"Okay, okay, keep your panties on," I said as he growled beside me, making me giggle. "I call you Greeky because I thought you looked like some kind of Greek god when I first saw you," I said, thankful for the darkness of the cave to hide my blushing face.

"Hmmm, Greek god, I like that," he said, tightening his hold on me.

"Ha, I bet."

"Well, if I look like a god than you're a goddess," he said seriously.

"Right, maybe a paint-smudged one," I joked.

"Come on, it’s nice that you’re not stuck-up or anything, but you’ve got to know you’re hot."

“Well, thanks,” I answered, not knowing what else to say. We both went silent after that and eventually I began to get drowsy.

"Mason," I said quietly.

"Hmm?"

"I'm in like with you a lot," I said, letting my eyes drift closed.

He laughed softly. "I'm in like with you a lot too!" he said, placing a light kiss on my head.

Chapter 14

The next morning came as a complete surprise. I couldn’t believe I had slept through the night. Slowly untangling myself from Mason's arm, I sat up, startled to find he was awake also.

"You okay?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer, judging by the look on his face.

"I've been better," he answered weakly.

Shining the flashlight over his wound, I could see the infection was clearly spreading, which was why he was in so much discomfort.

"I'm going to get you help," I said, placing my hand to his head.

His fever was blazing, and his eyes looked cloudy, when he could even manage to keep them open anyway. I wiped my hand across the beads of sweat that covered his forehead. The thought of leaving him behind scared the hell out of me, but I had to do something.

He had already fallen back into an uncomfortable slumber as I gathered up my supplies. I placed a water bottle and one of the energy bars by his side, just in case, but I was doubtful he would touch either. I swallowed the Advil I had saved from the night before, praying they would help my p

ounding head and sore throat. Finally, just as I leaned over Mason’s head to give him a soft kiss on his lips, he opened his eyes, scaring the crap out of me.

“Hey, I'll be back soon," I promised, giving him one more kiss. He watched without saying a word. He looked so out of it, I wasn’t even sure he comprehended what I was saying. Taking one last look around to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything, I crawled out into the ever-present rain.

At first, the rain actually felt kind of nice on my overheated cheeks, but all that changed after about thirty minutes. Without the protection of a raincoat, I was completely saturated and chilled to the bone. My hands throbbed painfully from being exposed to the elements, but I pushed on, stopping every twenty yards or so to tie another ribbon to a tree.

Stopping so often made my forward progress annoyingly slow and I began to feel disheartened. "Well, this was a great idea," I muttered to myself as I tied yet another ribbon to a towering pine tree. It has to been done though, came my inner voice of reason.

I continued forward, marking my path while fighting the urge to sprint down the mountain so I could get Mason the help he needed. Not that running was even a possibility since the ground beneath my feet was a murky mess from the never-ending rain. My foot sank an inch into the soil with every step I took. After tripping for what seemed like the hundredth time, I kept my eyes peeled to the ground, realizing this was as fast as I could go.

Midmorning snuck up on me quicker than I expected. I stopped for a break in front of a steep decline that was even more intimidating in my tired, soaking-wet condition. I perched myself up on a large rock and tucked my head down into my jacket so I could use my hot breath in between fits of coughing to warm up my ice-cold skin. All this hiking around was playing havoc with my breathing. My coughing had passed beyond painful and slid right into agony as each spasm made me feel like I was losing a lung. Every muscle in my body ached and I was so weary that just sitting became a fight to keep my tired eyes open. I let my eyes close for just a moment and slowly began to sink into a slumber when Mason's face appeared in my head, jerking me awake. I scrambled to a standing position and pulled out the last of the jerky and one of the energy bars. Still standing so my body wouldn't betray me again, I munched on my snack, willing myself to remain focused. Mason was counting on me.

Getting a little food and water in my stomach had me feeling somewhat better, but the steep decline in front of me was still worrisome. I looked around for a spot that appeared to be easier to descend, but straight down from where I stood looked to be as safe as any other. I tied a ribbon on a tree at the top of the incline and slowly began to walk down. The slanted ground proved to be as difficult to navigate as it looked, plus there was nothing to hold on to. After falling on my butt for the second time, I finally realized that walking sideways with my feet running parallel with the mountain made the trip down easier. Pleased with my success, I was just about to pat myself on the back when I stepped down on a rock that wasn't buried as deep in the dirt as I had anticipated. The rock rolled out from under my foot, making my ankle twist at an odd angle before buckling from under me. The sudden shift threw off my balance and I tumbled head over heels the rest of the way down, until I finally came to a grinding stop. Loose rocks dug into the sensitive skin where I had landed ungracefully at the bottom of the hill with my face firmly planted in the dirt.

I sat up groaning and coughing with new aches and pains assaulting my body. Something wet trailed down my left cheek and although I hoped for the best when I swiped it away, I can’t say I was too shocked when my hand came away blood-streaked. "Well, that's great," I muttered, struggling to my feet. Pain tore its way through my leg as my ankle buckled again, sending me back to the ground. "Damn it,” I yelled. “Could I please get a fucking break?" I hollered up at the overcast sky. "Not a big one, but just something," I continued to scream as a feeling of despair set in. We were going to die out here.

The hopelessness of the situation became overwhelming and I broke out in tears. After awhile the sobs turned to coughing as my lungs protested the extra workout the tears were causing. Trying to calm down, I took several deep breaths, letting the oxygen fill my lungs until I slowly began to breathe easier.

Once I had regained my composure, I pulled up the leg of my pants to check the damage to my ankle. Dark splotches of purple, swelled skin marred the surrounding area of my foot. It looked grotesque, but I was pretty sure it wasn't broken since I didn't hear a snap when it happened. Touching the swelled area lightly with my finger made me cringe. Even if it wasn’t broken, it sure hurt like hell. "Just a bad sprain," I said out loud, trying to reassure myself. "All I need to do is wrap it and I'll be good to go." The only problem was finding something to wrap it with. The torn strips of raincoat were all too short to really do any good.

The only idea I could think of was to use a piece of my shirt, so I shrugged out of my heavy, wet jacket and pulled off my flannel shirt. The cold rain pelted my bra-clad chest as I hurried back into my jacket, cringing from the wet material clinging to my naked skin. Using a rock to get me started, I tore both sleeves away from the shoulder sections of the shirt. My constant shivering made the job difficult, but I wrapped one of the sleeves snugly around my ankle, tucking the end down into the layers. I then tied the other sleeve in a knot around the wrap to hold it in place.

Tags: Tiffany King Romance
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