Fate and Destiny (2 page)

Insistent barking pulled
Andrew back to reality. The barks became loud whines as the dog
sniffed around the body and began licking the face.

“
No! Shadow!”

Andrew scrambled down the
slope.

“
What are you doing? Leave
her alone!”

Shadow ignored him and
continued licking and whining. The dog seemed to be running out of
patience with Andrew and his lack of interest in the
body.

Halfway down, Andrew’s foot
caught on a hidden tree root. He stumbled and slid the rest of the
way down on his backside. Reaching the bottom, he scrambled to his
feet, swallowing hard.

His boots found no
traction. One foot slipped just as Shadow moved, splaying Andrew
down flat on the ground. He found himself face to face with the
unknown woman.

Before he could jump up,
back away, or even breathe, there was a slight movement over the
woman’s face.

Andrew stopped moving. He
held his breath and waited.

There it was again. He
focused his eyes just above the slightly open lips.

“
Oh my God.” Andrew let
out his own breath. “She’s alive.”

2.

Cursing quietly under his
breath, Andrew ran his hands through his hair. Rising to his feet,
he searched the frozen landscape, hoping a squad of paramedics and
policemen would materialize from the silent forest. No one
appeared. The snow even muffled the soft woofs and whines of the
dog. For the first time, Andrew hated the isolation of the cabin.
What he wouldn’t give to be in the middle of a city right
then.

“
Okay Shadow, this is what
we’re gonna do.”

He bent to one knee,
staring into oversize chocolate brown eyes.

“
We are going to take her
back to the cabin. After that…”

He couldn’t lie to the
dog.

“
Well, I’ll think of
something.”

He slipped the loose scarf
from around his shoulders, wrapping it snugly around the neck and
head of the woman. Placing his cheek near her mouth, slight yet
warm mists slowly breathed against his skin. She held onto life,
but how much longer could she maintain that fragile
thread?

Carefully slipping one arm
under her head, the other under her knees, he lifted. With Shadow
trotting alongside, Andrew waded back through the snow, choosing a
route higher up than the one Shadow used to discover the body. The
snowdrifts along the ridge weren’t as deep as he maneuvered to the
front door of the cabin, making certain he didn’t slip or drop her
along the way.

He placed her on the bed in
the warmth of the cabin. Her skin was cold to the touch. Worried,
he bent down to stare at her lips, verifying the shallow wisps of
breath, proving she still lived. His warmed fingertips at her wrist
detected a faint pulse.

He paced, forgetting about
the cold and snow hiding the cabin in a deeper sea of white. At the
rate he kept running his hands through his hair in irritation, he
would soon be bald.

A rarely used ham radio hid
on a back corner of the kitchen counter. Andrew bought it at the
insistence of his family. He never used it before, but since his
cell phone couldn’t find a signal, he had no choice but to attempt
to use the contraption. He tried to get a clear line out, wondering
if the batteries were still good.

“
Hello? Can anyone hear
me?”

Only static
responded.

“
Hey, if anyone’s out
there, I’m stuck up here on Miller’s Mountain and I’ve got a
seriously injured woman that needs help. If you can hear me, call
paramedics and the police. I’m located at the third driveway to the
east on Millers Mountain Road.”

A little hope was better
than none. He glanced out the window as the skies grew increasingly
dark, the snow coming down so thick he couldn’t see past the panes
of glass.

Dragging his eyes from the
window, his attention traveled to the motionless form on the bed.
Her clothes thoroughly soaked, snow melting into the bed around
her.

“
One crisis at a
time.”

Speaking aloud dispelled
the silence. He felt less alone. Gently, he picked her up again,
lying her on the thick rug in front of the fireplace. He hoped he
was not imagining that her body felt warmer. Closer to the fire,
she would warm faster. The flames had died down since he left,
surprising him that the fire had not gone out while he traipsed
through the woods. The battery-operated alarm clock on the
nightstand indicated that he had only been away for a little less
than 45 minutes. It seemed like hours.

The heat on his hands as he
removed his woolen scarf confirmed she was close enough to the
fireplace. He hated moving her so much; concerned he was doing more
harm than good. Shadow lay against her back, sharing body heat with
her.

“
Well Shadow, unless
someone heard me on the radio, it’s up to us to take care of
her.”

The dog eyed him from his
post, his head resting on enormous paws.

“
Okay, so I see you are
doing all you can within your doggy powers. I guess that means I
should do something.”

 
Clean sheets and a
cup of coffee later, he decided the next task would be to find
suitable, dry clothes for her. The last thing she needed was
pneumonia on top of whatever other injuries she had.

A flannel shirt and a pair
of sweats from the closet would suffice at least until her clothes
dried. Retrieving the first aid kit from under the kitchen sink, he
returned to kneel next to the woman on the floor. Mottled purple
and blue marred the creamy skin of her face, merging under the red
streaks of blood. Other unseen injuries may be hidden under the
gash, blood, and dirt across the side of her forehead above her
right eye. Dirty snow and blood caked her skin, clothing, and
ponytail.

“
Okay Shadow. We are going
to clean her up and make her comfortable. Can’t save her life just
so we can lose her to infection.”

Shadow softly
woofed.

Andrew rose from her side,
returning with a bowl of warm water, a clean washcloth, and a towel
which he hung over the fireplace. Doing his best to clean her face,
he judged the damage as he went.

“
She’s kind of pretty
without that muck all over her isn’t she?”

Shadow snored
softly.

“
Long day for you already?
That’s okay; you just lie there and sleep. I’ll take care of
her.” 

With great care, Andrew
tested for soft spots around the cut and lump on her head. His
fingers tangled in the matted mess of hair released from the
elastic band.

Supporting her head with
one hand, he washed and rinsed with the other. The smell of shampoo
mingling with the scents of the fire. Finally clean and tangle
free, his fingers scanned the shape of her skull as he rinsed out
the blood. Relief and confidence rolling through him to find her
skull hard and intact under his probing fingertips. Satisfied, he
released her limp arms from the leather jacket, hanging it on the
hook near the front door to dry. Tending to the woman, he disturbed
Shadow from his slumber.

“
Shadow, don’t look. I
have to take off her wet clothes. Cover your eyes or turn your
back.”

The dog merely watched with
interest.

“
Better yet, maybe you
should undress her and I’ll cover my eyes.”

Andrew recognized city
clothes when he saw them. Her dark green sweater, now soaked, clung
to her skin, revealing soft curves. Mud caked jeans belted at her
waist and casual walking shoes completed the ensemble. She was
dressed for a chilly evening out, not a wintry mountain
hike.

“
Lady, I hope you’ll
forgive me for what I have to do.”

He paused. Subconsciously
she might hear him even if she could not respond.

“
Actually, I hope you get
the chance to forgive me, hate me, be mad at me. Whatever you want.
But right now, I’d be happy if you would just open your
eyes.”

No flutter of the eyelids,
no change in the slight breathing.

“
Okay honey, have it your
way. We’ll get through this together.”

Pulling the sweater off, he
tried not to think about what he was doing. His brain sending
signals through the rest of his body even as he tried to shut it
up, convincing his body this was just a normal everyday kind of
thing that Fate dropped near dead, half naked damsels in distress
into his lap every day. Shadow watched from where he sat in the
kitchen. His ears up, tongue lolling from a toothy grin.

“
I hope you aren’t
laughing at me. I tried to get you to do this for me but you
wouldn’t.”

Shadow padded closer,
leaving little room for Andrew to tend to his patient.

Andrew softly hummed a
jingle from a commercial. Any distraction a good
one. 

Averting his eyes, he gave
Shadow a guilty look. On edge, he began to sing the lyrics he
hummed a moment before. Bringing down the heated towel, he
efficiently dried her exposed skin. He slid one arm into a sleeve,
lifting her gently, wrapping the flannel shirt behind her, and
sliding in the other arm. Quickly closing the ends around the
front, he started buttoning from the top down. His movements
mechanical, mindless as he decently covered her. The shirt almost
fit. She was about four inches shorter than Andrew’s own six-foot
frame, but where he had muscle, she had curves.

The gash on her head
continued to seep blood. Deciding against a needle and thread, he
opted to return to the first aid kit. Nothing in his background
prepared him to put stitches in a stuffed animal, much less to scar
an unconscious stranger. Cutting a bandage into strips, he closed
the wound as best he could. A trick he learned from living alone.
At his house, there wasn’t anyone to kiss his hurts when he slipped
with a screwdriver or dropped a floor jack on his toe. Coordination
was not one of his strong suits.

He studied his handiwork.
The closure of the wound was not perfect, but it would have to do
until he could get her to a doctor. He hoped she would live long
enough to complain about the shoddy workmanship on her
head.

“
We’re almost done, honey.
You just lay back and relax.”

She didn’t move.

“
That’s a good girl. The
top half is better, but now I have to take care of the
rest.”

 
He was becoming a
pro at this savior thing. Thankfully, she didn’t regain
consciousness yet. Her reaction to a strange man stripping off her
clothes could be a very bad experience for both of them. The way
his luck was going lately, she would give him a gash upside his
head to match hers.

After removing the shoes,
unbuttoning, unzipping, and peeling the fabric from her, he eased
the jeans down past her thighs and over her knees.

Her right calf was swollen
and purple from the middle of her leg to her foot. His hands
ventured along her smooth flesh feeling for a broken bone. The skin
warmer to his touch than when he first brought her inside. He sang
a little louder now.

As he tenderly felt around
the swollen area of her leg, the woman let out a small cry of pain.
The unexpected noise jarred him. He quickly glanced up at her face
to see if she was coming around or if the pain from his touch broke
through her comatose state. Shadow, also alarmed, jumped to his
feet, emitting a sound of sympathy.

She made no other attempts
at moving. The wince of pain quickly crossing her face before
returning to a relaxed expression.

“
Sorry, honey. I’ll be
more careful.”

Shadow wagged his tail
slightly, agreeing Andrew should take it easy on his
treasure. 

Without discomforting her
further, he eased her foot back onto the rug.

“
Almost done now. Bear
with me. Oh, and by the way, now would not be a good time to wake
up. Okay, honey?”

He stuck his fingers under
the edge of her lacy panties and pulled them off. The singing in
the cabin rose to an elevated level. Shadow, watching the whole
scene, joined in. He barely emitted a hearty whine, not getting the
chance to start howling before Andrew stopped singing.

The man and the dog looked
at each other. A giggle tickling the back of Andrew’s throat at the
absurdity of a grown man who avoided looking at an undressed woman.
The giggle turned into a cough and deep clearing of his throat.
Giggling would seem less than manly in front of the dog. Shadow
gave him a knowing look, settling back down to watch over his
charge.

Andrew resumed his task by
slowly sliding the bruised ankle into the leg of the sweatpants,
quickly following the path with the other leg. The fabric easily
pulled up the length of her long legs, finally clothing her
completely. He bit back the shout of triumph, choosing instead to
grin at the dog. Shadow grinned right back.

Picking her limp body up,
he carried her to the clean dry bed and covered her with extra
thick blankets. Shadow gave him a snort of approval before jumping
on the bed and lying down next to his new friend.