Chapter Six
It was a little before midday by the time Ashley made it back to the crash site. Entering the camp, she saw that the fire had gone out, despite there being a pile of wood nearby. Spencer was nowhere in sight. She quietly walked to the tent and poked her head though the flap. Seeing her friend sitting inside, Ashley started to greet the other girl but stopped when she noticed her appearance.
Spencer was huddled in the corner, legs drawn up and hugged to her chest. Her face was drained of color. A thin sheet of sweat covered her forehead. Her entire body was trembling. Ashley crawled to her side and put a hand on one of her knees.
"Spence, are you okay? What's wrong?"
The blonde opened her mouth and moved her lips, but sound didn't come out. She paused, licked her lips, and tried again. She spoke slowly. "I couldn't just sit around and do nothing, so I decided to pick up some more wood for the fire—"
"Spencer!"
"—and then I thought I'd poke around the plane," the blonde continued, not really hearing Ashley's reprimand. "You know, to see if there was anything that could be useful. But then I…I saw…I saw Jason…"
Ashley cringed. "Oh, Spence…"
"…what was left of him…"
The brunette pulled her friend into an embrace, trying to soothe the shaking girl by rubbing her back. Ashley swore to herself. The younger girl should never have had to see that, especially not with Clay's death so recent.
"I'm so sorry." The words sounded ridiculous out loud, but she didn't know what else to say.
"That could have been you, Ash," Spencer sobbed against the older girl's shoulder.
"It could've been either one of us," Ashley corrected. She pulled back to look into Spencer's eyes, keeping one hand on her cheek and the other on her good shoulder. "But it wasn't. I'm right here and—"
Spencer cut her friend off, thrusting her chin forward and crushing her lips against Ashley's. Without thinking, the brunette leaned into the kiss, drawing it out as long as she could before the blonde broke away. It was desperate and brief, but it made Ashley's heart race and breaths hasten all the same. Consciously working to keep her breathing under control, the older girl studied Spencer through darkened eyes. The blonde still had her eyes closed, but her trembling had lessened, and a bit of color had returned to her cheeks.
Ashley pulled the girl closer so that their foreheads touched. "It's okay," she whispered.
They stayed that way for a while, Ashley holding Spencer and stroking her hair. The brunette knew this was how it was supposed to have been after prom. Well no, actually if she was going to wish for things to have gone differently, she wished that that she hadn't been an idiot, that Aiden hadn't gotten in the way, and that no one got shot.
Oh, that's great, Ash, she scolded herself. Why not just wish for world peace and the end of hunger while you're at it. That'll fix everything. She sighed inwardly. Hindsight's such a bitch.
It dawned on her that she needed to stop dwelling on her past mistakes and start working towards never letting them happen again. She may not have been there for Spencer when Clay died, but she sure as hell was going to be there for her now. Throughout the mess they were in and forever after, if Spencer would let her. Even if it was only ever as a friend. Ashley was determined not to let her best friend down again.
Reluctantly, Ashley pulled back, letting her hands drop from Spencer's silken hair. "So…I found a stream. Clean water. It's a ways, uh…that a-way," she finished, pointing through the tent wall.
Spencer lifted her head, looking much more composed. "That's great, Ash."
"I figure we can move camp to the water's edge, then we can follow the stream to see if it leads anywhere interesting."
"Sounds like a plan."
Ashley beamed. Her face then fell as she glanced up at the tent. She blew out a breath. "Damn. And I just got this thing up yesterday."
The girls began packing their gear up. Ashley didn't have the heart to tell Spencer to stop helping, so she settled for keeping an eye on her friend to make sure she didn't overdo it. The tent came down much easier than it went up, the bags were refilled with their belongings and supplies, and the fire pit was buried under a few handfuls of dirt.
Spencer shouldered her backpack with her good arm and picked up her sleeping bag. Ashley also swung her backpack on and took the tent bundle in one hand and her sleeping bag in the other. With Spencer now in charge of the compass, the two headed off in the direction of the stream. They walked slowly and stepped carefully, especially the injured blonde.
After two hours, they arrived at their new camp site. As they set their gear down, it did not escape Ashley's attention that Spencer's face was drawn and pale, once again glistening with a sheen of sweat.
"You okay over there?"
"Fine." The blonde's voice wavered even with that single word.
"Spence, maybe you should take it easy for a while. I'll go back an get—"
"You can't carry that survival kit this far by yourself," the blonde argued.
"I'll manage."
"No you won't. I'll rest when we get back. I promise."
The brunette stared at her friend. The blonde's expression was hardened with stubborn resolve. As much as Ashley didn't like it, she knew Spencer's way of dealing with things was to be productive and useful. "All right. Let's go."
The walk to the crash site went faster, and Ashley made a final sweep of the area to make sure they didn't forget anything. Satisfied, the two each grabbed a handle of the survival kit and picked it up between them. On the return journey to the stream, the brunette watched her friend carefully. That is, until a fluffy gray bunny rabbit caught her eye.
"Aw, Spence, look at the cute bunny."
The blonde followed the other girl's gaze through the trees and smiled at seeing the fuzzy little animal. With her eyes not on the ground in front of her, though, she lost her footing on a few half-buried stones. Her end of the metal case crashed to the ground and she fell along with it.
"Spencer!" Ashley cried. She let go of the case completely and dropped to her friend's side. "Oh my god, are you all right?"
Spencer's face was contorted, and her breathing came in uneven spurts. Her left shoulder had collided with the ground, sending sharp searing pain through her body. With slow delicate movements, Ashley helped her stand. With an arm around the blonde's waist, she started walking.
"Come on. Let's get you to camp."
"But what about the case?" Spencer asked breathlessly.
"We're not that far away. I'll get it later."
"But—"
"I'm worried about you, Spencer, not the damn survival kit, okay?"
The blonde could only nod as she leaned against Ashley. After an agonizing fifteen minutes, they made it to the stream. Easing Spencer down into a sitting position, the brunette gently removed the sling and took off the girl's hoodie. Blood had soaked through the makeshift bandage. Blue eyes were clouded with pain and unshed tears.
"Damnit, Spence…" Ashley whispered. "We're going to need clean bandages for that. I'm going back for the kit." She pointed to the ground on which her friend sat. "You. Stay. I'll be back as soon as I can."
After draping the sweatshirt back over Spencer, Ashley took off into the woods at a jog. It didn't take her long to reach the survival kit. Determinedly, she took one handle and began dragging the case over the forest floor. With her thoughts only of taking care of Spencer, she didn't realize she was back at their camp until she was standing in front of the girl in question.
Spencer's face was even more ashen, her breathing hadn't evened out, and she was shivering despite the hot moisture beaded on her forehead. As quickly as she could, Ashley gathered up loose wood from around the grounds, dug out a small hole, and lit a fire near her friend.
Spencer grit her teeth as she shrugged off her sweatshirt. "I'm sorry, Ash, I should have listened to you."
"Wow, now there's something I don't hear every day," Ashley responded, succeeding in bringing a smile to the blonde's face. "I think I need to savor the moment."
"Ash…"
"What? Oh, right. You're bleeding." The brunette gave her best dramatic eye roll-sigh combination. "Forgot." Her smirk slipped away as she unwrapped the blonde's shoulder. The gauze pad was drenched in blood, a sharp contrast to the girl's paled features. "Jeez, Spence, you look like Death."
"Aw, Ash, you sweet talker. You sure know what a girl likes to hear."
Ashley grinned despite her concern. Spencer was still teasing her, and she took it as a good sign. "Spence, you could be dragged by the ankles through all nine circles of Hell and still be beautiful."
The blonde blushed but didn't miss a beat. "Okay, now I know something's wrong because you just made a Dante's Inferno reference."
"Hey! I do homework every once in a while."
"Ashley Davies lowering herself to doing homework? Since when?"
"Well…since I met you…"
Spencer smiled shyly, her blush still blazing across her ashen cheeks. With the first aid kit laying open next to her, Ashley peeled the gauze away from the girl's wound and gently washed the blood away with saline. When the area was clean, she looked closely at the sutures. They all seemed to be firmly in place.
"I don't think you pulled any stitches."
Spencer flinched involuntarily as Ashley's fingers grazed her extremely tender flesh, reapplying the antibiotic ointment. "Good. I'm not sure I could take a needle poking through me again."
"Yeah, well, that just means that you're going to rest when I tell you, young lady, whether you like it or not."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Oh god, never call me 'ma'am,'" Ashley groaned as she bandaged Spencer's shoulder. "No one gets to call me 'ma'am' until I'm fifty. No, wait, I'll still be too hot then…"
Spencer laughed. "Really?"
"Oh yeah, I'll be a total MILF." The blonde snorted, and the brunette amended her earlier statement. "But maybe when I'm eighty."
The sweatshirt was put back on, and the sling was repositioned. Both girls sat quietly by the fire while Ashley took a short break from all the day's activities.
"Ashley?"
"Yeah?"
Spencer leaned over and kissed her friend on the cheek. "Thank you for taking care of me."
Ashley smiled softly, eyes fixed on the flickering flames in front of her. "There isn't much of an option. I lo—" She caught herself and rephrased. "I like taking care of you."
Spencer simply nodded. Ashley wasn't sure whose hand found the other's, but soon fingers interlaced and palms pressed together. A full five seconds passed before Spencer again broke the silence.
"Ash?"
"Hm?"
"What happened to your hand?"
Ah, there it is. Been wondering when that would come up… "Um, a tree attacked me. I had to fight back."
Spencer chuckled, shaking her head. She knew Ashley well enough to know she shouldn't prod. Instead, she raised the injured hand to her lips and placed a single kiss on torn knuckles. In that moment, Ashley felt a familiar spark, followed by a flutter in her mind. A joyous impulse. A spur of excitement. Words that weren't hers and yet belonged to her all the same began to string together to a nameless tune that had yet to be written. 'I wish you would notice me and take my hand. Why do we feel like strangers when the love we had used to be strong?'
It had been a long time since the idea for a new song had struck. She held Spencer's hand just a little tighter, her smile never leaving her face. The squeeze was returned. Neither girl looked away from the fire's orange glow.
Author's note: The periodic lyrics that will be popping up are a warped and perverted outline of the original. A first draft, if you will. I'll name the song later on in the chapter that it emerges in its finished form.
