Tibet, Tuesday
She couldn't wait in the village any longer, not with how urgent it was to get him to Nanda Parbat. Not with how the people there refused to help her with this. Wouldn't even give directions.
So she went out to find it.
She wasn't crazy, she just wanted him to live.
That was all she wanted.
Charlie hadn't been truly lucent in weeks. He faded in and out of consciousness, but it was hard to tell when he was in which state since he babbled at ghosts either way.
He shivered in a combination of pain, cold, and withdrawal. It had been a while since his last dose of morphine.
She hated the noise he made when he tried to breath. The painful wheeze...
Stopping to give him the last dose of morphine they had, she kissed him on the cheek. "Stay with me Charlie, we're almost there. Just stay with me."
He stirred slightly at the touch and seemed to quiet. His muttering softening to the point where the words weren't really distinguishable from one another. It was mostly the same sounds shaped over and over.
'Myra'. 'Jackie'.
The storm seemed to get worse. If that was even possible at this point.
But Renee continued to pull the sled-- Charlie-- in the direction she hoped to god was where Nanda Parbat was. She couldn't let those little doubts in the back of her mind have a focus. Not now.
Just had to keep moving.
The snow was too thick to see more than a few feet. The sled itself disappeared into the whiteness behind her. The only way to know which direction she was headed was the wind and the slope of the mountain.
Onward and upward with Charlie's coughs growing quieter and less frequent.
The doubts wouldn't be ignored anymore as she stumbled and fell. The wind and snow was getting too much for her.
She...
"Have to keep you warm, Charlie."
...this was a mistake.
She pulled at the belt with his mask in it, fiddling with cold numbed fingers before getting it to work. "This'll provide at least some insulation."
She was going to get them both killed doing this...
The smoke from the belt helped adhere the mask to his face.
The skin of Charlie's face was ice-cold from exposure as she settled the mask into place. The smoke was blown away almost immediately, but the mask was exposed to enough to hold firm. Charlie's quiet moaning was further muffled by the false skin over his face.
Extran insulation was going to help. But not for long.
Renee started to pull again, the doubts not stopping.
She couldn't do this without him. Didn't know which way to go... He was her direction at this point.
He helped her figure out just who she was anymore.
Loosing her footing, both Renee and the sled fell back. The sled over onto it's side.
For just a moment the wind died down, and in the sudden silence Charlie's breathing was clearly audible. It wasn't just wheezing anymore, it was almost burbling. Like he was trying to breathe through water.
Blood was seeping through his mask.
Renee pulled the sled up right again, starting at the sight of blood.
"Oh god, oh god, hold on Charlie, I'm here. Oh god--"
Charlie's wheezing stops suddenly and his voice, while thready, is his own. "You," a pause to cough, "Never answered my question."
He coughed violently, as if the words had taken more energy than they should have, then reached weakly to pull at the blood-soaked mask. "Get this," coughing some more, "thing off me. It's," at least he wasn't wheezing, "Hard enough to breathe as it is." Which was probably obvious by this point.
"Ch-Charlie?!" Renee helped pull at the mask, unable to hide with relief that he was still alive.
Charlie's face was drawn tightly with the pain. "What the hell," the expletive's power robbed somewhat by the coughing fit which followed it, "Do you think you're doing, Renee?"
"I'm taking you to Nanda Parbat. I'm trying to save you, Charlie," Renee said, hands on his chest to make sure he was still actually there.
Charlie's face softened, as did his voice. For just a moment the pain seemed to disappear into that familiar, sarcastic grin. "You can't, Renee... I told you: some things you just have to accept." He made it through the entire sentence before being overcome by coughing again.
"I can't! I need you! I--" Her voice broke and she held onto him tightly. "--I don't know who I am without you."
Charlie shook his head, which made him grimace and hiss in pain. "It was... a trick question, Renee." He paused to cough and wipe some of the blood away from his lips, "Not about who you are... it's who you are becoming..."
His voice slipped a bit closer to delirium, "Like a butterfly."
She could feel his chest slowing in it's movement. Each passing beat it grew fainter and less likely to rise again.
The storm finally broke.
The temple was painfully close to them now, but Renee couldn't move away from Charlie now. She just held on as he stilled completely.
[[OOC: Preplayed with the always fabulous and wonderful iseewhatyoumean]]