Page 15 of Lost in You

The cabin is flooded with dim light and Trinity gasps. A bed and fireplace are more than either of us were even hoping for. She pushes the door closed and drops to her knees, crying.

I’m on the verge of tears myself. Finding this cabin feels like a miracle. It doesn’t seem to be heated, but just getting out of the wind is huge.

“Maybe there’s a phone.” She gets up and limps toward the desk.

“I’ll look. You need to lie down.”

She looks at the bed and then back at me. I glance at the small love seat in front of the fireplace, which has a folded quilt draped over one arm.

“I’ll sleep on the love seat; you take the bed.”

“No, we’ll share the bed. Both of us need to get out of our wet clothes and get warm. Let’s add that quilt to the bed.”

I nod, glad she’s being practical. As she sits on the edge of the full-size bed and pulls off her wet boots and socks, I look around for a phone but don’t find one. I go through all the kitchen drawers and the small chest of drawers standing near the front door.

“Holy shit.” There are clothes inside.

I pull out two sets of one-piece thermal underwear and two pairs of socks. When I turn to show Trinity, she’s got her left foot up on the bed and I get my first good look at it.

I didn’t know it was this bad. Her ankle is swollen to twice its usual size and it’s marked with purple bruises. Guilt stabs me in the chest. I pushed her to walk all those miles in this condition. She’s right—I am an asshole.

I consolidated most of the contents of the first aid kit into the survival kit, so I’d only have one thing to carry. I open it and take out the nylon wrap.

“You want me to wrap it?”

She shakes her head. “Maybe tomorrow. Did you find dry clothes?”

“Yeah.” I walk over to her. “You need some help changing?”

Her cheeks turn pink as she looks up at me. “I can do it. Can you not look, though?”

“Of course I won’t look.”

I walk over to the wall next to the front door, which has multiple gun racks loaded with different-sized guns, a few hunting knives and even a bow and arrow. Whoever owns this place seems to be a big hunter.

“Ah...” Trinity hisses through her teeth. “God, that hurts.”

I keep my back to her as she changes, which sounds like a painful process.

“Okay, I’m decent again,” she finally says.

She’s wearing white long underwear which is about two sizes too big, the color dull from lots of washings. Even with her blond hair a mess and her face red from the cold, she looks cute.

“Here.” I walk over and put an arm around her, supporting her while she stands on her good foot.

I pull down the blankets in the bed and then help her sit down on it. Tears shine in her eyes as she looks up at me.

“Can you believe this?” She smiles.

“You were right about finding shelter.” I grab a pair of socks and bend down, helping her get her good foot into one.

“You might’ve been right, too. Maybe there’s a rescue team at the plane right now looking for us.”

Her eyelids are drifting closed.

“You want to try a sock on that other foot?”

She shakes her head. “No. I just want to sleep.”

---