Episode 5

 „Professor, can you hear me?” — she asked, though she realized she needed to pull herself together first, as her voice was weak and fading. She began checking herself. Her head was intact, her arms and legs were fine, and she could move all her limbs—only her head hurt, probably from the fall—and she felt occasional cold shivers, likely from the wet mud. She found her bag. Slowly and carefully, she stood up, shook off the mud, and stretched her limbs. She was okay, she concluded, but the man lying in front of her needed help. She knelt beside the man, who was about her father’s age.

„Professor!”

„I hear you” — came the faint voice — „I already spoke earlier. Don’t shout, or my head will split.”

She smiled at that. At least he was conscious, and that was good.

„Can you sit up?” — she asked, and the man opened his eyes, then quickly closed them again.

„Not while you’re shining that light in my face.”

„Sorry” —she removed the headlamp. The old man had a certain style.

„My left leg hurts terribly” — the man sighed — „I think it’s broken, maybe in several places.”

„Let me check”—she said, but before unpacking her medical kit, she scanned the area with her light. She had fallen differently than the professor. She vaguely remembered trying to land on both feet but slipping and tumbling into the mud. She stared at the mound of mud beside her, from which she had just crawled out. She was lucky because at least the mound of mud cushioned her fall, whereas the professor had fallen onto hard rock. She glanced at her watch. She had been unconscious for a good half-hour, and by now, someone should have come down after them, unless… She looked up. The entrance, the gap she had crawled through, which should have been above them, was gone. She had an idea of where it should be, but she couldn’t see anything there… An uneasy feeling began to take hold of her. Was she sure she had come down this way? Suddenly, she felt disoriented, unsure of what was up or down, and then she started to feel warm. Although there was plenty of air—there was never a shortage of it in these fissured caves—she felt like she wasn’t getting enough. She knew she had to pull herself together. If she panicked, she wouldn’t be able to help those in trouble, so she began to breathe more slowly. She focused on the rhythm of her breathing, and gradually, her body calmed down.

“Madam, are you going to attend to me today?” the man grumbled from below.