Corie retraced her steps as quickly as the thick snow let her. Where was he? Why hadn’t she held onto him after they came out of the woods? Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Her mind flashed every wretched image possible.

She could not see where he had fallen, the ground as a vast sea of solid white. “Alek! Alek!” she screamed out over and over hoping he could hear her. With her hands, she began to desperately search under the snow as she kept trying to follow her rapidly disappearing trail.

Snow was flying through the air, as her hands frantically hunted for him. Adrenaline surged through her, making the fatigue and the cold she had felt, instantly vanished. Step after step she searched without any luck. “Where could he have gone?” ripped through her frantic thoughts time after time.

Corie made her way back to the snow-drift they had avoided and paused for a moment to catch her breath. The last time she had seen him was right here when they emerged from the woods. Determined to get to him as quickly as she could, Corie began her search again. He was here, but where? “Think, Corie think! How far could he have gotten?”

She took two steps forward and stopped. He was weak and tired, so he wasn’t moving as fast as she was and she had gotten over twenty steps away. It was at this point that she started using both her arms and legs to search through the snow for him. The area to her right heeded nothing. To her left was the big drift they had circumvented. Corie knew that she hadn't looked there, thinking that he would have fallen forward into the snow. But what if he didn’t? What if he fell sideways instead?

The drift was a mountain of white. Corie’s eyes scanned the surface for any indication that Alek may have toppled that way. Then something caught her eye. An indent in the snow that was barely noticeable, but certainly not consistent with the rest of the surface.

Praying that she was finally looking in the right direction, Corie reached into the snow, so it was up to her shoulders. She tried to feel through the snow as much as she could before pulling them out and moving a step further.

On her third attempt, she felt something solid and zeroed in on it. Both hands were able to instantly confirm that it was a leg. She had found him! Now she had to get him out. Quickly she began to brush the snow away, trying to remove as much aside as she could. Reaching into the snow, she took hold of his leg and pulled with every ounce of strength she had. It took her about a minute to get him out, but it felt like forever.

Corie pulled the unconscious Alek up, so to lean him against her. Instantly, she began to wipe the snow from his face, clearing his nose, mouth, and eyes. “C’mon Alek, wake up! Wake up!” she screamed at him. “Damn it, Alek! Wake up!” Corie lightly slapped his face a few times trying to bring him awake. “God isn’t anything easy with you! Wake up, Alek! C’mon you have to wake up!”

Much to her immense relief, she felt him begin to stir. “What happened?” he finally murmured.

“You passed out and vanished. God, Alek you near scared me to death! I had to find you and then pull you out from under a ton of snow. We have to get out of this blizzard. We don’t have any choice Alek, we have to do it.” Corie continued to brush more snow from his hair and jacket. She wanted to get moving again but knew that he needed time to recover.

“Let me know when you feel able to get up. I don’t want to rush you, but staying here too long is not a smart thing for us. We have to get to my house as soon as we can. Okay?”

“Yeah, but…hang on to my hand again.” His frightened eyes reached deep into Corie’s soul. She knew that he was afraid and without her, they both knew, he’d never make it.

“There’s no way I’m letting go of you this time. It was too awful trying to find you. You are stuck with me, Alek.” Corie gave him a hug before she stood up out of the snow. She brushed herself off and then extended her bare hand to Alek. He reached up and grasped her cold hand in his. Slowly he stood up, gradually getting his bearings. Then they started off.

It wasn’t easy on either of them, as the trek was long and arduous. The snow kept getting deeper and deeper, with the weather not giving them a break at all. They were absolutely frozen when they finally approached the house. Corie stopped for a second and pointed out to Alek that they were almost there. While he looked greatly relieved, complete exhaustion was clearly evident on his face.

It still took them longer than either thought possible to reach the side door. By this time, the sky was beginning to lighten, and even though the storm showed no sign of lessening, dawn was upon them.

Corie held open the back door and helped Alek through it. He was looking extremely pale and not well at all. She led him into to the kitchen and quickly took off her winter gear dropping it haphazardly into a big wet pile on the floor. She helped a visibly ill Alek to remove his stiff leather jacket. All he had underneath was a t-shirt, and a quick touch to his trembling skin told Corie how cold he really was. His skin was like ice.

The air in the house was considerably cold, and Corie knew that she had to get the fireplaces back to blazing again. They both needed warmth and needed it badly.

“Come with me Alek, I’m going to get the fire going to warm you up.” He followed her slowly, but without question. Corie made a quick detour into the living room and grabbed a blanket off the sofa and quickly wrapped it around Alek’s shivering body. Then she took him into her office, and he sat down very slowly on the daybed.

“Wait here. I want to run upstairs and find something warm for you to wear. I’ll be right back.” Before she could leave, Alek grabbed her by the wrist, and while he didn’t say a word, his eyes spoke volumes. “I’ll be back as soon as I can…I promise Alek.”

His trusting eyes closed slightly, and he let go of his hold on her. Corie then made a desperate dash upstairs. Drawers flew open, and clothes went flying in every direction as she searched for her largest pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Finally, she found the oversize items she sought, plus some flannel pajama bottoms for herself and after a brief stop to gather every available blanket she had, Corie was back in her office in mere minutes.

“Can you change into these while I light the fire?” He nodded that he could, so she turned and knelt before the fireplace.  The ashes were completely cold, so Corie had to start the fire from scratch. A few pieces of newspaper, a handful of kindling and a couple of logs soon lay inside the hearth. She turned to look for some matches and instead saw completely boxer brief clad male buttocks.

Quickly, she swung her attention back to the fireplace, her shocked emerald eyes were as wide as they could go. “Wow,” she said to herself. “I thought he’d change in the bathroom or something.” A sly smile emerged even though she tried to hold it in check. “But that was a darn cute butt!”

Corie grabbed the matches that were peeking out from next to the wood basket and quickly set a flame to the paper. Within moments the fire was burning. When she turned back to Alek, she saw he was sitting back on the bed wearing the warm sweats she had given him. His body was still noticeably shaking with the cold.

“Stand up for a second while I pull down the covers for you.” He stood up and quickly she had them moved aside and Alek quietly slid underneath them. Corie then piled three more blankets on top and tried to tuck them around him the best she could.

“How you doing?” she asked him as she sat on the side of the bed.

“Better. Cold, but much better. Corie, I don’t know how to thank you. If you hadn’t been there, I might have…could have…I can’t imagine…” Alek found getting the right words out too frightening. He couldn’t verbalize that if she hadn’t found him, he would have most likely died out there.

“It’s okay. I’m just glad that I saw the headlights through the trees and was curious enough to investigate. Later you can tell me how on earth you ended up there, but now you need to rest, so get some sleep.” Corie tucked the blankets tightly around him as one would a young child.

“Thank you, Luv,” Alek whispered as the exhaustion overtook him. His vibrant eyes closed shut, and he was instantly asleep.

Corie watched him for a few minutes, and when she was certain he was peacefully sleeping, she rose from the side of the bed. She tossed another log on the fire and quietly left the room. A few logs and kindling, and soon the fire in the living room was blazing. Corie turned and saw the sofa silently calling out to her, as the full effect of this crazy night hit her. Quickly, she changed out of the wet sweats she was still in. Then she crept over and laid her totally fatigued body down on the soft cushions, wrapping the remaining blankets tightly around her.

Her eyes slowly drifted closed, but her thoughts were still quite alive. The night had been one that she would not want to experience again. Never in her wildest dreams would she imagine a night like this could be real. This was something more along the lines of a storyline plot that she would put in one of her novels. It was still unbelievable that it had actually happened.

It really was a miracle she had found Alek and another that they made it back to the house…alive. It seemed that every step forward, something pushed them back. But they did it. Somehow, together they made it back to the house. How she had managed to get a completely lost, injured Alek out of the car and through the deep snow was unbelievable. Faced again with the same situation, Corie still couldn’t believe it would end as well as it did. “Thank you,” she quietly whispered. “Thank you.”

Finally, the adrenaline rush that kept her going for hours vanished and Corie let herself be carried away into the darkness of slumber as the wild storm continued to rage outside. This was a storm she would never forget.

 

 

Corie woke up feeling chilled. She shifted uneasily in her warm cocoon of fuzzy blankets so that she could check the time on her wristwatch. The room was noticeably cold to her exposed arm causing goosebumps to pop up on her skin. According to her watch, she had slept for a mere three hours. Certainly not enough time to make up for the exhaustion of the previous night.

She sighed deeply as a glance over to the fireplace showed only glowing embers and no flames. Corie was already tired of having to keep the fire going, and it again needed more wood. A lot more wood. Winter had finally lost its appeal.

“Last night,” she mumbled as she slid further under the warm covers, “was completely unreal.” Before she found the energy to get up to toss another log onto the dying fire, Corie’s thoughts ran through the excitement of the preceding evening.

How could Alek have been out driving on a night like that? It was a full-blown snow-almost-up-to-her butt blizzard, and he was driving a car that was never meant to see a single snowflake, much less a storm of this severity. Was he stupid? Or just crazy? Or both? One thing he was, without a doubt, was drop-dead gorgeous even with the bruises. He certainly wasn’t the type of guy that she usually went for. Alek's his hair went past his shoulders, and leather jacket was a big contrast to the perfectly styled business suit wearing men in her past. Who was he? Why did he look like a hoodlum? A hoodlum that drove a Mercedes Benz.

“Oh no!” Corie exclaimed as she sprang up to a sitting position. “What if he stole that car? What if he’s a wanted criminal? What if…oh good Lord, what have I gotten myself into!”

Suddenly very nervous, she popped off the sofa and started to pace the room. During one lap past the fireplace, she added the extra logs that were needed to heat up the room.  “Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!” she said over and over again as her very active imagination ran wild. Then she stopped dead in her tracks.

Corie cocked an ear in the silent room, waiting and listening for the sound that she thought she heard. Was it a real or just part of her crazy eventful mind? It wasn’t the wind nor the trees swaying in the storm, it had been more of a human sound, a moan or a groan maybe. Then abruptly she heard it again. Wide-eyed Corie turned toward the direction of her office. Then for the third time, she heard the sound, the low, soulful moan that was indeed coming from that room.

Wrapping herself in a blanket, Corie crept quietly towards the back room. For a moment she hesitated before looking inside. This stranger now frightened her. She was stuck completely alone with him and with the storm still violently raging outside. There was no way for either of them to leave.

To get out…to get away.

She took a deep breath to steady her frantic nerves then she slowly stepped into the room. While the light was dim, Corie could still see quite clearly. First, her eyes noticed that the fire had burned down, and then she looked toward the bed while her heart raced crazily in her chest. He was still lying there asleep, which was a great relief to her. Now the images of him jumping out to attack her could subside for a moment. In fact, he didn’t look capable of much at all.

Once again, her concern for him, outweighed her previous fear, as another moan escaped from Alek. Corie found herself at the side of the daybed peering down at her houseguest. His face was covered with a sheen of sweat, the meaning of which did not bode well for him. Her hand automatically reached out for his forehead, immediately realizing that he was burning up.

“Damn it! What else is going to go wrong!” she cried out in frustration. Her anger only lasted a quick moment, before her rational side took over. Corie quickly formed a plan in her head. Before she headed off to the kitchen, a few logs helped to rekindle the fire. Even though Alek was burning up with fever, she knew that she had to keep him warm and in a house with no heat, that was not going to be easy.

After a quick trip upstairs to try to find even more blankets, Corie went to the kitchen where she earlier had filled a pot with snow so that when it melted she would have water to use. She carefully carried a bowl of cool water and a towel over to his bedside. She placed it on the side table and sat down gently next to him.

His handsome face was bruised on the forehead and left cheek. The cut above his eye had closed, but dried blood was still matted in his light-brown hair and was streaked across his face. His left eye was swollen, and the skin around it was darkening. The dusky blue hues were marring his perfect features.

Corie pulled the layers of blankets down to his waist and saw that the shirt he had on was soaked through. There was no way she could leave him in that sweat, drenched shirt, so she grabbed a pair of scissors off her desk and cut the wet shirt off him. The tattered rag was dropped and instantly forgotten on the floor.

She then placed a soft washcloth into the bowl wetting it thoroughly. Starting with his face, she delicately washed him over and over again trying to cool his body temperature down. The dried blood was removed from his pale features as Corie did the best she could to get the matted mess out of his hair. She carefully placed a bandage over the cut on his forehead.

Only once did he stir and waken. His shiny fever-filled eyes met hers for a moment as he faintly asked for water. Corie ran for a glass and was able to get a few Tylenol down him also. He then sank back into the bed and immediately fell back into the oblivion of the fever.

After spending several long hours bathing his face and chest, she finally took a break. Corie was exhausted. His high fever had him alternating between hot sweats and cold chills. All she knew to do was bath him to try to lower his body temperature. It was hard to get him to wake up to take any Tylenol. She felt almost as lost as she did when they were out in the blizzard.

Still exhausted, Corie headed to the kitchen to make herself something to eat hoping that a bit of nourishment would invigorate her. Quickly she made herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Once again, Corie gave thanks for having a gas stove and not electric as she made herself a hot cup of tea. Then she took several minutes for herself and ate her sandwich at the kitchen table. While the interior of the house was silent, outdoors was full of howling winds and whipping snow. Mother Nature was having fun with this manic storm as she blew the still heavily falling snow almost sideways. The weather was positively frightening.

Refilling her mug with more hot tea, Corie went back to check on Alek. Much to her dismay, he did not look any better. In fact, he looked worse. Once again, she started the process of washing him down with the water over and over again. The hours passed and the day darkened into night, but still, she stayed by his bedside trying to break the fever. During this time he did not wake up, so she was unable to get any fluids or Tylenol into him. She prayed he wasn’t dehydrated, but suspected he was

By the time night fell, she was past exhaustion. The only thing that kept her awake was sheer determination. Finally, around ten o’clock and after another bed bath for Alek, Corie could take no more. She dragged herself to the living room and grabbed her blankets from the sofa. Absently, she threw another log on the fire before she returned to Alek. Then she wrapped herself in the warm bedclothes and curled up on the floor next to the bed and fell instantly to sleep.

 

 

The floor was rock hard. The carpeting had done nothing to cushion her aching body. Corie woke up to stiff muscles and a seriously pounding head. The room was still completely dark, and the fire had died back down to embers. Slowly she untangled herself from her blankets and carefully stretched her tightened body.

Hours had passed, and while she was still notably tired. The sleep Corie had gotten did little to help to revive her exhausted body.  She threw the last of the logs onto the fire and then turned her attention once again to Alek. He lay quietly in the small bed, his handsome face desperately pale under the bruises and sheets below him were drenched in his sweat.

Corie easily made her way through the dark house that she knew like the back of her hand. Soon she had fresh, clean sheets out of the closet and was ready to change the bed. This, however, was not something she had ever done before. Making the bed was easy, just not with a lifeless person still in it, but she could not leave Alek lying on the damp sheets.

It was hard work, and after a few false starts, Corie figured out the best way to get the clean sheets under Alek.  It wasn’t the smoothest made bed, but it would do for now. She had also used her scissors to cut the sweat pants off him too. They were also too damp for him to wear. When she tucked him in again, he was wearing only underwear. During all of the moving of his unconscious body, there was not a sign of life from him except his labored breathing and the slow rise and fall of his chest.

Corie bathed his face over and over again. Then during an early morning hour, Alek began to get restless. Jumbled words started to slip out from his lips, very incoherent at first, and then Corie was able to make out a few disjointed phrases. She heard him mumble about someone named Ethan and then a Caroline.

“Get…away from me,” he murmured softly. “Caroline…go…away.”

The pain in his voice tore at her soul. Corie sat back a moment just staring at Alek. She had felt the agony that those few words had expressed. It was an emotion that she knew all too well. It took a very long time for a broken heart to heal and sometimes she wondered if it ever would.

Corie watched Alek’s eyes moving back and forth underneath his closed eyelids. She knew him to be deep in a dream with his unconscious demons. Whoever this Caroline was, Corie instantly disliked her.

After a little while, he seemed to calm down as he slept past his dream. The clock on the bookshelf showed that daylight was soon approaching. Since Alek appeared to be holding his own right now, Corie headed to the kitchen. As she heated up water for tea, a package of PopTarts became her breakfast.

Nibbling on the sweet pastries, Corie noticed that the weather did not seem as harsh as it had been. While it was still snowing, it was not coming down as hard as it had been and the winds seemed to have diminished.

“Maybe this is a sign of things to come,” she said to herself. “If the weather is breaking, then hopefully Alek’s fever won’t be too far behind. I’m not sure how much more of this I can handle. I am so damn tired.”

The whistling of the tea kettle had Corie moving away from the window and over to the stove. A mug of steaming tea was just what she needed right now. There was a lot of thinking to do. On the one hand, she was proud of herself for saving Alek. Never in a million years, would she have thought she could hike through a blizzard like she did. It was an insane thing to have done, but it saved a man’s life.  Now she was stuck in her house, with a very sick stranger and she had no way out. At what cost to herself was this going to be? Until she got to know him better, Corie knew that she had to be always aware of him at all times. Was this something she was going to live to regret?