AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Delaney?” I call again, as I stumble through the snow, every step feeling like I’m walking through quicksand. “DELANEY?”
I head farther down the slope, my eyes desperately scanning the expanse of white, the trees in the distance as though they can somehow offer something. Just as I’m turning around, ready to head back in the direction I came from, I catch it. A glimpse of color.
Bright fucking neon pink color.
That neon pink ski suit I love so much.
The one I know she wore to piss me off today because she knows I love it and I don’t want anyone else staring at her in it because her ass looks fucking amazing and so does she, and after everything that happened, everything I did, I don’t blame her, but holy fucking shit, she’s here. I’ve found her.
“Laney,” I breathe out, relief washing over me as I stumble over to her, my steps clumsy and slow, “can you hear me?”
I crouch down beside where she lies on the snow, pulling my glove off with my teeth, I touch my hand to her face. She’s fucking freezing, her lips are blue and her eyes are closed. She’s lost both of her skis and has a bruise on her cheek and a large cut on the side of her head that’s bleeding into the snow.
“Laney,” I repeat. “Wake up, please, wake up.” My cold fingers move over her face and her throat, searching for a pulse. When I finally feel it, I let out the breath I didn’t even realize I was holding. “Thank fuck,” I murmur, undoing her helmet and then lowering my forehead to hers. “Laney, please, I need you to wake up.”
She groans beneath me, her body rolling toward me and my head snaps up.
“Laney?”
She blinks her eyes open, wincing in pain as she lifts her arm, her fingers touching her face.
“Don’t touch it, you’re hurt. We need to get out of here. Can you walk?”
She looks up at me, her eyes wide with terror, her teeth now chattering and I know she’s either got hypothermia or she’s going into shock. Or both.
Slipping my arm slowly beneath her shoulders, I gently ease her up. “We need to find some shelter, okay?” I tell her, trying to keep my voice calm. We need a lot more than shelter, but without shelter first, all of that other stuff will become redundant. We won’t survive the night out here.
“A…Alex,” she moans, her whole body now shaking.
I pull her close to me, trying desperately to get her warm even though I know it’s impossible. “Laney, I need you to get up. We need to find shelter. I promise I’ll get you warm, but first, you need to get up.”
I start to stand, pulling Delaney up with me. She’s shaking uncontrollably now and I’m guessing everything that’s happened is finally hitting her. I need to get her somewhere safe, somewhere I can get her warm, but where?
We’re on the side of a fucking mountain, in a valley that no one comes to. Fuck knows how far off course we were swept by that avalanche. We’re lucky to be alive.
I wrap my arm around Delaney and pull her close, her body slumping against mine. “Put your arm around me,” I tell her, my words firm, even as I press a kiss to the top of her head.
She doesn’t move and I have to do it for her, before I glance up, trying to decide where the fuck to go.
In the end, we head for the trees, because if nothing else, at least they might provide some shelter, even though I know that’s bullshit and won’t do a damn thing to protect us when the sun goes down. It takes us forever to walk down there and it’s already starting to get dark by the time we do, the temperature also dropping.
“Delaney, do you—” I start to ask, but stop. Asking if she knows where we are is a dumb question. How the hell could she?
We walk through the trees and come to what looks like an old stream but is now nothing more than a ridge in the ground, filled with rocks and ice. Turning, we walk along the edge of it. It has to lead somewhere, right?
I need more light, but neither of us have our headlamps so all I can do is squint in the slowly dying daylight, silently praying that I find something that could work as shelter.
We eventually come to a small clearing by the former stream and when I glance to the left, I actually groan in relief at what I see.
A small cabin, which looks completely abandoned, but I don’t give a shit, because at least it’s shelter for us.
“Laney, look,” I exhale, pointing toward it. She doesn’t say anything though and when I look down, her eyes are closed, her body still shaking and slumped against mine. The cut on the side of her head looks to have stopped bleeding, but dry blood is caked to her face.
With a curse, I walk us toward it, our movements slow, because Delaney can barely seem to walk right now. When we reach the front door, I try the handle, but it’s locked. Cursing, I let go of Delaney, gently lowering her to sit on the small step of the porch, before I ram at the door with my shoulder.
The pain jolts through me, reminding me of the likely injury to my left shoulder, but the door bounces open and I actually cry out with relief. Pulling Delaney up, I take her inside, closing the door behind us.
It’s dark inside, but there are two small windows and in the fading light, I can make out an old wooden bed pushed against the far wall. To my left stands a small table, one of its legs propped up with a book and two steel chairs beside it. To my right is a large open space, but at the far end is an old pot belly stove, with a heavy pot sitting on top. Amazingly beside it is a stack of wood and an old rusty axe, and I send up a silent thanks that at least I don’t need to try to find a way to keep us warm tonight. Resting next to the stove is a container of long length fireplace matches making it all the better.
