The shower burned my skin. Every drop of water found a new cut. My hands ran through my hair, down my chest and to my legs. Granite dust surrounded the drain. I leaned against the wall and fell asleep.
"We can be fresh through the night and have the sun wake us up," I told Jamie as we hiked up to the base of the Zodiac, a steep route on the far right side of El Capitan. We started at 4 in the afternoon. My idea seemed good at the time, to climb the route in a day as my first El Cap mission. Standing in the shower, exhausted from over twenty hours on the route and a full day hiking and descending, I wasn't sure if it'd been the best idea.
The hot water eventually scalded me back to semi-alertness. I grabbed my towel and let the water drip down my body. I just needed to walk to bed. I worked for the concessionaire in Yosemite and the employee showers were a good 500 feet from the tent cabin I shared with Jessica, my girlfriend. The five hundred feet might as well have been five hundred miles. I stumbled towards my bed.
"Great job," Jessica's blonde curly hair framed her face. Her long legs brought her to our bed, were I lay, almost dead. She leaned down and stroked the side of my face. She kissed me on the cheek. "I'm so proud of you. I'm going to get you some food."
I fell asleep for an hour. She woke me with chocolate milk, crackers, and fruit. We lived large in Yosemite. I devoured the food. And fell back to bed.
"Tired," she ran her hands over my shoulders, rubbing the muscles. "How'd it go?"
"Good. I led the first block." Her hands kneaded into me. I relaxed a little. "Jamie led through the middle. We passed some people in the middle of the wall. Jamie fixed the rope over the edge of their portaledge. When I jugged up, their ledge went sideways. They woke up terrified."
Her fingers rolled along my spine. She rubbed my lower back.
"Take off your shirt," she said. I grunted, sitting up. I dropped back to the bed when my shirt hit the ground.
"And your pants," she added. I pulled off my pants. I wanted to sleep. The back rub felt so good. She worked the sore muscles of my back. Her hands moved down and kneaded my butt. Her fingers drifted to my balls and lingered for a second. I relaxed. I could feel sleep pulling my eyes shut.
"Roll over," she commanded.
Her fingers stroked my chest. She squeezed my biceps and went back to rubbing my abs and chest. She grabbed a nipple and kissed it, biting a little.
"Whoa," I muttered. I wanted to sleep.