Broken

She grinned at me and took a sip of her tea, pointedly settling deeper into my chair.

“I get why you always sit in this chair. It’s really comfortable,” she replied playfully.

“Yeah, well, when comfort is all you have…” I grumbled, realizing that I absolutely hated the feeling of contentment the sight awarded me.

Chapter 11: Carrie

When I awoke to the silent, empty cabin, save for Jake, who was curled up at my feet, still taking up nearly half the bed, I wasn’t the least bit afraid.

Strangely enough, waking up in the cabin gave me a greater sense of comfort than waking up in my apartment ever did; even with the looming threat of a potential killer.

This was strange to me, because I thought I must be crazy. The idea that I was

in more danger than ever but felt safer than ever didn’t make sense.

I was almost bothered by the fact that I couldn’t find much fear in being alone there.

Did my mind just give up? I wondered, though I knew that wasn’t the case. I was well aware of my surroundings and the potential danger I was in, but strangely enough, I trusted both Johnathan and Jake.

Even though Johnathan had left, presumably to think, even though I was angry with him, I knew that he would never truly leave me. Plus, Jake was here. I knew he would protect me in Johnathan’s absence.

Simply the size of the massive dog, I presumed, would discourage almost anyone.

Especially that dipshit guide, I thought, strangely unafraid of him. Perhaps I felt shielded by the massive dog that slept at my feet, or the fact that despite our argument, I was content with the day Johnathan and I had shared.

Still, I wasn’t sure why I wasn’t freaking out, being that a dog can only protect me from so much.

However, I found a strange sense of contentment, in being alone in the cabin.

It was still daylight, but I was fatigued. I wanted to go back to sleep, but quickly realized I couldn’t.

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand why that was, since I had slept for a few days, almost consecutively by this point and decided that my body was simply done sleeping; although I still felt like I could use a few more hours, at least.

Yet, I took the advice my body was obviously trying to give me and got out of the bed.

I wasn’t hungry, but I wanted something, so I decided to make myself some tea.

Walking across the room, toward the kitchen, I was pleased to find that my ankle was healing well. I didn’t have any pain, only a little bit of weakness. Yet, I was still sure to take care. The last thing I needed was to re-injure it when I was making so much progress.

Although, it felt good to be up and walking around, my body ached, from the disuse and then the abundance of movement. Between the exertion of lovemaking and putting pressure on it to walk across the kitchen had tested the limits. However, it was eventually able to settle into the ability to be mobile without all that much pain.

Soon after I woke up, I saw a mound in the blankets on the bed rise, before a big, black snout shoved its way to freedom from the covers. I watched the nose sniff in the air, nostrils flaring, trying not to laugh.

Eventually, the rest of his head poked out.

“Don’t worry, boy. I’m still here,” I told him as he wrestled with the blanket to throw it off him.

When he saw me, his tail started to wag excitedly, and he leapt off the bed, nearly instantly arriving at my side.

“Good boy,” I told him, petting his head, and looking around for something to give him. I found a jar, which was filled with large treats. I grabbed a few and gave them to him, while Jake bounced up and down excitedly. His movements seemed to make the whole cabin quake.

When my tea was finished, I sauntered over to the chair, not wanting to return to the bed, but wanting to get off my feet.

I settled in, noticing that this was extremely relaxing. I closed my eyes but didn’t sleep. Instead, I thought about everything that had happened this morning and wondered what that meant.

Also, I wondered if it should mean anything. After all, we were both in a stressful situation, which could evoke reactions that weren’t exactly the normal responses that either of us would make if we weren’t in such a situation.

Still, there was a large part of me that didn’t want such a scenario to be the case.