"I'll see you, girls, later. You know that I'm out of sorts unless I get in my daily two and a half K's."
"Are you sure you can find your way back to the campsite, Louise?"
"Sure Mallory, the GPS will bring me right back to this spot. It's never failed me yet."
"You make us all look like lazy hens, Lou. Nonetheless, we'll save some breakfast for you."
"Knowing how you girls like to talk, and how fast I am, I'll be back before you even start cleaning up."
"If you say so, Lou. Stick to the trail. It wouldn't kill you to relax. That's the point of this girl's adventure in the first place."
"Running helps me relax, Mallory."
"Yeah? It sure keeps your figure trim at any rate."
"A little exercise wouldn't hurt you; you know Mallory."
"Hey! I work out, twice a week at the gym, in sexy little thing for the guys pumping iron to appreciate."
"I'll tell your husband you said that, Mallory."
"Like he gives a damn! Besides a little flirting is healthy in a marriage."
"If you say so! Seriously, I gotta go."
With that the sylph-like redhead began running down the narrow trail of the surrounding forest at an impressive clip. Dirty blonde Mallory watched her disappear around the curve with a mixture of envy and jealousy.
"Always making the rest of us look bad, Lou, you really are quite the bitch, aren't you?" she said with more than a tinge of irritation. She could hear music playing, clearly everyone else was up. Mallory made her way back to the isolated mountain cabin. She hoped that Ali decided to cook breakfast, she was so talented with food!
Louise followed the twists and turns of the trail. Before long she was deeper into the already remote forest. She came to a fork. Unsure of whether to veer right or left, she chose the left by chance, the terrain became more rugged. Louise slowed her pace a bit, but the trail seemed wide enough. Mid-stride, Louise noted that the trail dropped off sharply, before she could slow down, Louise was over the edge and falling and falling. The world went black. She hadn't even had time to scream.
**
The smell of frying bacon awoke her. She instantly regretted coming to consciousness, she ached everywhere. Her head was pounding. Reality swam in and out of focus for a few moments. When she returned to herself, she realized that she was stark naked between the sheets of an unfamiliar bed. There was an acute throbbing in her right ankle and soreness in her wrists. She lowered the sheets to find that she had contusions and bruises everywhere and that her right foot and ankle were immobilized by an obviously home-made splint. So, wherever she was, it wasn't a hospital. An unfamiliar, not unattractive, bearded male face appeared in the doorframe of the room. Louise screamed and hastily covered herself.
"Good! You are awake! You've been out for four days. I was really starting to get worried."
"Who are you? Where am I?" Louise blurted out.
"I'm Chris, you are in my cabin. Who are you?"
"I'm... I'm..." try as she might Louise could not recall her name. All she knew for sure was that she had been running and had a fall.
"I don't know!" she said at last.
"Yeah, that can happen with concussions, and you had a severe one. I've been calling you "Angel" because you literally dropped into my life from above."
Louise stared at him blankly.
"You came crashing through the trees, fortunately they broke your fall -- for the most part."
"My ankle?"
"Yeah, it's a simple break so I set it myself. You may have a cracked rib or two. Those are hard to detect even with a thorough examination. I expect you will discover additional sprains and muscle tears as you move around. You'll be sore for a while, but the important thing is, you are alive."
"I need a doctor."
"No, you need rest and a quiet place to recover. Here is as good a place as any."
"You're not a doctor!"
"No, but I was an EMT in a major city for quite a while. I could patch up patients with the best of the hospital's doctors. I even did impromptu surgery from time to time, removed an appendix once when our ambulance got bogged down in a blizzard and nothing could move for hours. Delivered a couple of babies too."
"People are looking for me!"
"What people?"
"I don't know!"
Chris crossed the distance to Louise, folded his hands across his chest. He was a big man, at least six feet tall, and was clearly quite muscular beneath his flannel shirt. He looked at Louise intently and stated firmly,
"You need to calm yourself down, Angel. You are weak and need food. I'll bring in some broth. Later we'll try some solid food."
"You have no right to keep me here!"
"Really, what are you going to do about it, Angel?"
"That's NOT my name!"
There was a long pause before Louise followed up with, "Where are my clothes?"
They took a beating in your fall. The tatters that were left I had to cut off you, as is standard EMT procedure."
"I'd still like to see them. They might jog my memory."
"Later! I'll be right back with a tray and that broth."
The man vanished from the room. For a moment, Louise thought he was just a dream-induced apparition, but the scratches on her body the splint around her ankle, and the confusion in her head were all too real.
Louise searched her memory. Nothing came. Why was she running? Was she running from something? Had she been running from this man? She was alone, helpless, and vulnerable, at his complete mercy. Should she trust him? Could she trust him? What had he done to her while she was unconscious besides treating her ankle? A shiver went through her. If only she could remember!
Very soon the man was back. He set himself on the stool next to the bed and settled a tray on his lap. He lifted the spoon and raised it to Louise's lips. She was about to protest that she was quite capable of feeding herself, but a sudden weakness flowed through her. He adjusted the pillow so she could sit up slightly and began spooning the delicious broth into Louise's lips. It occurred to her as she swallowed spoonful after spoonful that, for all intents and purposes, she had been reduced to the status of a glorified infant. This feeling was amplified tremendously when Louise realized that she had to relieve herself and the giant named Chris, held her up while he slid a bedpan under her bum. She turned scarlet as she relieved herself and an even deeper shade when he wiped her.
"Oh, my God!" she gasped.
"Nothing to be embarrassed about, Angel. It shows that your kidneys and bowels are working effectively, so you have no internal injuries. But I was pretty sure of that from day one. Heaven must have been looking out for you, Angel."
"Don't call me that!"
"Well, it's better than saying, "Hey you!" or Miss... or is it Mrs.?"
"If it was, wouldn't I be wearing a wedding ring?"
"Maybe."
Louise's eyes widened, "Was I?"
Chris only chuckled. "Now let's not get paranoid."
"Was I?" Louise repeated.
"You need rest, Angel. I'm coming back with some applesauce followed by hot chocolate and then this doctor's orders are for you to get lots of sleep."
Louise felt even more unsure of the situation as Chris fed her three bowls of applesauce and followed this with the hot coco. It tasted divine and slid sweetly down her throat. Almost as soon as she had finished it, her eyelids grew heavy. As she slipped into dreamland, Louise wondered, naggingly, if Chris had put something in the hot chocolate besides whipped cream.
Her dreams were a confusing mess. There were some women her own age at some sort of gathering, but Louise was pretty sure that they weren't friends as it seemed that all of them despised her even as they tried to keep their feelings covert. There was also some sort of masculine presence that Louise had a sense was not Chris. It was just a warm presence. Her father? A brother? A lover? Was she a married woman with some man worried sick about her? Louise awoke with more questions than answers. She cried out and opened her eyes. Chris was standing above her, a concerned look on his face.
"Rough night?"
Louise nodded.
"I think you are ready to tackle breakfast today. Then it is into the tub with you."
"Pardon?"
"In case you haven't noticed, Angel, you've built up a bit of a stink. The sponge baths I've been giving you can only do so much. I've also got to change those sheets and get you moving around so that you don't get bedsores. We'll try a little yoga, adopted for your limited mobility."
"But..."
"You got better plans for the day?"
"Well, no..."
"Oatmeal coming up followed by yogurt and just a smidgen of bacon and eggs, also some coffee and as much orange juice as you can drink. Too much solid food too soon, however, could cause you all kinds of problems."
Louise found herself stronger this day. She could feed herself with little problem, though Chris had to hold one of her shoulders against the backboard from time to time when her back muscles grew tired. Breakfast was wonderful. To Louise, it seemed like she was eating for the first time. The food engendered a sense of memory, but not a strong one. After Louise had cleaned her plate, Chris tugged her sheet and blanket away as he reached under Louise and scooped her up in his huge muscular arms. Louise had no choice but to put her arms around his neck while he carried her to the bathroom. A small bathtub was already full of hot sudsy water. Chris manipulated Louise so that her right leg remained out of the water. He stood up, took off his tee-shirt, and reached for a washcloth. Louise could not help but notice that her rescuer (kidnapper?) had an excellent physique. The way Louise felt herself respond convinced her that Chris was just the sort of man she favored when she had her memory. She made a move to wash her person, but Chris would not hear of it. With dexterity, patience, and gentility, he washed her everywhere. He even expertly washed, dried, and brushed her hair. Louise had to conclude that this was not bad indeed. As far as the shirtless giant was concerned, he had never seen a finer body, even accounting for the scratches and bruises. He took delight in the sensation of her slick skin under his soapy fingers, her excellent long legs, flared hips, modest bust, porcelain complexion, and China doll face were the stuff of dreams. He could not believe his luck in having such a ravishing creature literally fall from the sky to land near his front door. Surely, someone was looking out for them both. The bath continued.
Wrapped in a towel, Louise sat on the couch in the four-room cabin while Chris stripped the bed and took the sheets to a washing machine that sat in an alcove on the rear exterior wall. When he returned Louise asked,
"Where have you been sleeping, Chris?"
"On that couch, your pretty little bottom is resting on. But now that your stronger..."
"Chris! I don't even know you and I have no idea who I am! Naturally, I'm grateful for all you've done, but..."
"A good cardio workout is a good cardio workout no matter how it is obtained."
"Chris!"
He fell silent.
"Chris, now that I'm out of danger, you should be seeing to my rescue. Someone who can help with my amnesia put me in touch with my family."
"Well. Angel, you see, I'm in no rush. I think we should wait until your ankle heels and then you can walk out of here. This cabin is damn near inaccessible. I must hike all my supplies in from a parking space five miles away and I own a jeep! That washer I put the sheets in I had to disassemble and bring it in a piece by piece. Laid in the plumbing from a natural spring, digging it all out by hand. Did all the wiring and installed the solar panels and generators. I'm really handy."
"I need to see a specialist!"
"No, you don't! I set the bone perfectly. It just needs a couple of weeks to heel."
"Weeks! I can't stay here weeks, Chris!"
"Where else are you going to go?"
"You can summon a ranger. Hike out and leave me here. You have lots of options."
"None that appeal to me, Angel."
