Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
B rielle slowly came into consciousness and began to shift in order to stretch, but the movement had her wincing and jerking away at the pain. Her foot and ankle felt as if they’d been through a grinder, and the rest of her was awkward points of cold and warm simultaneously.
As she jerked upright, another person grunted, and Brielle’s memory began working. “Oh my word, I’m so sorry,” she hurried to tell Ryan as he made a face as she shifted in his lap.
Ryan shook his head. “No worries. I’m fine.” The way he began flexing his legs and torso, however, told Brielle a different story.
“I can’t believe you’ve let me sit on your lap this whole time,” she muttered, looking for a way to relieve him of her weight. “Your legs must be absolutely dead by now. And that’s twice I’ve woken up by hurting you.”
“Not quite,” he joked. “But it’s close.”
“I’m sorry,” she said again. “Uh…we can set me down. I know full well I’m not a lightweight.” The rain jacket over her shoulders slipped and began to fall off as she moved, but Ryan st opped her and the coat.
“Hang on,” he said, grinning softly at her. The light of day hadn’t quite broken through the clouds from the storm but his face was much easier to see than last night. “It’s cold out there.” He pulled the jacket back up and brought their foreheads together. “And your weight is perfect.”
Brielle found herself breathing heavily, and it had nothing to do with the cold and the pain in her foot and leg. How did he know just what to say? Most guys would have just laughed and ignored what she’d said about her weight. She hadn’t really called herself fat, but she knew, and had been made very much aware from her mother and sister, that her build was not feminine enough to be attractive.
How can he not care?
Ryan’s smile turned to a frown. “What?” he asked, studying her face.
Brielle shook her head. “Nothing,” she croaked, then cleared her throat. “Just…feeling bad that you’re having to rescue me…again.”
He shrugged and pulled the coats tighter around them again before pulling her into his chest. “I’m not. You were always so intimidating. It’s no wonder I had to play hero to get you to talk to me.”
Brielle’s eyes had started to drift closed again as his warmth seeped into her, but they shot back open. “Intimidating? What do you mean?” She bounced with his laugh.
“Brielle…every boy in our school thought you were amazing. And every boy in our school was positive that if they tried to make a move on you, you’d either give them a black eye or you’d make it a personal mission to embarrass them on the field.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. He wasn’t exactly off the mark, but it made her sound like a heathen and Brielle hadn’t thought of herself that way. She’d been tough and had the drive to be good. It was the only way to keep from buckling under the pressure from her mother and sister to be more like them since Brielle knew that she’d never measure up.
She’d never be skinny enough.
She’d never be elegant enough .
She’d never be beautiful enough or refined enough or anything “enough.”
But Ryan thought she was perfect. Or at least that her weight was. She couldn’t decide if he was blind, or if he was trying to get something from her.
He chuckled again. “I have to admit, I was shocked to come out of our exchange unscathed, at least physically.” He kissed the top of her head. “It was worth it though. You shook the very foundations of the high school for me that day.”
Brielle tried to keep her sniffing to herself and blinked rapidly to keep her tears at bay. Geez, her body seemed bound and determined to be as vulnerable as possibly in front of this guy, but who could blame her? She’d never had someone speak to her like this, and years of pent up emotions seemed to be leaking like a deflated balloon.
“What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?” Ryan asked, his hand rubbing up and down her chilled back.
Brielle blinked faster, determined not to let her emotions win. She’d been strong for a very long time. It wasn’t time to break down now. “Just wondering if we’re ever going to be found,” she hedged. “It seems like they would have sent someone after us by now.”
“It is odd,” Ryan agreed. He broke his arm out of their cocoon and looked at his watch. “It’s about five, so yeah, it’s been a few hours.”
“The storm is mostly gone,” Brielle ventured. “Any chance you have a signal now?”
“Good idea.”
She felt him fumble between them, pulling it out. “By the way, how’s your ankle?”
“Cold,” she said, which was absolutely the truth, just not the whole truth. The cold wasn’t enough to take away the pain, and she could still feel heat coming from under her skin, letting her know it was swollen and probably still unusable. But if he can’t get through, that won’t matter. We’ll have to do something. We can’t just keep staying here .
“No signal,” Ryan grumbled. He sighed and rested his head against the tree. “There’s got to be some way of letting them know where we are.”
“Maybe you should start back,” Brielle said hesitantly. She really didn’t want to be stuck here by herself, but they had to start taking action. The storm was mostly gone, the sun was starting to rise, and no one seemed to be coming. With no reception and the hours that had passed, the team had no way of knowing where they were.
The only thing left to do was try to save themselves. If Ryan could get down to a place where there was reception, then he could bring a rescue party back, even though the idea of being on her own scared her silly. Tough, Bri. Be tough.
“Start back?” Ryan leaned his head down, catching her eye. “I really don’t like the idea of leaving you here.”
Brielle sat up so it was easier to talk and made a face. “No. But it looks like our only option. You can’t carry me, and I can’t walk. The rain has stopped, and it’ll be light enough soon to actually see the trail without falling. If they can’t find us, we need to find a way to let them know where we are. Last night I was freshly hurt and too cold, but this morning I’ll be fine. Your little trick to bundle ourselves together got rid of the threat of hypothermia. Going back is probably our only choice at this point.”
He blew out a breath and pushed a hand through his hair. “I know you’re right, but I really don’t like the idea of leaving you by yourself.”
“I know, I’m not exactly fond of it myself, but we’ve got to do something.” She waited, wondering if he would come up with another idea, but knowing deep down that there wasn’t another idea to come up with. Ryan had to leave. It was the only way.
“I don’t like it,” he sulked, making Brielle smile. “What?” His brows pulled down in a scowl. “What’s so funny?”
She raised her cold fingers and brushed them against the lines in his forehead. “You’re just pouting like a little kid. It was funny. ”
Those same eyebrows shot up high. “Wanting to keep you safe is funny?”
Brielle shook her head. “No. Just the pouty way you were talking.”
Ryan rolled his eyes. “I don’t pout.”
“Oh, yes you do.”
“No, I don’t.”
“You pout better than little James at church, and he’s an expert,” Brielle teased.
Ryan smiled. “Maybe he can give me some tips, then because I don’t know how to do it.”
This time it was Brielle who rolled her eyes. “Okay, enough arguing. Are you going to take a walk or not?”
Ryan knew her suggestion was the right one, but almost every part of him was rebelling with the idea of leaving her behind. Holed up together felt as if they were in some kind of fantasy land where his dreams were slowly coming true.
He’d been holding her all night, sharing body warmth and some earth shattering kisses, and now they were trying to get back to the real world. But the problem was, when they were back in that real world, would any of this still be real?
Would Brielle still let him kiss her and hold her? Would she still be willing to talk to him and share stories that showed her soft side? Would they officially be a couple and walk around holding hands? Or would it go back to barely seeing each other with her scowling at him every time he tried to speak?
The night had been cold and heart attack inducing, but it had also been intimate and revealing. She felt something for him. But was she willing to admit it in public? It sounded like her sister was a piece of work, and Ryan had no idea if Aurora would still cause them problems. She’d already been an issue once, but now that the lies had surfaced, would Brielle allow her sister to continue to put a wedge between them?
Idiot, he scolded himself. You’re worried about dating while Brielle sits here with an injury and is still cold and wet. Get over yourself and take care of her.
He kissed her forehead. “You’re right. Let’s get you situated, and I’ll go find us help.”
It took several minutes to settle Brielle in a way that kept her covered and didn’t aggravate her injury, while allowing Ryan to get out from underneath her.
His head brushed against the wet pine leaves, and he grimaced when a bunch fell down the bare skin of his back. Bending back over and shaking his legs to rid them of the feeling of electric ants, he grabbed his shirt and wrangled it on.
“This is why we dry clothes first,” he grumbled as the wet material made it hard to get into.
Brielle gave him a wan smile, her face paler than before. “Thank heavens for the invention of the dryer, huh?”
The pull to stay hit him again, but Ryan forced it back. The best thing he could do was get her out of here, and that required him to walk away. “I think we’ll be saying that about hot drinks, followed by hot showers, followed by warm fuzzy blankets in just a few minutes.” Winking, he turned and got his bearing, noting that they weren’t that far off the running trail. “Hang tight, Bri. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
She didn’t respond, and Ryan glanced over his shoulder, catching her with a worried expression before she forced a tight smile.
“I’ll be waiting,” she said softly.
His stomach churned as he gave a light wave. “Don’t worry. I’ll hurry.” Forcing his head back around, Ryan broke into a jog. If he didn’t get away now, he wouldn’t be able to, and they desperately needed to get her medical attention before anything else happened.
They’d fended off hypothermia last night, but there were still plenty of dangers and with the sun rising, who knew what animals would start to roam through the forest, bringing another element of danger.
He reached the trail and immediately glanced at his phone, but there was still no signal. Of course it can’t be that easy, he thought sarcastically, immediately heading back the direction they had come from last night.
At least he hoped it was the right direction…not that he was sure that it really mattered. The camp was probably gone by now, but it was the best option he had.
Every few seconds, he glanced at his phone, waiting until he finally, finally found a signal. It was only two bars, but he would take it. It would be enough.
After sending a mass text to the whole team, he called Levi.
“Doc!” Levi shouted into the device. “What’s going on? Where are you? No one heard from you after you ran after Bri.”
“Levi, listen,” Ryan interrupted. “We need help. Brielle’s hurt and we spent the night out here in the woods.”
“Wait…what? We all assumed?—”
“Levi, seriously, I need you to just listen,” Ryan said, his worry causing him to jumble his words a little. “She can’t walk, and there’s no signal at the spot we spent the night. I need an ambulance immediately, so we can get her to the hospital.”
There was some fumbling on the other side of the line before Levi came back all business. “Where are you?”
“We’re about two miles past the last camp last night,” Ryan said. “I don’t know the exact location, but I had to jog probably three quarters of a mile in order to get a signal. The trail is heavy with trees, and they won’t be able to get a regular vehicle up here.”
Levi cursed. “Right. I’ll bring a group to the camp, and we’ll start up the trail. I don’t know what we’ll use, but we’ll get people there. Just hold on a little longer, okay?”
“Yeah.” Ryan’s heart slowly began to calm as he realized they were going to be okay. “We can do that. ”
“Is she hypothermic?” Levi asked. “What should I tell the responders?”
“We’re both cold, but shouldn’t be hypothermic,” Ryan explained. He put his hand on his hip and looked back up the trail. He wanted to start running back right now, but he needed to finish this conversation first. And even then, he wasn’t sure it was right to go back. They wouldn’t be able to contact him in order to find him and Brielle. He probably should stay in cell range, but the idea made his chest lurch with worry. That much time away from him was painful to think about, but not getting her help was worse.
“Ryan? Are you still there?”
He shook his head. “Sorry. What did you ask?”
“I’m assuming there’s some dehydration,” Levi continued, “But is there anything else? I won’t ask how you stayed warm in last night’s weather, but what should we come prepared with?”
“Food and water would be good,” Ryan said. “But mostly we need to get warm and stabilize her foot. Her ankle is swollen and won’t hold her weight. I can’t tell if it’s broken, or if it’s just sprained badly. We have her shoe off, but even with the cold temps, the swelling is too much.”
“Ankle, got it.” Levi fumbled some more. “Okay. I gotta hang up in order to get the call in, but I’ll call you back as soon as I can, okay?”
Ryan’s heart sunk, knowing he was going to have to give into the instinct to wait in cell range rather than go back to Brielle. “Yeah. I’ll be here,” he said softly.
“It’s gonna be okay, man. We’ll get you both out of there and taken care of. Just hang tight.” The line went dead, and Ryan stared at it for a moment before noting that several messages had come through while he was chatting with Levi and a couple of calls as well.
His notifications were going crazy as stuff from last night came flooding into the phone, but Ryan simply erased them all. He didn’t have the mental energy to deal with any of it right now, not while Brielle was by herself and he had to wait on the others.
Instead of dealing with the messages, he sent out one last mass one to the team, saying he was getting help from Levi, then paced until the call he wanted came through.
“We’re on our way,” Levi said by way of greeting. “Hold tight so you can lead us right there. It’ll go much faster that way.”
Ryan closed his eyes, sending a prayer toward the cloudy sky that Brielle would make it just a little longer. The worst of the danger should be over, but she was by herself, wounde, and completely helpless. If something threatened her, she couldn’t get away, and it made Ryan nauseous to think about. But Levi was right. If Ryan waited for them, they’d get to Brielle faster, no matter what his heart was screaming at the moment. Forcing his feelings aside, Ryan focused on the course with the greatest chance of success.
“I’ll be here.”