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.”
