"I um - what do you need? Do you want my jacket?" Charlie looked around the woods frantically for something she wasn't finding.
"God no," I smiled slightly, looking up at her. "Keep your jacket, it's boiling out here." I brushed a stray tear from the corner of my eye. She stood there, looking at me helplessly from above as I slowly moved to stand up, brushing leaves and dirt from my clothes. "I'll be fine." I looked up at her, trying to offer some reassurance.
"Oh!" She rushed to my side and grabbed my hands, pulling me up from the ground.
"Thanks Red."
"How are your wounds?" She asked, her voice wavering with uncertainty if it was okay to laugh at the word 'wound.' I giggled in spite of myself, confirming that it was.
"I'm sure the scrapes on my knees will heal." Smiling, she took my arm and draped it over her shoulder, acting as a sort of human crutch.
Finally putting weight on my right foot, I winced at what must have been a twisted ankle.
"I've got you." She adjusted my arm on her shoulder. "Ready?" Her eyes searched my face anxiously making sure that I was really okay.
"Yep." She smiled with relief and started toward the path that wove through the trees and down the mountain.
After a minute of hobbling, I looked up from my feet and into her face,
"Charlie?"
"Yeah?"
"I'll be fine, you know that I'll be fine, right?"
"Yeah."
"I don't just mean my ankle. Everything. It'll all work out."
"Yeah, okay." She looked down at her own feet and kept walking.
"You trust me right?" I slowed my pace, looking for a real response.
"Watch out. There's a tree root."
"Charlie."
"Yeah." She nodded without looking up, "Of course."
"Okay."