Where was she? Jake thought in panic. She wasn't in the house, so she must have snuck outside. Not bothering with a rain slicker, Jake opened the door and battled to close it in the high winds. He looked down at the ground as he leaped off the porch trying to follow her trail through the deep mud. He couldn't see anything, the rain was coming down in a torrent, washing away everything. He looked up hoping to see her, but he couldn't see anything through the darkness. Praying that she was in the shelter of the barn, he ran through the rain trying to stay upright in the slippery mud. As he was almost to the barn he heard a sharp crack followed by a chain of lightening that illuminated the whole ranch yard. Seeing something over by one of the corrals, Jake switched directions without slowing down. As he got closer another lightening strike illuminated an object next to the pipe corral.
Sams wheelchair, Jake realized. Fear made an icy hole in his chest as he thought of Sam out in this storm, all alone. As he slipped between the bars of the corral, he made out the figure of the Phantom. And there, underneath him, was Sam. Like a big grey watchdog, the Phantom stood over Sam, protecting her as much as he could from the storm that raged directly over their heads. Sam lay curled up at the horses feet, sobbing.
"I am so sorry! It's all my fault! But I promise you, I'll make it better. We'll get through this." The Phantom reached down to nuzzle her shoulder as though he understood her words. He seemed to be telling her that everything was all right.
Jake approached the two slowly, mindful of the Phantoms teeth and hooves. He reached down to gather Sam up, bracing himself in case the horse decided to attack. But the Phantom just watched as Jake picked her up and gathered her close. Seeming to know that she was okay now, the horse turned and made his way limping slowly to the small shed in the middle of the corral. Jake turned and made his way over to the gate. Sam was soaked through and huge shivers wracked her body. She kept whispering "I'm sorry" over and over. As another shiver went through her, Jake gathered her as close as he could to his body, trying to give her whatever heat he could. He half ran, half walked through the slippery mud and raging winds, trying to get back to the house as quick as possible.
Sam collapsed inside the pipe corral, crying. She thought her heart was going to break in half. She had just used every ounce of strength she had dragging herself from her wheelchair to the inside of the pipe corral. The wind lashed around her, and she had already started shivering from the cold mud that soaked through her sweatshirt and jeans. She felt something looming over her, and she looked up into the face of the Phantom. Even in the dark, she could tell that he was in rough shape. She curled into a ball at his feet and gave into the misery that was overwhelming her. She was so stupid! She thought if she could just block everything out then she wouldn't be able to feel this pain. For these last few weeks she had even convinced herself it was working. Who was she kidding? She had been miserable all this time and she was just to stubborn to realize it. The only thing she had succeeded in doing, was hurting the ones she loved. She thought of Jen and Jake, of her family. Would they ever forgive her? She would make it up to them, she had to. But first, she had to get back to the house. She was so cold! Shivers wracked her body and her teeth chattered. She tried to move, but realized she was too weak. She kept getting colder and colder. She was at the point where all she wanted to do is go to sleep. Hypothermia, she realized. She was going to die out here. No one knew where she was or that she was even gone. It figures she thought. I finally understand, I finally decide to change, and now I am going to die out here. She curled even tighter into a ball to try to conserve whatever heat she had left. She cried even harder and apologized to her once magnificent horse.
All of a sudden she felt a shadow move over her. She glanced up to see Jake looking down on her. Hands gentle, he gathered her up in his arms and started towards the house. She could feel the heat of his body through her wet clothes and with a sigh, she curled towards him. She felt protected, safe, bracketed against his strong body as he carried her through the storm to shelter. She relaxed her head against his shoulder and felt, for the first time in a long time, content.
Jake shifted Sam slightly as he reached out to open the door. It wasn't hard to do. She was so light! He could feel her ribs even through the thick sweater she wore. He had never thought of Sam as fragile, but that's exactly what she felt like in his arms. Like a little kitten, she was curled up in his arms, with her head pillowed on his shoulder. He was thinking he kinda liked the feeling of her curled up against him like that when another shiver wracked her body, reminding him of the dire situation she was in.
He quickly walked to the living room and deposited her on the couch. He went to the kitchen and grabbed the phone off the wall. He was just about to dial the number for the hospital when he realized there was no dial tone. He thought about driving her, but that would be even worse. He knew the truck heater would never put out enough heat to warm her up.
All right, he thought. It will have to be up to me. He walked back into the living room to get a better idea of her condition. Sam lay curled up on the couch and every so often a huge shiver would shake her body. She was incredibly white and there was a bluish tinge around her lips. Having grown up in Nevada all his life, he had a good understanding of hypothermia. He knew if he could warm her up she would be all right. He quickly started a fire in the fireplace and piled on a bunch of wood to get it blazing as quickly as possible. He twisted back around to Sam. After lifting the hem of her sweatshirt to make sure she was wearing something underneath, he quickly pulled it over her head. He figured she would warm up quicker if he got rid of the cold and wet sweater. He reached around for the blanket hanging on the chair next to him. As he twisted back around to put it over Sam he froze.
Underneath the sweater Sam wore a light tank top. Now the tank top was soaking wet and plastered to her skin, leaving nothing to the imagination. Against his will, Jake ran his eyes down the length of her. God! When had Sam turned into such a - a - well ... a woman? he thought. He had never before really thought of Sam as a woman, she had always just been his best friend. But now, looking down at her, for the first time he seen her as the opposite sex. She was really beautiful he thought in shock. With her extremely pretty face and great body, he now understood why a lot of the guys had the hots for her at school. Even his good friend Darrell called him 9 kinds of a fool for not getting involved with Sam. As he continued to watch Sam, he wondered if her lips felt as soft as they looked. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out one good reason not to bend down and find out.
Just then another shiver wracked her body and Jake broke out of his thoughts to focus on the situation in front of him. Knowing body heat was one of the best ways of fighting hypothermia, he quickly picked Sam up and sat down on the couch. He set Sam down on his lap and wrapped the blanket around the both of them. Wrapping his arms around her he gathered her close and leaned back against the couch. All of a sudden he felt exhausted. With Sam in his arms he closed his eyes and slept.
