Chapter 4: Icy Tear

They slept trough the morning and well into the afternoon. It was too late to go skiing, so they decided to go ice skating instead. There was a skating rink just two blocks from the house.
"We can have a hot dog or a burger sitting by the rink before we go on it" Val said.
"Yesh!" answered Jenny, and then added "I'm starving."
Val smiled "come on, Princess... let's get going."
They started getting ready but then he stopped...
"What are you staring at, Fly Boy?" she said half annoyed half amused at his dreamy expression.
"The most beautiful woman in all the Universes" he said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Jenny blushed, walked up to him and kissed him lovingly. "You say the sweetest things, Val."
They finished putting all their Winter stuff on while stealing quick kisses from each other, Jenny giggling and Val smiling all the time. Then they grabbed their ice skates and went out. They were walking hand in hand as they left the house, but an icy wind picked up not long after and pushed them together into a warm embrace. Val placed his left arm around her shoulders, and Jenny slid her right arm under his jacket, around his waist. They walked a bit faster and soon were sitting by the skating rink having their late lunch. Once they were done, Val helped Jenny with her skate laces... He knew well she needed no help, but loved doing it. And because she knew he loved it, she allowed him to.
They only skated for a couple of hours, as they had agreed not to stay up late that night, so they could go skiing the following morning.
"Can we go shopping at The Village, before dinner?" she asked in her sweetest voice. The Village was what they called a commercial area at the ski resort base. It was loaded with every kind of store a girl could want.
"Of course we can, my Love" Val could never resist her when she used that tone. As a matter of fact, Val almost never could say "no" to anything Jenny asked him for. He loved her so much, he wanted to make her happy in any way possible.
They went to The Village and started browsing around the stores.
"Val... I need to buy some... women's stuff... do you mind if I go in there for a bit?" she said pointing to a lingerie store. "But you can't come with me" she added... she actually wanted to buy a really nice pj for herself and surprise him.
"Sure, Princess... I'll go get the lift tickets to save time tomorrow" he also had secret plans...
They kissed quick... but then Val pulled her to him and kissed her longer.
"Meet me in front of the coffee shop" said Jenny before disappearing into the store.
Val run to the admin building... he had lots more to do than just getting the lift tickets. Although he had already arranged most of it, he still needed to give it the finishing touches and set the plan in motion.
Jenny was already waiting for him when he arrived at the coffee shop.
"Hope I didn't make you wait too long, love" he said hugging her.
"Yeah! You did. What took you so long?" she said playfully cuddling in his arms.
"I'll make it up to you" he said smiling and kissed her passionately.
"Hey Val, let's have pizza for dinner before going back to the cottage" she said after the kiss. "I walked by the pizza parlour, and the smell coming from inside made my mouth water."
After dinner they walked back to the house and went to bed early as they had planned.
Morning came and they hurried through breakfast to get ready before the courtesy shuttle went by. They didn't want to have to walk carrying their skis, and the parking lot at the base was way too busy, so driving was not a good idea. They got dressed in their ski clothes and left the house just in time to catch the shuttle. It was a beautiful morning for skiing... The sky was clear and deep blue... not a cloud to be seen. Before they knew it they were getting of the shuttle at the base. They walked up to the lifts area, and put on their skis.
"Let's go on that chair, sweetheart" Val said pointing to the nearest one.
Jenny looked at it dubiously... "Isn't that the one that goes all the way to the top?"
"Yup!" said Val with a smile.
"It's too long a ride, Fly Boy..." she complained. "I want to ski now."
"Pretty please, my sweet Princess" Val said wrapping his arms around her and kissing her neck in a way he knew drove her crazy. That always disarmed her...
"Oh gosh! I can't say No when you do that" she said closing her eyes and enjoying his kisses. "Ok Val.. ok... but I get to chose the next one" she added and pulled his face to hers to kiss his lips.
"Fair enough" answered Val with a smile.
They made their way to the lift and waited in line for their turn. Once they got on the chair, Jenny rested her head on his shoulder. Half way up, the lift stopped and wind blew icy snow from the snow machines onto their faces.
"Brrrr. It's cold!" Jenny nuzzled her face into Val's ski jacket.
Below them, skiers zipped by, racing down the hill.
"Don't worry, hun... it'll start again soon " Val said putting an arm around her shoulders and hugging her tight.
"But it's warm in here" was her muffled response.
Val smile... and as if on cue, the lift started moving again.
"We'll be up there soon" he said "and you see the view!"
Jenny peeked out. Wow! it's amazing up here... almost like flying!
She pointed a gloved hand at the hill. "Wow! it's so far... Oooo, the snow looks so pretty" she gushed.
Val said nothing... so lost was he on his plan. He was rehearsing everything over and over in his mind. His words, timing, posture... he'd need to take off his skis quickly...
"Hey Fly Boy" she waved her hand in front of his face. "I asked you if you wanted to get hot chocolate at that little place you told me about, half way down the hill."
"What?... oh, sorry hun... I was thinking..." was his reply. Then he added, as he noted she was still waiting for an answer to her question "yeah, for sure!"
"Oh, ok" she smiled "what are you thinking about?" she asked innocently
"Ummmm..." caught off guards Val blushed... "which trail we should take to ski down..." he lied.
"Oh, ok" she laughed "well, I don't think double black diamond is a good idea right now. How about single black diamond?"
"My same thoughts!" he said smiling.
"Ok, good" Jenny said, and looked ahead as they were almost at the top.
"Get ready, hun... and let's go right... I think that's the nicest single black diamond from up here." said Val patting her left knee affectionately and lifting the security bar.
"Ok. You have been here more than I have" Jenny said agreeably.
They finally got there and got off the chair lift, at the top of the mountain- like on top of the world- and Jenny found herself facing a huge sign on the snow that read "Jenny, will you marry me? Love, Val"
She gasped and turned to look at Val. Tears ran down her face freezing in the chilly air. Val had taken off his skis and was down on one knee holding an open box made in the shape of a Tardis... the ring inside was made of gold, but had little blue stones- "Tardis Blue" stones- along the sides, and a diamond in the middle... the ring was also Tardis style, as the box.
"Omg!" Jenny covered her mouth in shock. She quickly jumped off her skis... Yes! Of course yes! She flung herself at him and hugged him tightly.
Her tears traced frozen tracks down her cheeks. "I thought you would never ask" she chocked out.
Val took her left hand glove off and slid the ring in, smiling. Jenny's eyes glowed and she smiled.
He replaced her glove, so her hand wouldn't freeze... "I love you more than life, Jenny"
Then he kissed her long and passionately. She kissed him back. "Finally" she thought "after months and months he finally proposed."
"Well, would my fiancé want to have some skiing fun?" Val asked smiling widely.
"Of course I would" she said smiling too.
They headed towards the trail... and stopped at the top to look down... "That's a long way down!" Val said laughing
"Not too long for you, Fly Boy. I will see you at the bottom" she kissed him quickly.
He laughed and followed her into the trail. Before going down, he stuffed his scarf into her pocket. On her quizzing look, he said "for luck" and then winked.
She rolled her eyes and said "you and your lucky things, Fly Boy" but she was touched by his gesture of affection. She started down zig zagging gradually picking up speed. Her hair whipped around in the wind. He followed her, but started getting closer to the edge of the trail.
"Hey Jenny" he shouted "how about some off-trail skiing?" and he went right off.
Val went dangerously close to the edge of a ledge, but skilfully turned and stopped... "Phew" he said under his breath looking sideways at the long way he almost fell "that was close".
He waved at Jenny to let her see he was ok. Val started to position his skis to go back to the trail... when he heard a scary "CRACK" under his feet... With a sickening feeling in his stomach, he pushed on his poles to get out of there... but it was too late.
The snow under him gave way and he started to topple backwards... "JENNY!!!" he managed to scream in fear
"Val!" she couldn't do anything but watch in horror.
He fell spread eagle against the sky then fell out of sight, down the far side of the mountain. Soon he was completely buried.
For Val, it all happened in slow motion... he could see himself falling backwards, away from the mountain... snow falling with him... and shortly after the ledge had broken, another big chunk broke off too...
As he fell he looked up and saw only snow... "Great... I'm falling and that will fall on top of me" and that was his last thought... then a searing pain as he hit the bottom of the chasm, snow burying him... and he passed out.
Jenny pulled out her phone and dialed the ski lodge. "There's been an accident" she said haltingly.
She gave the general location, her voice shaking. "Please don't be dead" she thought.
The team arrived promptly. In order to search more effectively they asked her if she had anything of his. At first she was going to say no. Then remembered his scarf. "Ironic" she thought to herself. What a cruel joke! She handed the scarf over. "I hope it really is lucky" she thought miserably.
Val opened his eyes, but all he could see was a whitish blur... "What happened?" he thought... then the pain jolted him from head to toes... and he remembered. "I'm buried in snow!" he thought "got to get out of here or I'll die" but he could not move at all. Even breathing was difficult.
Jenny waited anxiously back at the lodge. She paced back and forth, twisting her ring around her finger. She glanced at the clock again... One hour, and nothing yet.
Val struggled to stay focused on finding a way to get himself out of that snow grave... but could not think. He felt suddenly very tired and numb. He knew what that was... had read about it, as he was a seasoned skier... Hypothermia! He wanted to fight it... but knew he had no chance... "Oh Jenny! what have I done? I'm so sorry, my Love... so sorry" was his last thought before he passed out again.
Two hours... Jenny was a nervous wreck. She hugged herself. "Come on, please" she thought to herself.
A large Saint Bernard started barking and pawing at the snow in one spot. The whole area showed signs of avalanche, so they knew they were in the right place. The dog started digging and soon the rescue team joined in with their shovels... they had to dig carefully, as they didn't know how deep Val was buried and they could hurt him.
Three hours... Jenny's tears of despair came down her cheeks tracing the same tracks tears of happiness had hours earlier come down along.
One guy from the team pulled out a radio and talked into it. "Let the girl know we have found her boyfriend. We are digging him out now."
Someone walked up to Jenny. His face was grim. Jenny braced herself.
"They found him" was all he said.
"Is he ok? Is he alive? What happened? When is he coming?" the questions poured from Jenny's mouth...
Val was suddenly aware of a noise above him, but he could not hold on to consciousness and passed out again... but just before passing out, he felt warm breath on his face "Jenny?" he said weakly... and blacked out. The dog had finally uncovered Val's face and was breathing warm air on him. One guy on the team reached down and touched his neck, searching for a pulse... very weak, but he found it.
"He's alive" he shouted. The news got repeated on the radio back to base.
Jenny gasped and tears of joy ran down her cheeks. She didn't care how badly hurt he was as long as he was alive.
"Come on guys! Let's put our backs into it... this chap here needs urgent medical attention" the guy that had checked Val's pulse said, and at the same time pulled a small injector from a pouch, and shot a medicine into Val's neck.
They worked hard and soon had Val completely uncovered... his legs were bent at an unnatural angle, his face had frozen blood all over...
"Careful now... this guy is seriously banged up." They slid a stretcher under him, and lifted him out of the snow hole they had dug around him.
One guy spoke again on the radio... "Let the young lady know we are on our way to base, and get the ambulance ready on stand by for our arrival... this guy goes straight to the hospital."
Soon, Val was wrapped in thermal blankets, secured in a medical sled, the rescue team expertly skiing him back to base, at top speed.
Jenny was ushered hurriedly toward the back of the lodge... an ambulance was waiting there.
They got to the base and circled around the lodge to the back towards the waiting ambulance... there they saw a beautiful young woman standing nervously to one side.
"You must be this fellow's girlfriend" one of the guys said addressing Jenny.
"I'm his fiancé" she said. "Is he ok?" Her eyes widened in concern.
"He's in pretty bad shape... Hypothermia... several obvious fractures and bruises" the guy said... "but he'll live. Good thing you had his scarf... otherwise the dogs wouldn't have found him in time" he added, handing her the scarf back.
"Oh, thank you" she gushed "thank you for bringing him back alive."
"Just doing our job, Madam" the guy said, nodded, turned around and left.
Val was completely wrapped in a thermal blanket except for his face, that was caked in frozen blood in many places. His eyes remained closed and his skin looked pale but Jenny could see his nostrils moving almost imperceptibly as he breathed in and out. They loaded him into the ambulance and she ran to his side and sat beside him. A paramedic got on the ambulance back and sat opposite to Jenny, on the other side of Val's stretcher.
"We'll take good care of him, Miss" she said.
Jenny nodded and gently brushed a strand of hair from Val's forehead.
Then the paramedic got busy unwrapping Val, and setting up an IV and monitoring wires as the back door closed and the ambulance started moving. The woman started talking on a radio, giving the hospital the heads up on the condition of the patient they were bringing in.
"Hypothermia... fractures on both legs... Yes, yes... the vitals are weak... it seems he was buried in snow for some 3 hours... multiple fractures on right arm... no exposed fractures... hmmmm... nothing else I can tell at this time."
Jenny frowned at the report and worried. The paramedic noticed Jenny's concerned expression and reached over Val's stretcher to pat her right hand.
"He'll be fine, hun... I know the report sounds bad, but he's in good hands... we have the best doctors. Your husband will be alright."
"Actually, we've just got engaged" Jenny said her voice like glass. "He proposed right before the...." She broke off into sobs.
The older woman looked at the younger woman sympathetically... "Then he has every reason to fight his way out of this, sweetie... he's obviously strong and hard headed... not many survive 3 hours buried in snow... he'll be fine, hun... you'll see."