scheduled to be carpeted the next day.

Julie screamed, “You saved her. Oh God. Is she okay?” Jack slowly made his way back up to the road holding Charlotte close to his chest with his right arm. Just then a fire engine, police car, and an ambulance were pulling up trying to park along the narrow road. The first responders jumped out of their vehicles and ran over.

“Is everyone okay?”, one of the paramedics said.

Julie said, “He saved my baby. We skidded off the road…” she started sobbing.

The paramedic could see her wrist was injured. Jack gave Charlotte to the other paramedic.

“I think she’s okay. Just scared,” said Jack.

They quickly got Julie and Charlotte into the ambulance. Julie was asking one of the paramedics to dial her husband.

She said, “ Jack, how can I possibly thank you? I don’t even know your last name. Please give me your number.”

Jack suddenly felt completely drained. The cop handed Jack his pad and a pen. Jack just looked at him.

“Just write down your number, sir. We’ll make sure she gets it. Are you okay? Do you want to go to the hospital?” asked the young cop.

Jack wrote down his number and said, “No, I’m fine.”

He never wanted to go back to another hospital again. He remembered he and his wife crammed into an ambulance while a paramedic worked on Katie. The overwhelming frantic feeling of helplessness and responsibility. You are suppose to protect and take care of your child. He kept hearing the doctor telling him and his wife that they did all they could. Why wasn’t it enough, goddamn it? Why did the safety gate give way? Why couldn’t I reach her in time? Why would God let me save a little girl I didn’t even know, and take my own child?

He called his wife and told her there had been an accident. He would be delayed getting back. He needed time and didn’t want to tell her on the phone. He wasn’t sure he wanted to tell her at all. She was having a very tough time. The only reason they were at the lake was because a senior partner at his law firm offered the house so they could just get away. When he got back to the house with the coffee and bagels, he couldn’t bring himself to tell his wife, and tried to act normally. They even had started talking about having another baby. They had breakfast and decided to go for a long walk. The sun was out. It was a warm, early fall day. The leaves were starting to change. They talked about joining a support group, and trying to do something in Katie’s memory. But, it still felt very raw. They walked for almost two hours. When they got back to the house, Jack’s phone dinged with a text. He looked down at a picture of Charlotte smiling.

It said, “My hero”. His wife asked, “Who’s that?” Jack sat down and started to weep.