Christmas at the Cabin | ONC 2023 (Complete)

Two | Recalibrating

I admit to having had him repeat the rules back to me, allegedly so I could prove he was listening but also a little bit to piss him off. He's not the kind of guy used to giving up even a tiny piece of control and his jaw flexed each time I made him do something or check something.

We are now over an hour into our walk and not making as good time as I would have hoped or expected given his stated level of experience. I mean, we haven't even reached the end of the path I usually guide the kids down.

The crisp snow crunches underfoot as I trudge down the path, humming the Swiss national anthem as my pacing because it's stuck in my head. And we are walking that slowly.

"Can we stop to rest?" Mr. Know-it-all asks from behind, slightly out of breath.

"It's barely been an hour and you want to stop? Are you feeling alright, Mr. Serrano?"

"I'm sure I'm fine, I'm just having a little trouble breathing?"

Fuck.

"Okay, let's stop here." I scan the terrain I walk almost daily, looking for a path I know must be coming up. "There's a clearing just up ahead. Do you think you can make it?"

He nods, and he's able to talk to me, so it's not an emergency yet. Regardless, I'm not losing someone out here, so I pull out my radio and tune to the channel the shop is on. "Cliffside Lodge this is Amelia Conti. Do you copy?"

Bee loves the 'secret code' of radios. I have no idea how they work beyond the spy movies I watch.

"Hello Amelia this is Cliffside Lodge. You have Beatrix. We copy."

"Bee! Thank goodness. Mr. Serrano is having some difficulty breathing. Going to triage here but prepare the rescue equipment just in case, please."

"Roger that, Amelia. If you don't report back in fifteen minutes I'll send them out."

I glance back at Damien pulling at his scarf. "Make it ten."

Crackles on the other end of the line. "Missed what you said, Amelia. Over."

"Send them in ten," I say again.

"We read you. Ten minutes unless you call them off."

"Thanks, Bee."

"You got it, Captain."

She brings the call to a close and I find the clearing, pulling the bush out of the way and letting Damien slip through. His breathing looks mostly normal, and it doesn't seem like he's struggling to walk, but you never know with these things.

"Do you have asthma or any other breathing problems I should know about?" I ask, flopping my bag off my shoulders so I'll have easier access to the first aid kit packed right at the top for just such a reason. "Any allergies I should know about?"

I have all of this information on a piece of paper in my pack, but if he's capable of telling me, it's faster.

"No allergies. I did have mild asthma as a child but I've never needed medicine for it as long as I can remember." And he's still talking without needing to pause for breath. All good signs.

"Okay." I point to the large rock I usually sit on to read stories to the children. "Sit there and take a break. Just relax. I'm going to sit here and observe to make sure everything's okay but we're just going to monitor you for a minute. You seem to be breathing okay now that we're stopped. That's a good thing. I think you're going to be okay."

My smile is probably completely obscured by my scarf and jacket so I nod, trying to be reassuring.

He sits on the rock and crosses his arms over his chest, glaring at me as though I were the cause of his hardship and not the person making sure he stays alive. His knee bounces as he waits, twisting his scarf ends between his fingers.