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Dizzy?
Gabe pulled away and looked at me, the smile evaporating.
“We need to go inside,” he said suddenly.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, but even I could hear my voice losing its clarity.
“Your lips are blue,” he said, running a gloved thumb over them.
Blue lips. Slurred speech. Lightheadedness.
Gabe rushed me back into the house and stripped off my snow gear, which was becoming rapidly damp as the snow melted onto it. The cold plus the wet was making for a bad combination, and I knew we had to do something fast.
“Gabe,” I said in a voice that was much calmer than I felt. “I’m hypothermic.”
“Yeah, I figured,” he said, unlacing my boots. “That’s why I’m trying to warm you up.”
“Okay,” I said.
After taking off his own wet things, he picked me up and took me into the living room to set me in front of the fire. Most of my clothes were still damp, even from under my coat, so Gabe peeled those off me, too, until I was completely naked and wrapped me in the warmest blanket.
“I’m going to make you some cocoa,” he said, rushing from the room to fill the kettle.
I remained silent, trying to conserve my energy as much as I could. If I didn’t start warming up fast, I could lose consciousness.
He came back and put the kettle over the fire, then came back to me.
“You’re still cold,” he said, touching my face and hands. “What can I do?”
“Body heat helps,” I said.
“I’m assuming that’s legit and not a come on?” he said with a forced laugh.
“Gabe, please,” I said, but he was already taking off his clothes to climb inside the blanket with me.
It was the first time Gabe and I had had this kind of contact. We had no physical barriers between us, but the touch wasn’t sexual. It was just him using his own body to try to help me, and the intimacy of that could have made me weep if I wasn’t still shivering.
After about thirty minutes, I still hadn’t warmed up.
“Your lips are still blue,” Gabe said, the concern in his voice thick and potent.
“My fingers are still numb, too,” I said, the tremor in my voice outdone only by how my words were still slurred.
“What can I do?” he asked, rubbing my hands between his, trying to warm them up.
“I don’t know…” I said, my mind feeling like it was chugging. I felt like there was an obvious answer I just couldn’t put my finger on.
“Wait!” Gabe said after a moment of silent thought. “What about a bath?”
“A bath?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he confirmed. “A warm bath. That always works for me. The hot water can warm me up almost no matter what.”
“Well, let’s hope this isn’t one of those ‘almost’ times when it doesn’t work,” I said, leaning against him and closing my eyes. It was so comfortable, I felt like I could just drift off…
“Oh, no, you don’t,” he said suddenly, standing up and leaving me colder than before without him or the blanket to keep out the chill. But in seconds, he’d wrapped me back in the blanket and scooped me into his arms. “You can sleep after we get you warmed up, if you still want to. But for now, I need you to stay awake and make sure I’m doing this right. I need my nurse to talk me through this.”
Despite the seriousness of the moment, I couldn’t help but smile softly at how worried he was about me. How could I have ever thought he was a Grinch?
