Stranded Ch. 03

It'd be appropriate to let you know the status of the injuries we received. After getting settled we both visited a doctor for a checkup. Kathy's feet would be scared for life and she found it difficult to walk, anything other than short distances. Knowing how she'd trouble walking, it always amazed me how she endured those 7 or 8 hours as we marched back to civilization. She had other scars up her legs and elsewhere, but she learned how to dress in ways to discretely hide them.

As for me, the doc indicated my shoulder had been severely torn apart. The tendons had been badly damaged, the socket disjointed at one time but had surprisingly returned to proper position; no surgery would be required. The strength in the arm would never be more than 70-75%, so I found ways to compensate for the loss. We never told the doctor what happened and I'm sure he wondered what caused these injuries, but we didn't share.

Kathy and I lived the rest of our lives, together, like we'd promised. I believe it was 20 years later, I returned to the area where we'd met. Kathy didn't want to come; the memories were just too painful. For several days I hiked through those hills and along the stream. I never did find the cabin. Perhaps someone else had demolished it, along with all trace anyone had been there. I did find the rusted shell of a car, one which had tumbled over the edge, but I wasn't able to identify it as the one I'd been driving that fateful night.

As hard as I tried, I didn't find any evidence that we'd ever been there. Maybe this was for the best because neither of us wanted to share our experiences. To our children, we told them, their mom and dad had met while at a conference those many years ago. We never told anyone about our adventure. Kathy still carries a vivid and vile hatred towards that man. The only good thing which came from our experiences was, we discovered each other. For this we were truly grateful.