Chapter 7
Lou sat on the couch, he eyes looking at the clock on the wall, it now was 4:02am.
The sky was now starting to change from midnight black to morning Hews of dark indigo and navy blue. It was still dark outside and snow was still falling although not as heavy as before.
Lou looked at her phone, Amy had not replied to her call.
Jack walked over to her from the kitchen, and placed his hand upon her shoulder in comfort.
"I think it's time we called for help" he said softly
Lou nodded slowly in agreement,
"I'm going to call dad," she said softly, Jack went to protest, but then squeezed her shoulder and nodded. "you do that, and I'll call the police"
Tim arrived at the ranch and burst through the door. Jack was on the phone still to the police, explaining to them the event of the night. This was turning out to be a difficult discussion as Jack really didn't have much evidence to make their case that Ty and Amy needed their help.
"Mr. Bartlett, I understand your worried, but we find that these things generally turn out to be a simple misunderstanding and that eventually all works out ok. Are you sure they haven't simply gone away for a while on their own? Young lovers tend to do that from time to time."
Jack rubbed his face, his patience wearing thin. "Yes, I get that, but this is not one of THOSE times! "
Lou hugged her dad and he looked at her with worry and upset in his eyes,
"I'm going to kill Ty for putting Amy in danger" he said, "what the hell was he thinking, just running off"
"dad!" Lou explained, taking his hand" Ty didn't do anything, he has been missing since early morning, this is not his fault!"
"yes, it is, he's the reason she's out there! doing god knows what, putting herself in danger for what," he hissed" to save some stupid idiot who can't keep out of trouble. This is all on him,"
"TIM!" Jack growled, now off the phone from the police, "just settle down, we are all worried, so simmer down and stop with all the threats"
Tim huffed his breath and looked around the room in exasperation, but decided to stay quiet.
"we will find them Dad, "Lou said softly, "we will".
Amy pulled the truck as close to the side of the road as she could manage, the tires started to slip in the soft ground at the edge and it wasn't long before the truck was stuck fast.
She dropped her head onto the steering wheel and exhaled loudly. Nothing was going right for her at that moment.
She turned the engine off and grabbed her coat, determination on her face as she exited the truck and quickly ran around to the passenger's side, careful not to slip in the churned-up earth around the trucks tires.
Amy opened the door and noticed Ty's eyes where closed, she leaned closer to him and could only just hear his breathing, his chest rose a fell ever so slightly now. Each breath shallow and shaky.
"Ty," She said softly, touching his cheek, "Ty, it's me, Amy"
Ty's eyes opened slowly, his body was stiller than before. He moved his arm slowly towards her. But didn't seem able to coordinate the movement enough to connect with her hand now on his chest.
He swallowed, and took another shaky breath, his eyes finally finding hers.
"A…...A. Amy" he croaked, recognizing her as the woman he loved for the first time since she had found him on that cold dark road.
"OH Ty," Amy explained, her tears falling as she touched his cold face." Yes, yes, it's me, its Amy"
Tys shifted slightly in his seat, the cold from the open door starting to affect him. Amy watch as a single tear rolled down his frigid cheek, His eyes never leaving hers.
"You have to get up Ty, "Amy said clearly, looking deeply into his eyes, "you have let me get you out of the truck now."
Ty watched her, his eyes blinking slowly, tempted by sleep.
"No…. Ty! Amy raised her voice, regaining his attention " you have to get up and come with me now!"
With that Amy reached into the truck and wrapped her arms around his torso and pull him out into the night.
Ty got the message and allowed his body to follow here lead. He buckled at the knees when his feet hit the ground. His toes burning in his boots from the impact.
He groaned and leaned on Amy to stabilize himself.
"It's ok, I got ya" she strained and took her lovers weight, kicking his foot with hers to get him walking.
Amy's slight form was all that kept Ty on his feet, her inner strength to save him held the both of them up while they stumbled towards the dark old barn that loomed before them.
Amy propped Ty against the paint faded wall of the barn. Giving him a breather, as she quickly moved to the old doors. They were old and rickety and didn't quite shut properly, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
She reached out, grabbed the door and pulled hard, it fought against her to begin with but solely started to slide open enough to let her get Ty inside and out of the nights cold.
Amy walked Ty over to the rear of the barn where there were old musty hay bales and broken wooden boxes. She helped Ty sit down on a crate and then quickly went back to shut the door behind them.
With the weather locked outside, Amy surveyed their accommodations for the rest of the night. It wasn't by any means perfect, it was musty and dirty and the hay smelt old and stagnant. And she was sure she could hear scurrying and knew that they shared their space with other smaller inhabitants. But it was dry, and warmer than outside.
Amy looked around and rummaged through some of the stalls, she found a pile of old horse blankets and although a little mouse eaten, they were dry and clean.
She laid them down on the sprayed-out hay and formed a type of bed. Amy pulled the hay around the edges to insulate the area, knowing that the straw and hay would hold in the heat.
Amy returned to Ty who has semi awake where she had left him and guided him towards the makeshift bed she had created.
He slowly dropped to his knees and allowed her to guide his exhausted form down.
"stay here ok" Amy said softly "I'll be back in a sec"
Amy pressed her warm lips to his for cold fore head and quickly ran back to the truck returning with a picnic blanket that Ty had kept under the trucks front seat.
Amy gently held Ty's hand and pressed his wrist, his pulse was slow and she knew she was running out of time. Amy noticed the rope burns on his wrists and gently rubbed the blue scars. With questions about their origins in her mind, she decided to save those queries' for later.
"Ty, "Amy said, touching his cheek again, bringing his eyes back to hers.
"we need to get you warm" Quickly, understanding they were now on borrowed time, Amy sat beside his still form. Ty was making no efforts now to conserve warmth, he lay still spread out as if lying at the beach.
Amy touched his hair, it was now only damp, and nowhere as wet as it had been when he was on the road, she noticed the blood stained matted hair near his temple, and gently touched the wound.
Ty didn't respond to the touch, he didn't feel her hands checking the cut, everything to him was a blur of shadows and numbness. All he wanted now was to fade away.
Amy shifted her position and sat next ty Ty's hip, His eyes where still watching her through sleepy blinks.
She sighed deeply - she had decided and put her plan into action.
"Ok, Mr. Borden" She said with determination," here we go"
Amy grabbed hold of Ty's t-shirt and quickly pulled it up over his ribs and chest, he moved slightly, fumbling with his hands to grab hold of the shirt himself.
"shh" Amy said quiet, "its ok, I'll do it"
Ty's eyes shut again and his hands released the bottom of the t-shirt. Allowing her to have her way.
Amy pulled the damp shirt over his head and threw it aside, quickly covering his bare chest with the picnic blanket. Ty protested feebly, the rug annoying his chilled skin, he pushed it away with his hands, now preferring the cold that had taken over him.
"No, leave it be" Amy warned and put it back.
Ty was too tired to argue anymore, he was close to giving in, he felt nothing but cold, emptiness inside. He could see his Amy, but she was far from reach now. Too far to hold onto. Ty just wanted it to stop, to fall into the void.
Amy took a deep breath and looked at Ty's belt buckle, she quickly unhooked it and pulled his belt form its lapels.
Amy and Ty's relationship had progressed to the next level a while ago, they were after all engaged, they had been intimate in every sense of the word she had seen him naked before but not this venerable, this exposed, this seemed different somehow.
Ty stirred slightly when he felt her moving his hips as the belt ran through his jeans. He slowly opened his eyes but could not focus on her from where she sat next to him.
"A…my" he breathed, his mind now drifting through memories from the past. They taunted him and called to him. "Just let go Ty, come to me" the voice called through the cold.
"Amy" he murmured,
All he had to do to have her arms around him, her kisses on his lips, her body next to his, was give in and let go.
TO BE CONTINUED
