Into the Cold

Amelia woke slowly, the pounding in her head forcing her to consciousness. As she sat up, the world began to spin, causing her to moan in pain.

“Caleb,” she said, her eyes closed against the lantern light. “Please tell me you found something for hangovers in that first aid kit.”

When no answer came, she slowly opened one eye and looked where Caleb had been sleeping. The bed was empty, and she realized he wasn’t even in the cabin. Slowly, Amelia moved to the edge of the bed, draping her legs over the side. With deliberate movements, doing her best to avoid jostling her head and making the pain worse.

As she pulled on clothes from her bag, Amelia had to stifle a scream of agony as lightening shot through her body from her shoulder.

Breathing heavily she clutched at her shoulder, unable to decide which part of her body hurt worse.

Finally pulling on her pants, she slipped her feet into her boots not bothering to tie them sweat pouring down her forehead.

Still breathing raggedly, she stumble to the door, pulling it open to be struck by a new round of pain in her head as the small bit of sunlight was amplified by the snow, its brightness boring into her eyes. Looking through her fingers, she saw Caleb moving through the trees that circled the cabin.

Not wanting to put her head through the pain of calling for him, she carefully moved down the steps towards where she’d seen him last, her boots sinking into the snow.

When she reached the bottom step she lost sight of him.

“Caleb,” she called unable to think of any other way to get his attention, cringing at the stab of pain that shot through her head.

He stepped out of the treeline, walking past her to the cabin. Stopping at the bottom of the steps, he finally stopped to look at her.

“What do you need?” he asked.

“I was hoping you had something for hangovers,” she said, cradling her head in her hand. “Something that isn’t whiskey laced tea.”

“Yeah,” he said, stepping up and into the cabin, leaving her to follow him.

“Is everything okay?” she asked following him inside, grateful for the darkness inside.

Crawling back under the blankets, cradling her arm, she watched him dig through the first aid kit he’d brought from the crash.

“I was burying the rest of that damn liquor,” he said, handing her a small packet of aspirin.

“Caleb,” she said, gratefully accepting the pills. “Can we talk about last night?”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Caleb said so loudly, Amelia winced in pain.

“Yes there is,” she said, trying to ignore her head.

“No, there isn’t,” he said firmly, turning his back on her.

“Caleb,” she said, tears filling her eyes. “Caleb please. We have to live together for who knows how long. We can’t have something like this coming between us. Please.”

Finally turning to face her, she could see how haggard his face was.

“Amelia,” he said, his shoulders sagging, “last night was a mistake. We were drunk.”

Amelia was confused by his sudden change in behavior. Last night he'd been all over her, his lips, his hands, his eyes, he'd devoured her. Today he could barely stand to look at her.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked, confused.

"I heard you crying," he said flatly, his voice angry.

"Oh," she breathed, looking down, embarrassed the he knew he'd hurt her.

“Do you think we can live here together without this becoming a problem?” she asked, not understanding what he meant.

“I will feed you, protect you, and teach you what you need to know to stay alive until the plane comes,” Caleb said flatly. “I promise that I will behave as a gentleman and after this conversation, last night will be forgotten. Okay?"

With a heavy sigh, Amelia held out her hand good to him.

“Okay,” she said, grateful when he returned her handshake, their life together in the Alaskan bush began again.