Chapter 5 #2
She was about to speak for the third time when she remembered that these two-way radios had trackers in them. When Slater had suggested them, she didn’t think they’d need anything quite so high-tech for a resort setting, but right now, she was seriously glad he hadn’t listened to her.
It was the first time she was using it, so it took her a few seconds to figure out how to get Milo’s location.
“What the…?”
He was at a higher elevation than he should be considering he’s a beginner hiker, and he wasn’t moving.
“Okay, it’s definitely a situation,” she murmured before heading out to the kitchen. She ran into Lexi in the lobby.
“Here are your lunches. They were making lunch bags for the teens over at the rec center, and I told Scott I was grabbing two for an emergency. He didn’t question it; he just packed a few extra cookies and water in them for you.”
“Thanks, Lexi. I need to go.”
“Good luck!”
Jogging out of the lodge and down to the shack, Nora quickly transferred everything she was going to need into her backpack before slipping her poncho on.
It had been raining on and off for the last two hours with the occasional rumble of thunder.
With any luck, she’d get to Milo and get them back without getting caught in a storm.
According to her weather app, nothing major was supposed to hit, but you never knew.
She grabbed an extra poncho for him and two emergency blanket packs just in case. They probably weren’t going to need them, but she believed in being prepared.
After making a quick mental inventory, she felt confident that she had everything. Hefting her pack on, she secured it, grabbed the radio, and headed out. If the GPS tracking was accurate, she might reach him in an hour if she walked at a quick pace.
Which she did.
Every few minutes, she tried to reach him but wasn’t getting an answer.
Until she did.
And all she heard was a low groan.
Shit.
Pushing herself harder than she had in a long time, Nora continued to hike farther up the trail. When she hit the split, she mentally cursed because she knew Slater would have told him to go on the green path, so why would he go the opposite way?
But she already knew the answer.
The damn man thought he knew better.
“And look where it got you, dummy,” she mumbled as she continued to the left. Holding up the radio, she saw she had another three hundred yards to go and decided to try to get a reaction from him again. “Milo, it’s Nora. Over.”
Nothing.
“Come on,” she whispered. “Talk to me.” Then she tried again. “Milo, can you hear me? Over?”
A faint groan was her only response.
Deciding not to talk to him again, she focused on simply getting to him. She wound her way through some heavy brush where the trail disappeared for a bit and then tripped over a large fallen limb.
“Crap!” She stumbled and fell, cursing the entire time. But once she sat up, she pushed her wounded pride aside and realized she hadn’t tripped over a limb, but a man.
Milo.
She quickly crawled over to him. He had the radio in his hand, but he was sprawled out, and after quickly assessing him, she found a large lump on his head.
“Oh, Milo,” she whispered as her hands moved over him to make sure nothing was broken. “Why would you do this to yourself?” There was dirt smudged across his face and a nasty scrape at his temple. He was breathing, thank God, but he was too still, too quiet.
For several minutes, she moved his limbs and did her best to assess any injuries, but from what she could tell, it was only the bump on the head. “Milo. Hey. Hey, wake up.” Her voice cracked. “This isn’t funny. Get up. Please.”
His eyelids fluttered. A groan escaped him, low and pained. “N…Nora?”
Relief slammed into her so hard she nearly laughed. “Yeah. It’s me,” she said softly, her hand resting lightly on his chest. “Congratulations, you successfully terrified me. Can you sit up?”
He blinked at her like she stepped straight out of a dream. His pupils were blown, his focus drifting somewhere between her face and the treetops. She gingerly wrapped her arm around his back to help him up.
“I wished for you to come,” he murmured.
She nearly got whiplash as she turned her head to look at his face. “What?”
His eyes were closed again, but he said, “Wished for you. And now you’re here.”
Her hand gently cupped his cheek. “Can you open your eyes for me again?”
He shook his head. “Hurts. This is better. You saved me. Just like in my dream.”
“Um…”
“You’re like…the coolest girl.”
She chuckled.
“Slater thinks I like you, and he’s right.”
Oh.
“I’ve got a crush on you,” he said with a small laugh right before his head lolled to the side and she knew he had passed out again.
Dammit.
Picking up the radio, she called down to Lexi. “Hey, it’s Nora. Over.”
“Hey! Did you find him? Over.”
“Yes. I’m with him, but he’s hurt. Over.”
“Okay, what do you need from me? Who do I need to call? Over.”
Good question.
“I think you need to…” She paused when Milo stirred and tried to sit up. Dropping the radio, she quickly put her arm around him to help steady him. “Careful, okay. Not too fast.”
“Nora? Nora, can you hear me? Over.”
Grabbing the radio, she quickly replied, “Yes. Sorry. He’s waking up. Over.”
“Who should I call? Over.”
“Get the resort doctor on the phone and explain the situation. Male. Early thirties. Lump on his head from a fall. No other obvious injuries. Over.”
But he slumped over again, and she gently guided him back down.
“Okay. Are you going to try to move him? Over.”
“Maybe in a few minutes. But you may need to let Axel and Walker know what’s going on. Over.”
“Will do. I’ll call you right back. Over.”
Unsure of what to do, she stared at him for several long moments before trying to wake him up again.
“Milo? Milo, come on. No napping. This is not a designated rest area.” She was going for light and teasing, but the truth was she was worried. Terrified, actually. He was pale, and the fact that he kept losing consciousness wasn’t a good sign.
He groaned and she swore she’d never been more relieved in her life.
His eyelashes fluttered, his forehead creased in pain, and then he squinted up at her like he wasn’t entirely convinced she was real.
Or that he’d talked to her only two minutes earlier.
“Nora?” His voice was scratchy and soft and he sounded weirdly relieved. “Wow. I really did die.”
She let out a strangled laugh. “You’re not dead. You’re just an idiot. Congratulations.”
His brow knit as if he were trying to focus. “You’re… glowing.”
“That’s just daylight, champ. Happens to everyone.”
“You always glow,” he mumbled, dreamy and sincere in a way that Milo never was. “Even when you’re mad at me.”
“Oh, good,” she muttered. “Delirious flattery. That’s new.”
Sliding an arm behind his shoulders, she carefully tried to move him. “Come on. Sit up. Slowly. And please don’t vomit on me, because I will leave you here. I swear I will.”
He laughed weakly, then winced. “Ow. Okay. No laughing.”
He leaned sideways, and she caught him with both hands, his forehead brushing her shoulder. He smelled like sweat and pine, and trouble.
“Milo, I need you to focus,” she said carefully. “We need to get to the lean-to before the weather changes, so…”
“I like you.”
The words were so casual, so unfiltered, that she almost didn’t catch them.
“I’m sorry…what?”
Lifting his head, eyes glassy but locked on hers, he nodded. And Nora swore the way he looked at her… like she was something he shouldn’t touch but desperately wanted to… stole her breath.
“I like you,” he repeated simply. “Like, stupidly. Painfully. Annoyingly. Do you have any idea how hard it is pretending I don’t?”
Nope. No air. Her lungs? Gone. Disappeared. Probably rolling down the mountain somewhere.
“Milo,” she whispered, but had no idea what else to say.
“I’m trying really hard not to,” he continued, earnest and drowsy and absolutely devastating. “You make it impossible. You walk into a room and I just… I forget how to be a person.”
Unable to help it, she barked out a helpless laugh. “Well, that explains so much.”
He smiled a lopsided grin that looked good on him.
Then he leaned forward.
There was no time for her to process. Or prepare. Or even think.
His lips brushed hers. Warm and unexpected. Hungry and gentle all at once. Not hesitant. It was like he’d been holding back forever and his brain finally forgot to stop him.
Shock lit her up like a lightning strike, and for a heartbeat, she couldn’t do anything but feel. It was the first time in a long time anyone had shown her tenderness. But just as she was letting herself sink into the kiss, panic crashed in.
“Milo!” She pulled back so fast he swayed. “You’re concussed. You cannot…you can’t…that was…”
He blinked, confusion sliding slowly into his expression.
“What just… happened?” he murmured.
She stared at him as if he were crazy. “You kissed me!”
His eyebrows shot up. “I did? Seriously?”
Heat flooded face. “Yes, seriously!”
They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before he grinned faintly. “Huh. I have excellent taste.”
Unsure if she should be annoyed or relieved, she gently shoved his shoulder. “You’re unbelievable.”
He winced before slumping against her again. “Ow. Don’t abuse the injured.”
Her heart was still pounding. Her lips were still tingling. And her world was absolutely, completely upside down.
“Okay,” she breathed, wrestling her sanity back into place. “We’re filing all of that under Things We’re Not Thinking About Right Now. Lean-to. Safety. Brain damage first, emotional trauma later.”
“Bossy,” he mumbled, but he threw an arm around her, trusting, heavy, and warm. “Don’t leave me.”
Like she ever could.
“I won’t,” she softly assured him. “You’re stuck with me.”
The radio crackled, interrupting the moment.
“Nora, it’s Lexi. Walker and Axel are on their way up with one of the medics. Can you confirm your location? Over.”
“I’m taking him to the first lean-to on the yellow path. Tell them he’s awake and semi-alert. Over.”
“Will do. Be careful. Over.”
Slowly, Nora maneuvered them to their feet. Milo was definitely not overly steady, but he was doing better than she would have expected. When they finally started walking, it was shaky and slow.
And silent.
After several minutes, Milo cleared his throat. “So… why are we hiking again?” he asked, bright and clueless.
Seriously?
“You don’t remember?”
He frowned. “Remember what?”
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Her heart flipped, her stomach dropped, and it suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe.
“Oh,” she said lightly, forcing a small smile. “Nothing important.”
Turning his head, Milo smiled at her like she was his safe place.
And Nora kept walking, pretending her world hadn’t just completely changed.
Unfortunately, there was no time to really let that thought take hold.
The lean-to was in sight, and she needed to get them there and make sure he got hydrated and had something to eat.
It was going to take the guys at least an hour to get to them and hopefully by the time they did, Milo would be in better shape.
She knew he would hate that his friends saw him in such a vulnerable state.
When they reached the lean-to, she was careful as she lowered them both to the ground. Quickly shucking off her backpack, she helped Milo with his. He was breathless and still looked very dazed and sleepy.
“Hey,” she said quietly but firmly. “Stay with me, okay? When was the last time you ate or drank anything?”
“Um…” Thinking seemed to cause him pain because he winced, and she figured it didn’t matter when he did either of those things. The important thing was to make sure he did them now to keep up his strength.
Rifling through her backpack, she pulled out the water and sandwiches, giving him the water first. “Here. Drink this,” she said softly. And while he did that, she unwrapped one of the emergency blankets and covered his lap before handing him a sandwich.
“I’m not really hungry,” he murmured.
“Don’t care. It’s a long walk down and even with the guys helping, you need some protein in you to help give you some strength.”
“The guys are coming?” he asked miserably. “Why?”
The mirthless laugh was out before she could stop it. “Because I can’t carry you down the mountain on my own. I mean…I could if I absolutely had to, but I don’t because help is nearby.”
“I could walk down by myself.”
“Uh-huh. Sure. Please, just eat. Save your energy.”
She opened her own sandwich and took a large bite to keep herself from saying anything else.
The rain slowed to a drizzle, and the sound of it was rather comforting. They ate in companionable silence, and that’s the way Axel, Walker, and the medic found them.
Nora let the guys take the lead on the way down the mountain after Milo had a quick exam.
“You okay?” Walker asked her as they began the trek down.
Nodding, she said, “I’m fine. Just glad I found him.” She sounded disgruntled even to her own ears.
“Lexi said you got up there fast. Axel and I didn’t even come close to your pace, so…thank you. Slater’s bragged about you since before we hired you, but what you did today literally saved Milo’s life.”
She felt herself blush. “I don’t think it would have come to that, but I’m glad I could reach him and then have you meet us. I don’t know if I could’ve gotten him down safely.”
“You would have,” he said, and she knew it was a compliment. Then he smiled at her. “And now you’re officially one of us. Part of the family.”
Axel—who was helping the medic walk Milo down the trail—glanced at her over his shoulder. “Ditto! You’re awesome, Nora. What you did today was amazing.”
“Thanks.”
The medic praised her next.
The only one who didn’t was Milo.
And she tried not to take it personally.