AN: Ok guys, I know I suck. You don't have to tell me. But I will say that I have plenty of excuses so don't lose your mind yet. Yes, there were a couple of chances I've had to update, but with everything that's been going on, I just needed to rest. We have been having some family problems, along with my freshman year at a college prep school (rated number 3 high school in America in Newsweek, sorry, makes me happy.) I just have not had any time to venture away from the real world lately. I do apologize for that because I've always hated people who don't update forever. It kills me.
So anyways, here's your long awaited update. More to come later (announcement on that at the end.) And I just really want to thank you guys who commented and especially for not yelling at me for not updating. It really has been crazy.
Warnings: This chapter is pretty slow.. Not much happens unfortunately. But it should get better later. Also, not officially beta'd but I read over it a million times, so sorry if there are mistakes. I don't know how to get a beta because my family won't do it….
So enough talking. Just read the end note for all the other notes.
Happy Readings!
She watched as he shakily entered the cave with her assistance, then fell limply to the ground. It had frightened her, but she thought that he was just tired and allowed himself to rest. But as she scooted closer to him on her hands and knees, she realized that he had passed out.
Her heart raced even more-so than it had been. She placed her uncovered fingertips on his neck and felt a steady heartbeat, but was surprised at his warmth.
How much longer could he last out here fighting this cold?
She had seen him get better, then worse, then better again.. And it just kept going on and on.
She looked over him again and saw the steady rising and falling motion of his back and the consistent breathing with a slight hitch, and decided that he was probably just in a deep sleep now, which was probably good, although he was trembling.
She reached beyond him and grabbed the blanket he had been wearing and draped it over him.
She had never really known how to take care of someone, not having the most pleasant of childhoods and never having a child of her own to look after, so she was not entirely certain what she was doing.
It didn't seem right to attempt to warm up someone who has a high fever, but then again, she had always heard the saying "sweating out a fever" and they were surrounded by snow, and he was shaking.
With those many reasons to weigh out leaving him uncovered, she tucked the blanket tighter around him. She looked at him for a little longer, hoping and praying she was doing the right thing.
This general thought confused her though: If someone had a fever, that means their body temperature was too high, but out here, one's temperature was bound to go down, right? So… what happens when you have both at one time? Or will the cold surroundings actually bring his already high temperature down? Now she was just confusing herself. She really should know this stuff though.
She looked back down at him at just decided to leave it alone until he woke up and told her what's wrong. Besides, he's unbelievably smart and would probably know the answer.
So what could she do now?
He needed help, there was no doubt about that. But how could she get help? Every bit of her knew that what Greg had said was true. If she continued to walk and expose her feet to the elements, she could lose them. But on the other hand, she had no way of knowing how much longer Greg would last.
She decided that if he didn't wake up in two hours, she would leave. She wasn't sure how she came up with this plan; it was a sudden decision.
But what other options did she have?
The hope of someone else finding them seemed silly now, even though it was technically possible, and he couldn't get them help if he's unconscious. And she could not bare the thought of her somehow living while he died just because she was fearful of losing her feet.
A life in exchange for body parts was unfathomable.
She lifted a small portion of the blanket so that she could retrieve the iPod from Greg's pocket, the only source of time they had.
She turned it on and saw that it was 12:57, on the third day since the crash. She shook her head and leaned back against the wall of the cave.
At 3:00, if he isn't awake, I'll leave, she thought definitively to herself.
She didn't want to of course, but it was something that was needed.
Her eyes began to wander around the cave, and every so often falling back on Greg, who hadn't moved a bit.
She looked to the left of his head and saw a bag and her kit.
She smiled to herself.
He had somehow managed to carry her, himself, the food, and the kit all by himself. How in the world did he do that?
She reached over and grabbed it and pulled out some crackers. She opened them, not trying to stay quiet. If he was sleeping, then she knew he should remain that way, but until he woke up or showed signs of consciousness, she had no way of knowing if was actually asleep or something more.
But the crinkling of the wrapper had no effect on him, so she just nibbled on her crackers, noting at how wonderful they tasted.
Over the last few hours, she had gotten very hungry. She started to think about this idea, and wondered if she would actually eat meat if there was nothing else to eat.
She had never given it a real thought, never being in a situation like this, but it was a very good question.
She had been a vegetarian for so long now, it was hard to imagine her eating meat for any reason at all, but surely there would be a time when she would get hungry enough.
Yes, of course there would, she corrected herself after remembering some books on the human brain. When a person goes with food for long enough, the body starts eating itself which will cause them to lose their mind and eat anything that becomes available.
That had to have been what happened to anyone who resulted to cannibalism. Unless they were like Hannibal Lector, who willingly ate people, she mused.
She found her thoughts becoming less and less organized, and knew that she was beginning to fall asleep again.
Once this thought registered, she immediately woke herself back up.
There was no way she could fall asleep. She had a plan.
Greg hadn't fallen asleep while he was carrying her, had he? No, of course not. Not until he had gotten them somewhere safe first.
Sara would have to be there for him like he had been there for her!
It might not be easy, but she could do it. And she told herself this, and that was that.
She took another bite of her cracker, this time more forcibly. But, her eyes started to droop again and her jaw slowed down to the point where she looked like a nursing infant.
She shook herself awake again. This really could not go on for too long. She must really be weak.
Just then, she saw a small movement come from the corner of her eye, which was plenty enough to wake her up entirely. She watched and waited for him to move again, but nothing came for a moment or so. Finally, he moved his head, then slowly pulled his arms underneath him, then pushed himself up with great effort.
Sara was well aware of the deep breathing and pained expressions he clearly wore, but she said nothing about it.
"How are you feeling," she asked quietly.
He didn't seem to hear her because he didn't so much as flinch at the sound of her voice.
She frowned, not knowing how to take it. She watched him a little longer. He hadn't moved from being on his hands and knees. He just kept looking at the ground and breathing hard. Sara started to get nervous because he still wasn't very reactive to his surroundings.
Sara pushed herself back onto her knees and slowly made her way over to him.
"Greg.." She asked softly, hoping for him to answer or even look at her. But he didn't.
Finally she was close enough to touch him, so she shakily reached her hand out and rubbed his back.
Only then did he seem to "wake up" because he flinched then slowly turned his head so that he could see Sara.
She realized that he wasn't completely "there" once she saw his eyes. They were almost dancing around the cave as if searching for something and he kept blinking and shaking his head.
"Hey Greg, it's ok. Why don't you sit back down." He was still on his hands and knees, which was making her very uncomfortable because it was not really a normal position.
He seemed confused but as she led him down to a sitting position, he seemed to become more aware. His eyes stopped dancing and just stayed put on Sara, though they were half closed.
Sara smiled warmly back at him, though still a little shocked at his behavior. Once he was sitting comfortably against the cave wall and the blanket across his lap, Sara decided to see where he was mentally.
"Do you know where you are, Greg?" She asked quietly.
He took his eyes off of her and looked around. She was pretty sure he didn't know at first, but when his eyes lose some life and a hopeless expression filled his face, she had a feeling he knew where he was.
"Yeah," he answered in his broken, raspy voice. He then let his head fall against the wall and he closed his eyes.
Sara hated to see him like this. She could only imagine how he felt. Which brought her to a very good question:
"How are you feeling," She continued, knowing that the only way she had a chance of helping him was to know what was wrong.
He didn't raise his head or open his eyes, but he let out a pained sarcastic laugh.
"I'm sorry, Greg. I guess that's a stupid question…"
"No actually, its not." He sighed and lifted his head back up and tried to take a deep breath, but it didn't work out so well.
Sara continued to stare at him, not real sure what he meant by it not being a stupid question. Thankfully he began to speak again.
"I feel bad, but I don't know what's wrong," He said, looking confused himself at his explanation.
"I… I'm cold and hot, my head is… not good, and I can't really feel anything else… but it hurts… I just really don't know." This response sounded much more exhausted and very drained.
Sara didn't know how to respond to him, but she really felt bad for him. She could see it in his eyes that he was not doing so great.
"How are you," He asked, seemingly trying to change the subject. "Your feet?"
"Oh. I really don't know. I haven't checked on them or anything…"
Greg nodded.
"I wish I knew more about frost bite, but I only know the basics, and that's not really enough at all…"
Sara saw something in her eyes that didn't feel right. Not guilt pre se, but something like it. And she would not allow him to feel anything close to that.
"Stop that, Greg. You've done quite enough already. And you know what, your feet might be just as bad," she paused but acknowledged him shaking his head. "And it doesn't matter anyway. I know not to walk on them if at all possible, unless it's absolutely necessary.."
"It won't be," Greg said in a bold voice.
"Oh really? Look, you had to carry me all night and…"
"Exactly. I carried you so you wouldn't screw up your feet more than you already have. Now, if you want to throw all of that labor to the wind and be stupid and go walk on your feet, then be my guest. But when you cannot walk anymore or when the doctors are cutting them, don't you come complaining to me."
He said all of this in a joking manner, because they both knew that if Sara needed him again for anything, he would do everything in his power to help her, but she could hear the exhaustion in his voice and knew his message was serious: He would not let her walk if he could help it.
So, she let it go.
"Then what are we going to do?"
Greg thought about it for a while.
"Well, we should probably get out of this winter wonderland, don't you think?"
Sara smiled at him.
"Is that your master plan, or are you that sick? Of course we should get out of here, but how exactly? You won't let me walk nowhere…"
"Because you can't," He interrupted but she ignored him and continued on.
"And you are going to die if you have to go carry me around again…"
"Well then I'll go by myself."
That stopped Sara dead in her tracks. How could he be so bravely stupid?
"Is it your goal to die out here, or what?" Sara countered to him. She didn't say it harshly or anything, but for goodness sakes he refused to make this easy on her.
"No, that is not my goal. But my first priority is not to get out of here alive, therefore I will do what it takes to obtain my first priority first."
"Oh really? And what is your first priority."
Greg grinned in a mischievous manner.
"That's for me to know and you to find out. Possibly. I don't really care if you find out or not, just as long as it happens."
"I see. But I'm still not letting you go," Sara responded, taking a leaf out of Greg's book in making sure that her words gave room for no if's, and's, or but's.
Greg chuckled at her defiant tone.
"You're not letting me? I see…" He just continued to laugh until it was interrupted by a cough which broke Sara from the semi-lighthearted conversation they were just having.
Fortunately it was not a bad cough and came and went quickly without leaving any serious damage to Greg, but they both knew it would only get worse.
"Look, how could I let you go out there alone when we both know that you are very sick and may not make it out. You immune system is already done, so its definitely a possibility. The only problem I have is my feet, I would rather lose them than lose you."
Greg had no response to this. He knew she was right, but that didn't change his mind or his priorities.
"Ok, so that still leaves us at the same predicament: how are we going to get help?"
Sara shook her head. "I don't know Greg…"
"That's settles it then, I'm going." He started to push himself up. "And before you say anything, I'm promise you that once I get to the Denali, I will stop and rest there. Then I'll go on for a little longer, and if I see nothing right away, I'll turn around and come back."
He saw now almost standing up, and turned back to Sara who was opening and closing her mouth in protest.
"Greg, no. I will not let you…"
"Sara," He said loudly and with much force. "We can't keep doing this! I know the risks, I know I'm sick, but I know I can do this. I won't be gone long and I'll take the blanket and everything. And if I start feeling really bad, then I'll turn around regardless of where I am, ok?"
Sara heard the desperation in his voice and saw his point, but she couldn't let him go out there and risk his life again just for her and her feet.
"I'm sorry Greg, but no. You know what," she said almost as loudly as him. "I can walk."
She turned around to face the wall and began to use it to help herself up, all the while Greg protesting and trying to get her to stop, but she wouldn't.
The first moment she put the least amount of weight on her foot, she didn't feel the expected rush of pain. So naturally, she placed even more weight on them and stood up.
Nothing at first, but all of the sudden, massive bursts of excruciating pain filled her entire body and she couldn't hear anything, including her pained screams.
The last thing she saw was Greg trying to reach out and grab her, but before she knew it, everything turned black.
Greg had known what was about to happen before it did, and had tried to catch her, but she slipped right through his weak arms. The truth was he had barely enough strength to hold himself up, let alone to keep Sara from falling. So she inevitably fell through his arms.
Right away he dropped to his knees to make sure she was ok, but she wasn't responsive.
"Sara," he cooed softly, pulling her hair away from her face with two frozen fingers.
It wasn't that she didn't respond to him that turned his blood cold, no pun intended, but it was the sight of blood turning the ground around her head crimson red.
EN: Ok, I will admit that I made a stupid mistake in not pre-writing this story, or at least getting ahead so that posting would not be as much of a problem. I'm sorry about that, but I am actually still pretty new at this, and I've learned my lesson. So here's the deal:
We just got out on summer vacation, so we're heading down to the keys tomorrow morning (we travel a lot.) This is good news and probably bad news. The good news is I'll have seven to eight hours in the car to continue typing, the bad news is we may not have a connection at the house we are staying at… so worst case scenario, you'll get an update either Thursday or Friday, but I'll have backup chapters so… Again, I'm sorry but I'll git-r-done.
Oh and, I know that Greg seems to be the only one doing anything heroic really, but it turns out, once you screw up Sara'a feet, she can't do much without stretching medical facts, so I just decided to knock her out. See, I don't know a whole lot about frostbite, but I know that you shouldn't walk on them at all, especially in more snow or else there will be extensive cell damage and then you lose them… So… sorry if you wanted heroic Sara, but at least she is trying. And I may be able to work something out... We'll see.