Page 38 of Mountain Trial

Even so, the fall took his breath away. He took the brunt of it on his shoulder, his chin still tucked in deep against his chest as he slid down the slope, out of control.

Finally, everything stopped. At first, Luc couldn’t hear anything beyond the ringing of his own ears. Then he started hearing the voice of the sports commentator, realized the man had probably been speaking the whole time.

“Did you see Fournier fly! What a beautiful Cork 540, except unfortunately he didn’t land it cleanly. He’s on the ground, but moving around. Let’s hope he’s okay.”

Luc focused on breathing through the tightness in his chest. As far as he could tell, he hadn’t broken anything.

“Fournier. Luc. Can you hear me?”

Luc recognized the tall, blond man kneeling beside him. It was Kat’s colleague, though he couldn’t for the life of him remember his name.

How did he get here so fast?

Either he’d lost consciousness, or time was playing tricks on him.

A second figure appeared behind him, looking pale.

Coach.

The fall must have looked worse than it was.

“I’m … okay,” Luc said when he could speak again. He tasted blood and ran the edge of his tongue along his teeth to make sure he hadn’t bitten the damn thing off.

“How do I get you out of this rig,” the blond man said in a frustrated voice.

Luc rolled his shoulder gingerly. There was pain, but it was manageable.

Nothing broken.

But of course, he couldn’t get up by himself.

“Just help me up, please.”

“You just took quite a fall,” Coach said. “Why don’t you wait until―”

“I’m fine. Seriously. Just help me right my ski and I’ll get out of the way.”

The blond giant and Coach exchanged a glance. Something in Luc’s tone must have convinced them, for the blond man got behind his sit ski and easily pulled him upright. Luc noticed the man didn’t let go, even after Luc had placed his outrigger poles firmly on the snow.

“I’m okay,” he confirmed.

The blond shrugged his shoulders. “How about we go to the first aid tent together, and we chat there?”

Luc remembered Kat telling him the man was a doctor.

“I said I’m fine,” Luc said through clenched teeth.

No longer afraid for his life, Luc was more and more pissed off at himself for his miscalculation.

The blond man lowered his voice. “How about you come with me, so I don’t have to be the one to explain to Kat that you refused medical treatment?”

Luc barked out a laugh, which killed his ribs.

“Are you blackmailing me?”

“Call it what you will.”

“Okay, then. Lead the way.” He turned to his coach. “I’m okay, Coach. Stay here and let me know how Scott does.”