CHAPTER 6 CORALINE
CORALINE
“Wake up.”
A voice.
It’s a woman’s voice. She sounds older; her raspy voice is laced with patience.
Flashes of bloodied snow, my car in pieces, me getting flung out of a moving car and buried in snow come back like a slap in the face. Blood pulses in my ears, tremors infiltrating my muscles as the memories play out. Groaning, I expand my arms like wings, fast and ready to fight.
“You’re awake,” she says, relief lifting her voice. “You’re okay.”
Everything is warm.
I’m in a bed. Soft blankets, warmth, a fire crackling in the distance.
It’s not unbearably freezing. It smells good.
Like cinnamon and butter, with a hint of nature.
As though the smell of tree bark is thick and wrapped around cedar.
Opening my eyes, my gaze snaps to a large rectangular window centered on a dark, wooden wall.
The snow is still falling harshly. The blizzard is very much alive and hasn’t died out a bit.
Despite the horrific last moments of my life, the view is beautiful from the bed.
It’s even better than the hotel room Maya booked for me.
My head feels like it’s been beaten.
.“Don’t move. Take it slow,” she tells me.
I track the voice just as I shudder. Moving my head to the right, my cheek softly brushes against a white pillow.
It’s an older woman, likely in her seventies, who sits in a rocking chair in the corner of a bedroom.
Her right hand is balled over a cane as she rocks, nonchalantly. “How are you feeling?” she rasps out.
Like I’m dying.
She’s dressed in a thick white top jacket, with straight white hair, wrinkles, and aged freckles littering her face, and a pair of pale, bright blue eyes stare back at me.
“Where,” I swallow. My dry tongue swirls in my mouth as I taste iron. “Am I?”
“You’re in Sleepy Coldwater. Alaska? Ariksen’s ranch.”
She says, ‘Ariksen,’ like I’m supposed to know what that means.
“Who?” I quirk a brow.
She points to the other side of the room, and I follow her finger.
A tall, broad man in a black sweater stares back at me.
Fair skin, a strong nose, dark, tousled hair, and a beard with deep sky-blue eyes stare back at me, surveying me with a strong, unwavering gaze.
He doesn’t say anything. His brows are pinched inward like he’s trying to figure me out or like he’s worried. I’m not sure if it’s both.
He looks older than me. Maybe late twenties, early thirties. He’s masculine, his arms and thick thighs are strained beneath his clothes. His large, veiny hands look calloused from where I’m lying—a muted, pale blue, dim streak of lighting from outside beams on him.
“And you’re Ariksen? Is this your house I’m staying in?” I grumble, setting my forearms on both sides of me as I try to lift myself higher in a sitting position, but pain stabs me in the ribs. I’m forced back down, and the back of my head plummets onto the cold, soft pillow, softening the blow.
“Everything hurts.” I close my eyes, gritting my teeth, feeling desperately helpless. My body feels like a bulldozer ran over it.
“Honey, don’t move. You’ve been in an accident. Can you tell us your name? We couldn't find your wallet in the wreckage,” the elderly woman asks me as she gets up with her cane, and Ariksen continues to watch me agonize.
He still doesn’t say anything. Just watches me with a penetrating gaze.
“Why does it hurt to breathe?” I groan.
“What's your name?” she asks urgently.
“My name is C-Coraline.” I look at my hands covered in lacerations. “Coraline Rosa,” I repeat, staring at my hands over the blanket—my mind blanks.
“I’m Merelyn,” she introduces herself, but I’m in no mood to be proper. I want to get straight to the point.
“Where’s my car? My phone is in there.” I croak out as I touch my head.
The front of my head is bandaged up. I pull back my hand until it rests on my side.
“Who are you guys? I’m going to miss my flight.
” I palm my sweaty chest as I try to prevent the panic from completely taking over.
Gasping, I try to even out my breaths before I can’t anymore.
“Wait. Don’t I need to get to a hospital? ”
They both stare at me with wide eyes and pale faces.
My chest heaves—my heart pounds. And a full-blown anxiety attack ensues.
“All flights are canceled. The nearest hospital is hours away.” The lady says as she glances at Ariksen, but he doesn’t return her gaze. He’s still glued to me.
“Stop staring at me and start talking. Say something!” I shout at him desperately. “Someone crashed into me! Someone is trying to kill me!”
“Honey, calm down.” Merelyn instructs.
“Calm down? You want me to calm down? You’re telling me I’ve been in an accident. My head is bandaged. My body feels like I’ve broken dozens of bones. I’m in a house with two strangers in the middle of a snowstorm, there’s someone who ran me off the road, and you want me to calm down?”
“Yes,” a deep voice cuts in. I whip my attention to the man in the corner. “You need to calm down. We’re here to help,” he replies. “I’m Gavin Ariksen, and we’re only here to help you.”
“Well, Gavin Ariksen,” I spit mockingly. “Why haven’t you guys called the police? Or an ambulance? I need a doctor!” I spiral.
“We did, dear. No one will come up here during the storm. The roads are covered in snow. The winds are dangerous. They said as long as you are stable, you should be okay. I’m a retired surgeon, and from what I can see, you’re stable.”
“Stable?!”
“Listen, Coraline,” Gavin barks, and I rear back.
“I know you’re scared, hurt, and confused, but I can assure you, it’s better to be in here than out there,” he points to the window beside him, “where I found you. Your heart rate and blood pressure are normal. You don’t have any broken bones.
A few deep lacerations that will maybe leave a scar on your pretty face, but you’re going to live,” he insists in a commanding tone. “You’re alive. Stop complaining.”
My jaw drops.
“But I don’t know you,” I breathe, my voice barely a whisper.
“Someone tried to kill me. They ran me off the road, making me crash. And I’m just supposed to trust you?
” I squint at him, then flick my worried gaze to Merelyn.
Her expression dulls. “I’m not supposed to be here.
I-I was supposed to be on a plane back to Texas!
” My stomach turns as memories of the text messages I received on the road come back to my mind.
What if he’s still out there? “I think I'm going to be sick.”
I stand quickly. Too quickly, as stars dance in the distance, all around the cabin.
“I can’t be here. I need to leave. He might find me here!
I have to go.” I beeline toward the bedroom door, not caring if I feel like I’m going to faint.
My knees wobble underneath me as I skitter across the floor in socks.
I look down to see I’m in an oversized dark green one-piece gown that reaches just above my knee.
“Who is he? What are you talking about? Stay in bed!” Merelyn advises as she clutches her cane.
“You’re freaking out. Calm down,” Gavin adds.
“Yes, because miraculously, I’ll calm down just because you say to. I don’t think that’s how it works.”
Gavin jumps out of the chair, his cowboy boots thud thunderously against the wooden floor as he races toward me. Still, he’s on the far left side of the bedroom, and it gives me an advantage over him so I can beat him to the door.
Luckily enough, it’s only a few feet away. Before the older woman can push me back down onto the bed or grab my arm, I twist the black knob and stumble out of the room. That's when I realize I'm in a cabin—made with rock and wood everywhere.
Eight-point antlers on the walls. Photos of nature, birds and animals, flowers, waterfalls, and the aurora lights are framed. I bypass the living room with floor-to-ceiling windows, holding on to the fireplace for balance.
“Sit down, stubborn small woman. You’re going to hit your head again.” Gavin is on my heels, and as soon as I feel his hand coil around my bicep, I’m sliding my arm out of his hold. The next thing I know, I’m in a kitchen with a large marble island.
“I’m fine. Just fine!”
“You’re not fine. But hey, be my guest. Open that door and see if there’s a taxi parked a mile away by the closed gate, because yes, no one can get onto my ranch without me opening it for them.”
I find the front door, and I manage a weak smile on my sore, bruised face. Looking down my body, I re-analyze my stupidity and impulsiveness.
Shit. He’s right. What the heck am I doing?
Standing at the front door, I chew on the inside of my lip as my blood continues to throb in my ears wildly. My head is pounding viciously. The stars are multiplying by the second, and I don’t have my wallet or even shoes. I look down at my feet and wiggle my toes slowly.
Pivoting on my foot, I face him, out of breath.
My chest rises and falls faster. In the kitchen light, he looks…
handsome. Too handsome. Of course, he’s hot.
And I hate how I notice his beauty. Attraction ignites like a wildfire when we lock eyes.
I physically feel my cheeks flush as he holds my gaze.
Blinking slowly, I run my fingers across my temples, nervously, breaking contact.
The air between us hums and sparks…or maybe that’s the fire’s crackles coming from the living room. I don’t know.
All I know is that I need to really calm down and lie down.
I’m being stupid. Merelyn and Gavin are only trying to help me, and freaking out isn’t going to help my situation.
“Look, I’m sorry,” I apologize, shaking my head.
“Don’t be. You’ve been in an accident. Get some rest, and we’ll talk more,” he tells me softly, his hand reaching for mine.
I stare at it like it’s going to bite me, yet his soft blue eyes bleed honesty.
He wants to help me, I can see it in the way he waits for consent to touch me—to take his hand.
There’s something about the way he talks and keeps his gaze on my face, clearly trying to figure me out without asking too many questions.
He’s a gentleman.
“Nothing makes sense to me right now and—”
The corner of my vision darkens, my hearing slowly going silent as I fall into shadows. The last thing I feel before I’m out is Gavin’s arms wrapped around my legs and head.