Chapter 7 #2
BuK collapses on the floor, his whole body shaking uncontrollably.
Because my body is shutting down as well, I pull my small rug off me and wrap it over his chest. I know my strength is going to give out all at once, and if both of us collapse, then he did all of this for nothing.
It takes me several tries and a broken fingernail, but I finally manage to get the crate open.
I swear, when I see MeK and Lacie again, I will be hugging them for days.
I pull out a huge coat, laying it over BuK first before grabbing a smaller one for me.
It’s a struggle to get it on, but once I do my skin starts tingling, and I realize I was only moments from permanent damage.
I have to grit my teeth as the coat slowly begins to heat me up, and my skin feels like it’s full of pins and needles.
A lantern lights up the moment I touch it, and that helps me see what they sent.
Moving things around, I look for a heater but all I see are a few cubes. Crawling over to BuK, I pat his cheek gently. “BBBuK, I needdd you to wwwake uppp. We nneeddd to ggget you off the fffloor, and you have to tttell me whattt tthessse are.”
No response, and his breathing seems labored. Now, I’m getting scared because the last thing either of us needs is to get sick on top of this. BBUKK! I scream out his name, or should I say I squeak, as my throat is raw from the cold.
He jerks, and I almost cry when his eyes slowly open. “Hey, ttthere you are! I nnneed your helppp, but I pppromise you can rrrest all you want afterrr. Cccan you hear mmme, my hhhandsome pppink alien?”
“You think I am handsome?”
“I wwill answer tthat once you are upp and on the ddaybedd. I wantt you to sstartt getting warmer, like I am.”
He rolls over, and I need to duck to avoid getting hit by his horns as he pushes himself up onto his knees and then his feet. Tucking myself under his arm, I help him walk the few remaining feet, and he falls onto the small mattress.
“Okay, handsome. What are these cccubes? Is this some kind of hhheat source?”
“Yes, they are fire cubes. There is an indentation on the bottom; push it for a few ticks, and you will hear it click. How many did MeK send?”
“I think five.”
“Thank the Lord of Light! If what ANDI says is accurate, they should last us until the mass passes Etherium. Light two of them now so they can warm this area up. The others will have an easier time maintaining the temperature afterward.”
I’m half tempted to light them all, but I know any heat right now is a good thing.
I find several emergency blankets and three containers of warm food, which I know we both need desperately.
When I pull out a change of clothes for both of us, I almost cry, especially since my boots are starting to stick to the floor from getting soaked in the snow.
Dizzy, I close my eyes for a minute trying to steady my thoughts.
My skin is tingling so intensely that I’m hurting all over.
It doesn’t take long for me to feel the heat coming off the small cubes, and that’s when I realize I’ve been kneeling in front of this crate in a daze for longer than I thought.
Glancing up, BuK’s head is turned away from me, but he’s still shivering uncontrollably, and that’s when I see the water dripping off his pants. At first, I try to pull the crate behind me, but I’m too weak to move it far. Instead, I grab a few of the blankets and practically crawl over to BuK.
“BuK, my sweet pink alien. Honey, I need you to help me get these clothes off.” I shake him weakly, but there’s no movement.
By the time I get the clasps loosened on his boots, my fingertips are bleeding, but I know I must get these clothes off him.
With everything I have, I finally manage to get one boot off.
The thin socks he’s wearing under them are soaked through, so I roll it off, then start on the other boot.
Several times, I need to stop to catch my breath as my shivering has started again.
I’ve been in this position for so long that I feel like my knees are frozen to the floor.
When the second boot slides off, I could cry, but I don’t have time.
His pink toes, if you can call them that as his feet are oddly shaped, are blue!
Wrapping a blanket around them, I practically crawl up his long legs to the clasp at the top of his pants.
Thankfully, because it’s like the ones on his boots, I quickly get it released, but trying to move wet material down dead weight as weak as I am is not working out.
So, I try once again to wake him up. “BuK … BuK … please wake up. We have to get these wet clothes off you, and I can’t do it by myself.” With the last of my strength, I shake him as hard as I can, “BUK! Damnit, get your pink ass up now!”
“Briar?”
I can’t help it; the moment he says my name, I start crying. With a trembling hand he reaches up, grasping my face, but I can see the fever behind his eyes as the cold has sunk deep within him. If I don’t get him warm soon, he won’t make it.
“I need you to help me get these wet clothes off. Can you do that while I get us some blankets?”
He lifts his hips up and starts working off the pants he has on. While he’s doing that, I pull off the two wet rugs lying over his chest, then cover him completely with one of the soft blankets I know Lacie stuffed in there.
Before I start slipping my own clothes off, I pull the cubes closer to the bed and then strip out of my own wet garments, tossing them over in the corner and making a wet plop when they land.
Then I pile everything we have on BuK … both coats and the emergency blankets before crawling in naked with him.
Pulling the blankets up over our heads, the world is dark and the smell of BuK instantly surrounds me.
He hisses when my cold skin touches his.
Lifting his arm, I pull it around me as I snuggle up to his side as we lie there shivering together.
It doesn’t take long for his body to start warming up, and I feel him pull me closer as I’m still shivering slightly.
Neither of us say a word as we lie there naked, pressed together.
I must have dozed off at some point, because when I wake up later, BuK is spooning me from behind. His large arm is draped over me as we lay here, finally warm in each other’s arms. He must have felt me move.
“I thought I was dreaming when I woke up, realizing you were naked in my arms.”
“Was it a good dream?”
“The best in my life so far. I have never felt anything silkier or smoother in my entire existence. If I had a choice, we would stay right here for eternity.”
“As long as it’s warm in your dream, count me in.
I’ve just experienced enough cold to last me a lifetime.
” Turning on my back, I run my hand up his arm, only to feel him move his hips back slightly where his stiff shaft had been laying against my butt earlier.
“How are you feeling? You were in pretty rough shape when we got back in here.”
“I would be lying if I said great. The skin on my arms feels raw, and talking or taking a deep breath hurts, but it is alright because of where we are right now. I am alive because of your quick thinking.”
“You wouldn’t have left me out there either.”
“No, but it is my job to care for you, and I failed. I am not worthy of holding you like this right now, but I cannot bear the thought of willingly letting you go.”
“That’s a crock of shit, and you know it!
Worthy of holding me? What the hell ever …
you could have died out there BuK, and that’s not okay in my world.
When I saw you turn away from the pod because you couldn’t see where you were, I panicked.
If we were going to die, it was because we both failed.
This was not all on you. You might be an alien, at least to me, but I don’t recall you having superpowers that control the weather.
Because of you and your inner strength, you got that crate back here and yes, my nose is running and I feel like crap, but I will take a cold over death any day. ”
“I was scared.”
“What?”
“At first, when the cargo bot did not come and you fell asleep in my arms, I was thanking the Lord of Light for at least allowing me to hold you, even if it was our last moments together. As the rising went on and the pod started getting colder, I started counting your shuddering breaths as I knew our time was coming to an end. But when I saw that cargo bot, I knew he had heard my prayers … Then I almost failed his test.”
“BuK, life is nothing but a big ass test. Let me tell you what I saw. I witnessed a man sacrificing himself to the elements and on the verge of collapse, pushing himself just a little further, even when he didn’t have the strength to go on.
You may have been scared, but I was never afraid.
I knew in my heart that it would work out because I had complete faith in you. ”
“Your words, my Briar, humble me.”
Yawning, I rub my nose against his chest and turn toward him fully. “How do you always smell so good? What are you doing, spraying on human lure?”
His laughter starts low as he pulls me into his arms. His large leg is now tucked between mine as his half-hard shaft rests on my stomach. “I have no idea how I made it a rising without you; the joy you bring to my life seems never-ending!”