Page 3 of Snowed in with Scrooge

NYAH

“She sleeping?” I try to open my eyes at the sound of Mina’s voice, but they refuse to cooperate. My fingers tingle to reach out and grab her and pull her close so we can cuddle back to sleep.

“Let her sleep,” I hear a deep voice rumble before I drift back into darkness.

“Come on, take this. I don’t need your fever coming back.” I hear the deep voice again before a hand lifts the back of my head. “Open up.” The authority in the man’s tone has me parting my lips. He slips two pills in my mouth before pressing a cup to my dry lips. The cool water flows in so I can swallow them down.

“Mina?” I ask when he removes his hand and lets my head rest on something soft.

“A pain in my ass, but fine.” Something gently brushes my cheek. “Go back to sleep, beauty. I’ve got both of you.” I don’t know why I trust the man or if this is even real, but once again, sleep lures me under.

“He’s a bear.” Mina’s warm whisper tickles against my ear as she wakes me up.

“What?” I croak.

“I tink he’s a bear.” I rub my eyes with my hands, wondering how long I’ve been asleep.

“Who?” I slowly open my eyes and see Mina hovering over me. Her face is right over mine, and she’s grinning.

“Ralph.”

“You think Ralph is a bear? How did that happen?” Mina is obsessed with Wreck-It Ralph, and we’ve watched the movie a million times.

“He growls and steps big.” She claps her hands together loudly. As I’m trying to put together what the hell she’s talking about, the rest of my brain starts to catch up with reality. So does my bladder.

I sit up quickly and I see a few pillows flying off the bed before landing on the floor. I’m in a giant bedroom with wooden walls that look like a log cabin. There isn’t much in here but a big bed, a couple of nightstands, and a TV mounted across from us. Everything is nice and clean, but there’s nothing to it.

I scoop Mina off the bed and dart toward the open bathroom door before quietly closing it then turning the lock.

“Are you okay?” I ask Mina as I check her over, but she seems to be fine. Somehow the lights on her sweater are still blinking.

“I goody,” she chirps, giving me a lopsided smile.

I sit down to use the bathroom and wonder again how long I’ve been asleep. The man from the road flashes through my mind.

“Oh noes.” Mina’s bottom lip starts to tremble, and I don’t have to ask why. The lights on her sweater have finally gone out.

“I’ll fix it,” I whisper to her as I finish up.

“But...but he fixed it.”

While I’m washing my hands, I catch a glimpse of her in the mirror just as she turns the doorknob and unlocks it. I try to grab the door, but she’s a quick little thing when she wants to be, and she darts out.

“Ralph!” she screams.

“What the hell?” I hiss while running after her but come up short when I enter the hallway. The man from before is there, and Mina runs right up to him pointing at her sweater.

“It booken again.”

“See, pain in my ass,” he grumbles as he bends down and plucks her right up. “You okay to be on your feet? You look like death.”

“Thanks.” Of course I meet the hottest man in the world and he thinks I look like crap.

I glance away, not wanting him to see his comment hurt more than it should. I don’t know him, so why do I care what he thinks? Speaking of which, I have no clue who he is, and he has Mina in his arms.

“Fix,” Mina orders him.

“What did I tell you? I’m the boss around here, kid.”

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