She was still tucked up on the rock, her legs held close to her chest. Her head was resting on her knees, and she was breathing deeply. The night was quiet around her, and the somewhat comforting repetitive sound of an insect croaking nearby had lulled Alice into a drowsy sleep. Not a comfortable nor easy sleep however, as she was dreaming that she was still running away from whatever lurked in the bush around her, and sprinting away from the rampaging rhino that had caused so much damage to her Jeep.
After just 10 minutes, she jerked awake, losing the grasp on her legs and one of her feet splashed into the water in front of her. She gasped as she quickly looked around, while she pulled her soaking boot from the small river and shook the water from it gently. Her eyes were wide as she quickly searched her almost pitch dark surroundings - the only source of light she had was the large full moon that was high above her, reflecting an eerie glow across the water.
She pulled her legs back to her chest and tried to control her breathing as she listened intently, just waiting to hear some predator creep into the small clearing she was situated in.
They insect was still croaking a short distance away down the river, but it was the only noise she could hear. Exhaling quietly, she wiped the small trails of slowly drying blood from her face. The small cuts stung as she touched them, but she knew the ones on her shoulder were much worse. She had pulled a piece of glass the size of a golf ball from the front of her shoulder, and since then it had been slowly soaking her t-shirt with blood.
Peering down over her scratched and bruised body, she felt the tears well in her eyes again, but she quickly stopped them. She knew she shouldn't cry. She was lucky not to have sustained much worse injuries than she had. And the fact that she had managed to stay alive in the bush, alone, unarmed, was an achievement.
Sniffing and hugging her legs closer to her chest, Alice rested her head on her knees and kept her eyes glued to the bush around her. Judging by the amount of time she had been sitting by the water, she knew it must have been approaching 3 or 4 in the morning. If she managed to keep herself alive, one of Vanessa's workers would notice her overturned Jeep on the road into Mara the next morning, and would surely call for help.
Alice wiped her forehead, wiping a thin layer of clammy sweat from under her fringe. The hair in her ponytail stuck to the back of her neck, and as Alice moved one of her hands round to the back of her hairline to wipe away at her skin, her body shivered violently.
She gasped quietly, instead moving her hand back to her forehead. It was burning, and yet her body was shivering. She knew she had a fever coming on, and she was sure she knew why. For one, her wounds would no doubt slowly be becoming infected, not helping matters. But she was sure it was down to the water she had drunk as she arrived at the river. She had known the dangers of drinking from almost stagnant water, but she had felt she had no choice. In fact, she knew if she hadn't had a drink she would have passed out hours before due to dehydration.
Taking another scan of her surroundings, Alice exhaled and her body convulsed again. She knew she had managed to pick up something from the water, and that it would only get worse. She needed someone to find her. Fast.
-x-
It was hours later. The sun was minutes from rising, the mountains to the East were silhouetted against a bright orange sky, and the ground was coated in a warm glow as the first rays of sunshine were beginning to creep over the horizon. There was a 'crunch' nearby, and Alice's eyes snapped open.
She was hit with a wave of sickness as she did so and her head snapped up from the resting point on her knees, gasping and trying to keep her eyes open to quickly glance around as the ground spun.
She flitted her eyes around at the bush surrounding her, feeling the layer of sweat now coating her whole body. Small trickles of blood continued to trickle from the open gashes on her shoulder and thigh, where the glass had cut right through her jeans.
She tried to listen as quietly as she could, but her haggard breathing was drowning out the noise of anything that could have been heading towards her. Feeling the ground sway, she ducked her head to the side of the rock and was violently sick onto the ground.
As Alice lifted her head and it thudded gently against the inside of her skull, she pushed herself from the rock and slid onto the ground. There was a crunch as she stepped on the pieces of discarded glass, and she swayed as she looked to the sky. She was freezing, and shivered violently as she screwed up her eyes against the brightening sky, although on inspection - as she moved her hand to her forehead - she felt her skin burn beneath her touch.
Disoriented as she was, Alice knew she had to move. The smell of the small pool of blood that lay on and surrounding the rock she had been sitting on all night would quickly attract vultures - who in turn, would draw much bigger and hungry animals to the spot.
She turned on the spot and the ground swayed beneath her. She could hear her breathing rattling as she closed her eyes and swallowed, trying to focus on what she could see in front of her. But her fever was making her delusional. Colours mashed together and the ground seemed to tilt this way and that, making her feel increasingly as though she was about to be sick again.
Staggering forward with her hands outstretched, Alice shuffled off into the bush, not knowing where she was going, but knowing that she had to at least try to find a spot closer to the road, or any kind of civilisation.
-x-
Within 15 minutes, she couldn't remember what way she had come from and what way she was going. She leant against a tree, panting, after having been sick once more. As she leant away from the tree, the bark scraped painfully against her already badly cut shoulder, and she cried out, before slumping to the ground.
The sun was now creeping its way up through the crystal clear sky, showering the bush with sunlight, and basking it in already scorching temperatures. The sweat ran down the side of Alice's cheek, bumping it's way over the small slices into her skin as it did so, stinging each one. She lifted her head and looked around, although her eyes struggled to focus and all she could hear was the sound of her own haggard breathing.
She was in a much worse situation that she ever thought she could be. Not only had she potentially infected herself with a life threatening disease by drinking the dirty water, she was also now dangerously dehydrated as she had only drunk from the river once - when she first arrived at it -, hoping that she would minimise her chances of contracting something nasty.
But she had - and Alice knew it.
She dragged herself to her feet, gasping for air, her eyes barely open and her skin as white as a sheet, and shuffled one foot in front of the other, blindly walking forward. She prayed that somehow, someone would find her soon.
-x-
She didn't last much longer.
Stopping on the spot, Alice felt the ground spin beneath her once more, and black spots crept in to her vision.
'...No..' she whispered, whimpering as her vision almost completely disappeared and she struggled to stay concious.
Black tunnelled walls started to close in on her, and she turned her head and was sick once more, her small body heaving as it had nothing left to expel.
She staggered forwards a couple of steps, before her body hit the ground hard, and everything went black.
-x-
A noise somewhere in the distance.
She could feel non injured shoulder still pressed firmly into the ground.
She tried to mumble something - anything - but she passed out once more.
-x-
This time Alice opened her eyes, and the vibrant colours made her head thump wildly. They all mashed together, forming just shapes in her mind.
Her right cheek - thankfully her uninjured one - felt numb now against the dusty ground.
There was a brown blob moving slowly, not far from her.
Everything was completely silent.
-x-
The blob was a hat. When she peeled her eyes open, ever so slightly, it was right there, on the ground in front of her face. She felt strangely calm as she stared at it, looking at what looked like a leopard skin pattern strip around it.
Her eyes closed again, and she smiled in her completely silent world.
She heard a noise. A rumble.
Sound was returning.
It was a muffled shout.
'...I've found her!...'
-x-
Darkness.
-x-
A conversation.
'Jesus Dup look at her!'
'How long has she been out here?'
'Vanessa said she left her's not too late last night. She's been on her own here since.'
'Aww god no, man.'
'Let's get her out of here.'
Two strong hands scooping her up.
Her body heaved to be sick, but nothing came out.
The hands held her tighter.
-x-
The first thing Alice noticed, was that things were beginning to make sense again. She could feel someone tip cold water into her mouth, and the strong hands were still around her. She could hear a Jeep's engine rumbling along.
'You'll be fine Alice, you're gonna be alright.' A voice told her.
The engine cut out. Frustrated that she couldn't open her eyes, Alice tried to move her body.
But try as she might, a new wave washed over her, and it was too heavy to hold back.
Before she could do anything about it, she was pulled back under, falling deep into unconsciousness, her body too exhausted to hold on.
-x-
This time, the first thing she felt was pain. There was a repetitive beeping that seemed to be echoing around her.
She peeled her eyes open, this time successfully.
The room was white.
Bright, white, and really rather small.
She was laying out on a long white bed, with the blanket pulled up to her midriff, and she wore a hideous white and blue spotted gown that she knew was untied at the back - she could feel her bare skin pressed against the sheets of the bed.
Wires stuck out at odd angles from under her gown that attached themselves to her skin at one end and a machine at the other. It was that that was making the beeping noise. She also had a rather horrible looking drip sticking out her forearm, where the Doctors had obviously been administering her medicine.
Alice sighed.
She hated hospitals. But she wondered how she had ended up there?
She breathed in and out slowly, glad that at least she could now see things clearly and that she was in the right state of mind. She savoured the fact that the colours didn't blur together and that she could hear perfectly well. She savoured the fact that her body no longer shivered - in fact she felt completely comfortable, temperature wish. But most of all, she savoured the fact that she no longer felt as though she needed to be sick.
Alice lay quietly for a moment, trying to make sense and piece together the tiny memories she had. She had no idea how long ago it had even happened. It seemed timeless, blurry, and not really real.
She could remember, at one point, seeing a brown blur, moving around - and then she was sure she had identified it as a hat. A rather distinctive hat - unless that too had been a figment of her delirious and very ill mind.
Looking out through a window separating her room from the corridor, she watched various nurses and doctors wander past, busying themselves in paperwork. Relatives walked past too, carrying cups of tea and coffee, chatting as they weaved their way past her window.
Suddenly, something appeared just in the corner of the window frame that made Alice's heart rate monitor bleep and shoot up for the slightest moment.
It was the hat. The brown hat, with the leopard skin strip around the middle. It was old, well worn and slightly dusty.
Obviously, it wasn't floating. She could see a matte of greying hair sticking out from under it as whoever it was faced the other way, standing just within the window frame. Alice tried to sit forwards, but a darting pain in her shoulder made her gasp and screw up her eyes, fighting the urge not to cry out.
Her heart rate monitor bleeped warningly once again, and a doctor peered in through her window. He smiled when he caught Alice looking at him, and he slid inside the room.
'Miss Collins! You're awake!' the young Doctor exclaimed excitedly, resting his hands on the bottom of her bed. 'How do you feel? We were actually expecting you to wake up yesterday, but all the same, it's nice to see you finally concious.'
Alice's mouth fell open with a tiny 'pop!' noise.
...What had he just said?
'Yesterday?' she exclaimed. '...How long have I been here?'
The young Doctor looked slightly guilty for springing it on her so unexpectedly.
'Four days.' he said.
Alice's heart rate monitor bleeped in complaint once more, and Alice saw the doctor look at it nervously. They were both quiet for a minute, and Alice's eyes darted to the window once more. The man with the hat still stood just out of sight.
'So...what's wrong with me? Am I alright?' Alice asked, feeling slightly embarrassed.
'You are now. You had a pretty severe case of Typhoid fever, and you needed plenty of stitches on your shoulder and thigh. You've got a couple of your face too, just below your eye - paper stitches there, though.' The doctor added. 'Are you feeling alright?'
'I'm sore,' Alice replied, grimacing as she moved herself in her bed, 'but feeling okay, I suppose.'
'Great. I'll go tell your visitors you're awake.' The man said, smiling, and he turned on his heel to leave.
It never really occurred to Alice what he had just said for a moment.
'Wait!' she called, just as his hand settled on the door handle. 'My visitors? Who are they?'
'I believe it's the people that found you, Miss Collins.' he smiled, and left.
The people that had found her?
She suddenly remembered voices, and a pair of hands holding onto her, while someone else forced her to drink some water. But the memory was blurry and unfocused.
Alice watched the doctor close the door, begin to walk away to the right, and then stop in his tracks, turning to his left and looking and smiling at something Alice couldn't see. Walking to his left, he reached out and touched the man with the brown hat on the shoulder. Alice watched him like a hawk, waiting for the man - and the hat - to turn around.
He did, and Alice finally got a look at the man the hat belonged to. He was a gruff, scruffy looking old white man who wore an open shirt and a white vest on underneath. Alice could only see so far down, but it was clear his stomach protruded a bit as the Doctor didn't stand too close.
The young doctor shook hands with the man, and merely pointed into Alice's room.
A smile lit up the old man's face as he spotted Alice sitting upright in her bed looking back at him.
Alice flushed bright red and slowly lifted her uninjured right arm, waving meekly.
The old man with the hat patted the doctor on the shoulder and walked around him, outstretching his hand to the door.
Alice didn't know why, but she suddenly felt incredibly nervous.
'Well hello there.' The old man said with a smile, his strong South African accent a warm and comforting sound.
'Hello.' Alice croaked, and she swallowed loudly.
'I'm Anders Du Plessis.' he said, and he removed his hat from his head, revealing more of the thick, greying hair. It sat messily on top of his head.
'Alice Collins.' Alice smiled, as Dup took a seat next to her bed.
'Oh I know.' Du Plessis laughed. 'I've heard your name a lot the past 4 days.' he chuckled lightly and Alice blushed.
'...I'm so sorry for any trouble I caused you. You are the person that found me? The doctor said it was my visitors that essentially saved me.'
Dup nodded, looking quite proud of himself. 'Well, me and Danny. You didn't look so good.' Anders added, pulling a face as he remembered.
'Do you work at Mara? And who's Danny?' She felt rude asking so many questions, but Alice just couldn't help them tumbling out of her mouth. She had so many.
'No no, I part own the game park right next door to Mara called Leopards Den. And Danny Trevanion is my friend - he owns the other half of Leopards Den too.' Du Plessis said, smiling.
Alice had definitely heard his name before. It suddenly came back to her - Vanessa had mentioned his name while Alice had been at Mara.
'Oh! Mr Trevanion, the vet?'
'The very one. Know him?'
'No, never met him. Know of him, I suppose.' Alice smiled. 'So, how come it was you guys that found me? Why were you at Mara, out in the bush?'
'We got a phone call from Vanessa saying that she had hired a locum vet the night before and that that next morning one of her workers had found your overturned Jeep at the side of the road.'
Alice was quiet as she suddenly remembered the loud banging as the rhino repeatedly slammed into her car.
'Was it a rhino?' Du Plessis asked, leaning forwards in his chair.
Alice looked him in the eye and nodded. 'How did you know that?'
'I'm a good tracker. That's why Vanessa phoned us that morning. She knows I can track, and she knows that Danny knows the land well. There were loads of people looking for you though - all the Mara staff. We were just the ones to find you.' Dup smiled, and Alice blushed and remained quiet.
'Everyone thought you were dead when we saw that trail of blood leading away from the Jeep, you know.' Dup muttered. 'You're a lucky lady.'
Alice exhaled and ran her hand lightly over the bandage covering her left shoulder. 'I know.' She grimaced back, still blushing at the thought of a full blown search party being sent to find her.
'So how did you end up with Typhoid Fever?' Du Plessis asked. 'Nasty thing, that.'
Alice nodded. 'Drank dirty water. It was that or pass out from dehydration, so...' Alice trailed off into silence.
Dup watched her, she could feel his gentle eyes on her.
'So...Mr Du Plessis, is Mr Trevanion around?' Alice changed the conversation direction. 'I've met one of my saviours, I would like to meet the other as well.' Alice smiled widely, and Dup laughed to himself.
'I'll go find him.' he said, standing up and placing his hat back on his head. Alice smiled as she looked at it - no-one would ever know what that hat really meant to her. It had been her thread to cling to in a delusional, hopeless world.
'Thank you, Mr Du Plessis. Really...You saved my life.' Alice said quietly, with a small smile. 'I'll really never be able to thank you enough.'
Dup smiled warmly, and leant over and kissed Alice on the cheek, his beard tickling her face.
'My pleasure.' he chuckled. 'And call me Dup.' he smiled, as he left the room.
-x-
A/N; I'm sorry it seems a bit rushed, I'll try fix it tomorrow. Too tired tonight! Please review. You're all so lovely and it's always a nice surprise when someone does. :D L x