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Chance was still sleeping heavily, so I crawled out of the tent, added some wood to the fire, and took care of my morning nature call. I filled the coffee pot with water from the stream and set it in the fire.
After Chance woke up, I helped him stand so he could make his own trip to the bushes. When he came back, he started packing up his gear. "We'll leave my sleeping pad on the ground cloth, so we can work on my leg after we eat."
I had the feeling he thought neither of us might be interested in food after we dealt with his ankle. I packed up everything except what we needed to tend to his leg.
Guilt over Chance's injury had resurfaced with a vengeance this morning. "I'm so sorry I pushed you off the trail," I said. "What will you do if you can't lead hunts for a while?"
"First, it was an accident. Second, let's not get ahead of ourselves. I'm not going to worry about what ifs. Once I know the plan for recovery, I'll figure something out."
When Chance said he was ready, I knelt by his injured ankle. "You have to tell me if I hurt you," I said as I began to untie the yoga pants. I laid them on the pad, unsure whether we'd use them again or not.
"If those are your yoga pants, what did you sleep in last night?"
I tried to give him a coy look, but it probably looked more like queasy. Earlier I'd thought it was a good idea to eat before dealing with Chance's injury. I was afraid that after we saw it, neither of us might be interested in food for a while. I hadn't stopped to think that it might not be good to see it on a full stomach. Basically, neither option was good.
He reached for the sign and pulled it up, so he could look at it. "Where'd you get this?"
"I found it in the stream."
"Did you look at it?"
"Other than to see that it was the right size and I could bend it, no."
He turned it around, so I could read what it said. "Restricted Area. Absolutely no admittance. Deadly force is authorized beyond this fence," I read aloud.
The expectant look on Chance's face told me I was missing something. "What does it matter? It's just an old sign."
"Maybe," he said.
I carefully removed the t-shirt I'd wrapped around his ankle, while shifting my gaze between the injury and his face. I saw him wince in pain, so I stopped. I was only barely keeping the tears at bay, so I took some deep breaths.
"We have to do this," he said. "I'm OK."
Somehow, I managed not to throw up when I saw the wound exposed again. It was a lot more discolored than the day before. He looked it over. "What did it look like when you found me? Does it look different? Was there much blood?"
I explained what it looked like and what I did. He touched several spots around his ankle. "OK. We need to straighten it. It will be less painful, if we get it back into the right position."
I just nodded. I didn't want to watch, but I couldn't look away. He bent his knee, so he could reach the ankle. He moved it until it look like it was pointing the right direction again, before collapsing back on the sleeping pad.
"Are you OK?" I asked, scooting up next to his head.
"I'll be fine. I just need to rest a minute before we splint it."
He had set aside two pieces of the wood I brought for the fire. I helped when he needed me, and we got the leg splinted with the wood and a wrap from the first aid kit. He removed the lacing from his boot and managed to get his foot inside. We couldn't lace it up, but at least there was some protection. I could tell how painful it was, but he didn't complain. He took two pain pills and swallowed them without water.
"Just let me rest a few minutes, and then we'll get going," he said.
When he was ready, I helped him up and held his pack for him to slip his arms through. I offered to carry both packs, but he laughed it off. Once he was standing I gathered up the last of our gear. "Don't forget the sign," he said. I stuck it in my pack, and we headed back toward the campsite where we spent the previous night.
"If rescue is on its way, why didn't we just sit tight where we were? This can't be good for your leg."
"I'm not sure if they'll come in on horses, ATVs, or get dropped off by chopper. Either way, rescue will be easier and quicker if were in a more open spot. Plus, the walking may not be great for my foot, but it will definitely improve my mood."