Zipping To Conclusions

I was with a group of friends going on a skiing trip in Austria. Most of the group had skied before, but [Girl] and I were first-timers, and we signed up for early morning lessons. We used a ski lift to get to the place on the mountains where lessons took place, and then we came down and joined the group for lunch.

Unfortunately, during one lesson, [Girl] fell badly and tore her knee so that she could not stand. Emergency services were called, and they decided to move her back down the mountain on the ski lift. I went down on the lift to tell the others. They put her in a body bag to keep her warm and then, to keep her knee immobilised, they laid her down across the bench, strapped her on, and then took the next bench behind her.

As she was coming down, I reached the bottom and joined my friends.

Friend: “Where’s [Girl]?”

I pointed to the body bag that could now be seen coming down on the lift with the medical team behind it.

Me: “She’s there.”

Friend: “Oh, my God! [Girl]! Oh, my God!”

I suddenly realised that all they could see was an inert body bag being transported down the mountain and assumed the worst. At this point, I panicked slightly and, rather than just telling them she had only hurt her leg, I turned round and shouted:

Me: “It’s okay! It’s okay! They haven’t zipped it up!”