After a few days off...

I took a few days off to see my family down in Utah. I took the children and went to my sister Valerie's house, who was just married, and then to my other sisters' houses, Rachael and Marian. It was a nice couple of days to enjoy spring break. My daughter spent two extra days with her cousin Taylor and then, in order to return her to the family, Rachael and I met in Lava Hot Springs and swam for a couple of hours in their hot pools. Then we swapped back kids and went home to real life. :(

As I spent time at Lava Hot Springs, I had a chance to make sure I had the details and descriptions of the place correct for a scene in my Persuasion book. This is the scene; for those who have read the Jane Austen original, Lava in my book correlates to Lyme, England in Austen's tale. The only part that is "fictional" is the lifeguard... I didn't see a lifeguard at Lava, but surely there's someone with emergency training who works there, right?

By 10:00 everyone had eaten, Doug had arrived, and they all got ready for a visit to the hot springs. Fred came up to tell the girls they were ready just as they walked out the door. He paused on the stairwell.

“Fred!” Lisa exclaimed, walked down two stairs, then jumped over the remaining three to land in his arms. She laughed, delighted that he’d been forced to wrap his arms around her.

“Whoa, warn me next time,” Fred cautioned, caught off balance.

They all got in Fred’s car and drove the few blocks up to the hot springs. As they got out of the car, a big pick-up truck with the words “Teton Springs Ranch” was just pulling out of the lot. The driver tipped his hat then turned onto the street. “Is he familiar?” Henna asked.

“I think he’s the guy we saw last night,” Anne said. Then a connection was made in her mind—Teton Springs Ranch was just down the street from their home in Driggs. She might know this guy, or at least his family. She’d have to find out more when she went back home from Christmas.

The six of them hurried across the street and down the hill to the hot springs entrance. They paid their fees, then Henna, Lisa, and Anne walked into the ladies’ dressing room to change into their swimsuits. As they emerged, they shivered in the chilly air and slight breeze, wrapping their towels more tightly around them. Steam rose in wavering columns from each pool, and the girls walked between the pools until they spotted Fred, Benwick and Doug. “Hey, girls!” they called and waved.

“Oh, it’s hot!” cried Henna as she dipped her toes in.

“But it’s so cold out here!” chattered Lisa. “Give me your towel and get in.” Lisa grabbed her towel, dropped it on a plastic pool chair with her towel as well, then scurried to the edge of the pool. “I’m coming in!” she called, then with a little hop jumped over the edge and into the pool. The splash brought up the arms of everyone else to shield them from the spray.

“Anne, are you coming in?” Benwick called.

Anne had taken her time folding her towel and removing her sandals. She felt very shy in front of three guys in just her swimsuit, and had hoped to slip in unnoticed. Now, however, she had all eyes on her. She tiptoed to the edge of the pool and slipped in under the hot, bubbly water, sinking in up to her neck.

“This is one of the cooler pools,” Benwick explained. “The water runs continuously through the pools, then empties into the river. You can go tubing down the river in summer, and the water’s as warm as a bathtub. Even in winter they have the polar bear event, where you raft down the river then run back up in the snow!” Everyone laughed and commented on the insanity of such a sport.

“You should buy the tube rental company,” Doug suggested. “That would make you rich.”

“Sure,” said Benwick. “Maybe I’ll do that after my first million has been made,” he joked.

They found that sitting continuously in the pool made you feel too hot, so they’d sit on the edge or move to another pool every five minutes. Each time they switched to a different pool, Lisa wanted to wait until Fred was down the steps and in the deeper water, then she’d jump down to him. The pools had gravel bottoms, so they weren’t too slippery, but the deck surrounding the pools was wet from the misty air and the ins and outs of swimmers.

“Let’s move to the big pool,” Henna suggested. “It’s a bit cooler, and we can play a game or something.” They all assented, trotting along the heated stone deck to arrive at the last, large pool. Again everyone took the steps down into the water except Lisa. She waited for Fred, then jumped with a splash right next to him.

“Catch me again,” she said, bounding back up the stairs immediately.

“No, Lisa, just come in the water,” Fred cajoled.

“No, I’m going to jump. Here I come!” But as she spun toward the pool and began her jump she slipped on a smooth, wet spot. Fred could not reach her—everyone cried out—but all could only watch her feet fly forward and her head crash down onto the cement.

“She’s dead!” screamed Henna as they all scrambled out of the pool to Lisa’s side. “She’s dead! What do we do? Oh, Lisa!”

Fred and Benwick were at her side but frozen, staring in horror at her completely still form. Anne moved to her head, gently lifting it and examining each side. “She’s breathing. She’s not bleeding,” she said. “But she may have a head or neck injury. Henna, what do you do for a head injury?”

“I don’t know!”

“Come on, you’re in nursing school!” yelled Fred. “Think!”

“I can’t! I don’t know!” She began sobbing in great, heaving gasps. Doug took her and sat her down on a pool chair.

Anne still knelt at Lisa’s head. Benwick and Fred just stared at her. “Guys, we need a paramedic. Benwick, you’re more familiar with this place. Go to the front desk, get a phone, do something—get an ambulance here!” Benwick was off in a flash, disappearing into the steam clouds.

“Fred, I need you to help me. You’ve got to put your arms under her neck and head and don’t let them move an inch. I’ll get under her shoulders and we’ll move her away from the edge of the pool.” He nodded and put his forearms carefully alongside her head and neck. “Ready?” Anne said. “One, two, three, lift.” They slowly moved her a few inches away. “Doug, hand me a towel. Let’s put these over her.” She and Fred covered Lisa carefully. By that time Benwick was back with a lifeguard. 

“What happened?” the lifeguard asked, and Anne gave him a quick summary. He checked her pulse, lifted her eyelids and looked at her pupils, then placed his ear near her chest to monitor her breathing. Then he pulled a radio from the waist of his shorts. “The victim is female, about…how old?” he asked Anne.

“Twenty,” she answered.

“Twenty,” he radioed again. “She is unconscious, possible head injuries. No bleeding.”

“Anne already told us that much,” Fred muttered. “Where are the paramedics?”

“We’ve got a volunteer ambulance service here. It will just take a few minutes. Help me put her on a back board and we’ll move her inside to keep her temperature stable.” All the guys were called over and instructed to carefully lift at the same time. The guard then strapped her on the board, and they all carried Lisa into the main entrance area to wait for the ambulance. Anne followed behind with her arm around Henna, continuing to support her in her near-hysterical state. The lifeguard found some smelling salts, waving them under Lisa’s nose. She stirred, her eyes fluttered, and then was still again. They all sighed and murmured, relieved to see some signs of life.

Anne quietly gave guidance to the group as the interminable wait dragged on. “Fred, Benwick, you get changed while Doug and I wait with Henna.” When they were back she left Henna with them, got her clothes on, and gathered Lisa’s things from her locker. Then she persuaded Henna to leave Lisa’s side and get changed herself. Doug led her away, quickly changing too, then waited for her outside the dressing room. A large group had gathered in the building, staring and whispering about the seemingly dead girl who lay under blankets and towels.

The ambulance pulled up and there was a rush of movement. The crowd was shoved aside, the paramedics bringing a gurney down the stairs. Anne, Fred, Doug and Benwick grabbed their coats and bags. The patient was examined and an IV was started. Then they rolled the gurney out the door and worked it up the stairs. Henna began her hysterics again upon seeing the ambulance doors close with Lisa inside. Doug held her close to his chest while she sobbed. The ambulance pulled away, turned, and went down the hill to the highway.

“Dear, sweet Lisa!” whispered Fred. “I should never have given in to her. But she was so resolute….”

 “Doug, Fred, we need to get our cars,” Anne said. “We can follow the ambulance to the hospital.”