Chapter 6* (The Ski Trip – Part 2)

After skiing with Peeah for a 45 minutes or so (without seeing the Hubster or Bo Bandy in that time) we again got on the ski lift and made our way to the top. As we got off the chairs and headed toward the hills, I saw Bo Bandy standing in the middle of a group of people looking rather confused. This was our conversation:

Me: “Hi Bo Bandy! Where have you been? We haven’t seen you all night! Have you seen the Hubs…?” *looks around not really paying attention…*
BB: “I’m not really sure. I don’t know where I am.”
**It’s important to note that Bo Bandy has a wickedly funny sense of humour. I immediately assumed that he was kidding with me.
Me: “Haaaa very funny. No really! How have you been?”
BB: “I have no idea. How did I get here?”
**insert panicked look into Bo Bandy’s eyes
Me: “What are you talking about… we drove up this afternoon, we’re skiing with my family..?!?”
BB: “Shop Girl, I can’t remember anything past breakfast. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
Me [starting to really really worry]: “Are you being absolutely serious with me? You can’t remember?? Did you fall??”
BB: “I don’t know. My head hurts.”
Me: “Okay. Don’t worry… we’ll find someone…” *looks around frantically and sees no one*
“Do you think that you can make it down the hill okay? We’ll take the easy one and go really slowly.”
BB: “Yeah I think so.”

As he turned around to start down the hill I saw that the back of his hat was COVERED in snow as was his back. I started to freak out but I didn’t want to panic him any more than he already was, so we slowly made our way down the hill. Peeah skied ahead and there were two Ski Patrol people waiting for us when we got to the bottom. The next portion of the conversation went something like this:

SP#1: “Hi there! What’s your name?”
BB: “I’m Bo Bandy.”
SP#1: “Hi Bo Bandy, I’m Spider.
BB: “Hi Spider.”
SP#2: “And I’m George.” *pointing to the Ski Patrol #1* “Do you remember who this is?”
BB: “No, we’ve never met.”
SP#1: “Sure we did! I’m Spider!” *pointing to Ski Patrol #2* “What about him? Do you remember his name?”
BB [looking awfully frustrated]: “No.”

The Ski Patrol men then decided that we needed to move over to the first aid hut. Peeah went to get my mom who had been reading in the chalet and I went with Bo Bandy. The next few minutes were spent assessing how badly Bo Bandy had hit his head and whether or not he needed to go to the hospital. They found a rather large bump but no cut, and informed me that it was a concussion. My mom then arrived and we listened as the Ski Patrol men talked to Bo Bandy. After a few questions we realized that he had absolutely NO short term memory whatsoever. He was able to remember up to breakfast that morning, but anything after that was absolutely gone. After a few minutes they decided that the concussion wasn’t bad enough to warrant a hospital visit, but that he should not drive for the next 12 hours and if he slept he needed to be woken up every 2 hours or so just to make sure that everything was ok. We moved over to the chalet, and it was at least 45 minutes before any of his memory began trickling back. First he could remember up to lunch, an hour or so later he could remember driving to B town with me, and the next day he remembered how he fell, but to this day he has absolutely no recollection of the 20 minutes or so between when I found him at the top of the hill to when we were about to leave the First Aid Hut.

After sitting in the chalet with Bo Bandy for a time we realized that I had all but abandoned the Hubster. I hadn’t seen him in hours and had no idea where he was. It was almost time to leave, so I left Bo Bandy with my mom and went out to try and find him. I took the lift to the top but he was no where to be found. In the meantime he had realized that it was getting late and that he needed to find me and made his way to the chalet where he found my mother. He ended up sitting with her until I made my way back to the chalet for hot chocolate before heading home. He thought it was strange that I had invited him all the way out to B Town go skiing and then had left him alone all night when he didn’t know anyone. When I finally made it back to the chalet and found him sitting there I realized what a horrible date / friend / whatever we were at that point I was.

In the previous chapter I highlighted that Bo Bandy had driven us up in his little standard car. I had only driven standard once or twice in my life, and it had been years since the Hubs had and he wasn’t really comfortable driving home Bo Bandy’s car as he had only known him for, oh, 6 hours. haha So, my dad drove it home, and it was decided we’d have to spend the night there and see how Bo Bandy was in the morning. So the Hubs not only got to meet my family the first time we went out, but he also got to have a sleepover. Oy evay.

My parents’ house is comfortable, but is not large by any means. So, Bo Bandy and the Hubs were going to sleep in the basement rec room, and I was crashing on the couch in the living room with the solemn responsibility of waking him up every 2 hours. I was told that I couldn’t start the first 2 hour shift until he had fallen into a deep sleep, so I stayed downstairs to make up for my horrendous manners in abandoning the Hubs all night (who ended up snowboarding by himself most of the night… even Teep wandered off.. I felt horrible). It was roughly 10:30pm and we put a movie on quietly and waited for Bo Bandy to fall asleep.

We ended up lying on the basement floor talking all night long… (sorry Mom! haha). It took Bo Bandy FOREVER to fall asleep so we turned off the movie and started talking quietly. At some point we started laughing about a sock (I can’t quite remember the joke), but I will FOREVER remember Bo Bandy sitting up and angrily saying, “TAKE OFF YOUR OWN DANG SOCK.” Haha!!! Anyway, after he finally dozed off I decided that I would stay down only for the first two hours so that I could talk to the Hubster. Well, they flew by, so I decided to stay two more… and before I knew it was 5:30am and I realized that my dad would wake up any minute. I crept upstairs and with my heart racing in my chest I pretended to sleep until I guess I passed out for an hour or 2.

I honestly think I started to fall in love with him that night… we talked about anything and everything. He talked about his mission in Oregon and about growing up in his small apartment in the city. I can’t remember our entire conversation, but I will always remember how I felt. My heart was racing and I had butterflies in my stomach, but at the same time I felt so comfortable with him, like we had known each other for years.

We honestly just talked for hours… lying on the floor with our hands almost touching, wanting to hold them but both us afraid to make the move. It sounds silly, but at one point I remember our fingers brushed and it was like a bolt of electricity shot through me. When I finally went upstairs (for fear of being caught by my father… haha) I was crazy about him. And I only hoped that he felt the same about me. :)

When Bo Bandy finally regained the bulk of his memory the next day, he told me how he had started off on the small hills with Peeah and I. He quickly got bored of that and moved to something that looked a little more exciting– moguls. He remembers making it over the first one, and the second, and when he hit the third his feet went up over his head and that was that. I’m so grateful that he did hit his head though [and wasn’t seriously injured]… if he hadn’t then I wouldn’t have had that opportunity to get to know the Hubster like I did that night. :)

P.s. Bo Bandy was fine the next day and we now make sure he wears helmets for every occasion. haha!