[HANSON STORIES]

To Look Within My Soul

Chapter 24 - Get Us Out Of Here - Continued



"Jason?" Taylor asked nearly in a whisper. He felt so tired and hot. Hunger nawed at him with his mouth watering from the aroma of the chicken noodle soup.
"Tay..Taylor." Jason weakly rasped fluttering his eyes open feeling confused and disoriented. He blinked several times trying to focus and looked up into Taylor's troubled eyes. He licked his lips slowly and cracked a small smile.
"They found us Jason. They are coming to get us out of here." Taylor explained swallowing hard hoping he understood. "Are you hungry? You should really eat something."
"Who? What are you talking about?" Jason asked crinkling his eyebrows together as he drew in a deep rasping breath.
"I...I contacted my father and they sent out a helicopter to find us. They were just above us before Jason but they told me it would take them a couple of days to reach us. How are you feeling?" Taylor asked grabbing one of the bowls of soup and leaned forward.
"Good. It is good to hear that. Tay? What is that awful smell?" Jason asked weakly raising his arm and pushed a few loose strands of hair away from his damp forehead knocking off the wet towel.
"Oh that. I made the poultice. I'm letting it simmer right now. I want you to try to eat some of this soup I heated up Jason." Taylor smiled placing a towel on Jason's right shoulder.
"I'm not very hungry but I will try Taylor." Jason said as Taylor dipped the spoon in the soup and then brought it to Jason's lips. Jason took the first mouthful and then grabbed Taylor's hand gently noticing that Taylor was shaking a little. He looked up at Taylor with concern.
"How are you feeling Taylor?" Jason asked seeing that Taylor frowned licking his lips.
"Honestly? Not to good but I will be alright. Don't worry." Taylor admitted cracking a smile as he fed Jason another spoonful of soup.
"Taylor don't push yourself beyond your limits. You look very pale and I can tell you are running a fever." Jason said knowing that Taylor was very exhausted. Taylor nodded and sucked in a deep breath and then quickly put down the bowl of soup, not wanting to spill it when a coughing fit took hold of him. Jason sadly watched as Taylor coughed hard with his face turning red. A bolt of fear ran through him and he slowly sat up and felt the room spin. He reached out for Taylor feeling worried and noticed he stopped coughing and that he was trying to clear his throat.
"Ja..Jason? Lay back down. I..I'm okay." Taylor croaked wiping the tears off his face from coughing so hard. Jason leaned toward him grabbing the side of his face.
"No. You're not alright. Ohhhh... man you are running a high fever Taylor." Jason said placing his other hand on his forehead as Taylor blinked his eyes that were welling with tears.
"I know... but..but I have to take care of things Jason. You are sicker then I am." Taylor rasped weakly licking his dry lips and drew back taking Jason's hands away from his face.
"Taylor? Listen to me here. After you eat your soup and make up those poultices I want you to rest. If you don't... all that is going to happen is, you are going to get even worse and..." Jason began.
"Jason... you read my thoughts exactly. I was thinking the same thing." Taylor agreed smiling, as Jason nodded and smiled back.
"Oh. Sorry." Jason mumbled and slowly layed back down liking the fact that the penicillin was helping him. He watched as Taylor then picked up his bowl of soup and shakingly fed himself.
"I can't taste it very well, but at least it is food." Taylor murmured under his breath noticing Jason was looking at him intently. He could see that his fever dropped but still looked very pale and weak.
"Do you know how to put the stuff together to make the poultices Tay?" Jason asked searching Taylor's eyes as Taylor put down the bowl on the table.
"Yeah. I will get them started now." Taylor said and stood up slowly, grabbing the empty bowls and limped his way back to the kitchen area, while Jason frowned watching him walk. He smiled watching Taylor lift the lid to the pot and drew back waving his hand in front of his face from the smell.
"It may smell bad, but it will help!" Jason laughed as Taylor turned his head toward him.
"Yeah! Now to make up the poultices." Taylor stated and started to follow the instructions as Jason intently watched thinking how much he loved this young man. He was proud of him knowing he didn't panic in their situation and took things in his own hands to help them. He cast his eyes downward and saw Snow was laying near the stairs.
"Have you fed Snow Taylor?" Jason asked wondering as Taylor wrapped the last poultice up in a cloth.
"Yeah I found his food in that cabinet over there. I put some more in his bowl this morning." Taylor said as he cleaned up the area.
"Guess I shouldn't keep asking these questions. You seem to have everything under control." Jason chuckled wishing he could help. He hated feeling totally helpless as Taylor smiled coming toward him with the poultices on a tray.
"I figured I had to explore this place and do what had to be done." Taylor whispered as he sat down feeling exhausted in the chair, plopping the tray down loudly.
"You did a good job Taylor." Jason attested as Taylor carefully lifted up one of the poultices and leaned forward toward Jason. Jason weakly unbottoned his top as Taylor put the warm poultice on his chest.
"I hope I did it right." Taylor mumbled when Jason grabbed his hand and squeezed it lovingly.
"Tay? I... I..." Jason cracked, feeling emotional as Taylor smiled down at him and nodded in understanding.
"How does it feel?" Taylor asked sniffing back and swallowed hard.
"Feels great. Now get in bed here and do the same." Jason declared looking up into his eyes.
"But I thought I would just lay here in the chair." Taylor began, seeing Jason seriously look at him shaking his head.
"No. You need to really lay down and rest." Jason said not wanting Taylor to have to try to rest in the hard chair.
"Okay. I would really love the comfort." Taylor agreed and picked up the other poultice and limped his way around the bed to the other side. He sat down and Jason grabbed the covers, lifting them so he could slip under next to him. Taylor sighed when his head hit the pillow, but then jerked and sat back up.
"What's wrong?" Jason asked with concern.
"I left the walkie talkie on the table. I should bring it over here by us in case they want to contact us." Taylor stated and quickly got out, handing Jason his poultice, and limped back over to the table when a dizzy spell hit him as he rocked backwards.
"Tay!" Jason shouted as he saw him fall backwards onto the floor. "Taylor?!"
Jason could see that he passed out and saw Snow bolt over to him and whimpered, sniffing at Taylor's hair. With all his strength Jason sat up and flipped the covers off him as a shiver ran up his spine. He painfully flipped his legs out over the side of the bed and could see that Taylor was waking up, hearing him groan. He grabbed the poultice from his chest and put it on the table next to him.
"Taylor? Just don't move. I'm coming." Jason demanded and stood up walking toward him. He felt dizzy and finally reached him, dropping to his knees next to him. He shakingly reached his hand out and gently put his hand on the side of Taylor's face.
"I'm sorry." Taylor rasped weakly, looking up at him with tear filled eyes.
"Just take it easy. I'll get you to the bed. Okay kiddo?" Jason crooned softly as he shivered and then reached his left arm under Taylor's shoulders and his right arm under his legs, while Snow watched him backing away.
"Can you lift me? You're too weak Jason." Taylor protested, but Jason didn't listen and grunted lifting him as he rocked a little and then regained his balance, slowly walking toward the bed. He carefully layed him down and then watched as Taylor slid to the other side weakly with beads of sweat rolling off his head. He sat down and quickly put the covers over them as shivers racked his body. He reached up and then put the poultice back on his chest, breathing hard from the strain of walking and carrying Taylor back to the bed.
"Jason? You... you okay?" Taylor asked as Jason rolled his head toward him and nodded.
"I'm fine Tay. Put that poultice on your chest." Jason stated and helped him knowing that Taylor was still weak from passing out. He looked at the poultice that layed on the pillow near Taylor's head and saw that he was struggling to take his sweater off. Jason then helped him as he sat up and pulled the sweater off over his head and threw it onto the floor. He then raised up his t-shirt, that was damp with sweat, and grabbed the poultice, laying it onto his chest, making sure it was right across the lung area. Taylor then pulled the t-shirt down and smiled up at him.
"Thanks Jason, but what about the walkie talk..." Taylor began.
"Snow! Bring the walkie talkie over to me! NOW!" Jason bellowed as Snow went to the table and grabbed the walkie talkie by the holding strap and let it dangle in his teeth and ran over to Jason's waiting hand.
"Good boy!" Jason shouted and took it from his mouth as Snow then layed down next to the bed.
"Why didn't I think of that?" Taylor chuckled, watching Jason put it on the table next to him.
"It's okay Taylor. We're both in bed now. Are you hurt or anything?" Jason asked with concern, searching Taylor's eyes as he rested his head back down on the pillow.
"No. I'm fine. I'm just very tired." Taylor stated blinking slowly and then looked up at the ceiling with Jason doing the same.
"We'll be okay." Jason assured him, feeling the affects of the poultice on his chest soaking in. He then turned his head on the pillow and looked at Taylor.
"Tay? Did they say anything about how Alice is doing? I'm worried about her." Jason asked watching Taylor turn to look at him.
"No they didn't. But I am sure she is fine. My Mom is taking good care of her." Taylor answered as he weakly ran his hand through the front of his hair.
"I know the baby is due soon. Oh God I don't want to miss the birth of my child." Jason moaned with tears filling his eyes at the thought.
"They will get us out of here before that happens." Taylor whispered sadly, licking his lips slowly as he blinked feeling very sleepy.
"You go to sleep Tay." Jason cooed watching Taylor close his eyes nodding his head. Jason could see that he fell asleep quickly. He reached out and gently caressed the side of his face with his tears suddenly overflowing down the front of his face. He was extremely worried knowing now that they were both very sick.
"I have to get better. Please dear lord let them get us out soon." Jason prayed as he too closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep again.

"That snow is way to deep. I don't know if we can walk it." Sam angrily announced seeing that everyone was ready to go including Walker and his sons.
"We have to try! Come on!" Walker bellowed looking into his eyes as the cold winds blew across their backs with everyone standing around the parking area near the mountains. Zac looked up pulling his hood tighter around his head wishing they would stop discussing things hoping they would soon get going. He looked down at his feet seeing that the snow shoes were firmly attached to his boots.
"Let's GO!" Zac shouted with anger feeling anxious to get started.
"We may have to plow our way in there! And that may take a long time, but I don't see any other way right now." Sam sadly explained looking up toward the mountains.
"Sir?" Pete asked standing next to Sam as he looked toward him with concern as he suddenly came up with an idea.
"What?!" Sam shouted feeling annoyed by the whole situation in front of them.
"I suggest we fly in a team to the cabin and they can then begin digging them out and in the mean time another team can try walking in to the cabin." Pete stated seeing Sam suddenly smile and nodding enthusiastically at the suggestion.
"Sounds like a good plan! You take care of that end Pete." Sam smiled as he saw Walker smile at the idea too.
"Who is going to go by helicopter then? I want to go." Walker said as Isaac grabbed his shoulder turning his father to face him.
"Zac and I want to go too." Ike declared seriously wanting to get close to his brother as soon as possible.
"Okay! I agree with you Mr. Hanson. Go with Pete and Tim and they will inform you of what to do. Just follow everything he tells you." Sam shouted over the wind.
"We will! Don't worry." Walker yelled with everyone then breaking up into the two teams. Pete led Walker, Isaac and Zac over the helicopter and opened the door as they all climbed in with several other men. He saw everyone settle in as Tim climbed in by the controls. Pete sat down and looked at everyone as they all looked toward him.
"First we will see what we are facing out there. I will go down on a cable and check it out. I want to see how big that tree is and what will we need to get it off... then we will go from there! Okay?" Pete declared as everyone nodded. He stood up and then took his seat next to Tim who started up the helicopter. Zac looked out of the window feeling excitement run through him as they took off, off the ground.
Sam watched as the helicopter flew up over the mountains. He knew he had to call in to Ben and tell him what was going on so he could contact Taylor and Jason again. A shiver ran up his spine hating the extreme cold as he licked his lips seeing the helicopter disappear in the distance.
"Good LUCK! We will be with you soon!" Sam shouted looking up at the sky hoping that the weather would stay calm for at least a couple of days. He swallowed hard seeing some gray clouds forming in the distance.


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