Chapter 37

By late evening, the snow was coming down much harder, the big fluffy flakes swirling in the wind as if they were performing a wild dance. It reminded Erica of the way the snow had blinded her as they'd left Jonathan's cabin that night. She tried to push that thought from her mind and enjoy dinner and innocuous conversation with David instead.

After he cleaned up the kitchen, David found Erica standing by the glass door that led out to the back deck. She was staring out the window, apparently watching the snow with her back to him. Several inches had already fallen onto the already slush-covered roads since she'd picked him up at the hospital, and it didn't show any sign of letting up.

"It looks like we may get quite a bit more snow than predicted," he said casually. She didn't respond.

He watched her for a few moments before gently placing a hand on her back. She startled in response, and he immediately pulled his hand away and took a step back, not wanting to upset her.

"Erica?" he asked carefully, "Are you thinking about that night?"

She nodded as she continued to watch the snow falling. Somehow it didn't surprise her that he knew what she'd been thinking. Then she turned and looked up at him with an unreadable expression on her face. "You carried me through the snow. You were hurt, bleeding, but you carried me."

His expression darkened at the memory. "Yes, I did. You scared the hell out of me."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "I did?"

"Your eyes had this glassy look to them, and your breathing was shallow. You'd been drugged with some unknown substance. I had no idea if that bastard was trying to kill you or just knock you unconscious. I just knew I needed to get you to a hospital as quickly as possible. Leaving you in the snow to fend for yourself wasn't really an option."

"Why not?" she whispered.

He stared at her in shock, not sure how to respond. "What do you mean? Why didn't I leave you there to die in the snow?"

She nodded.

He turned away from her, blowing out an expletive under his breath as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"How can you even ask that, Erica?"

"I had you arrested before. I tried to put you in jail. I tried to put your daughter in jail. And yet you drove all the way up to New Hampshire to look for me. You stopped Jonathan from… from raping me. You took care of me. You were shot because of me. You did your best to get me to safety, even though you were seriously injured yourself. Why would you do all of that? I need to know, David," she said in a quiet but insistent voice.

He knew Erica would ask him why. He'd tried to avoid the subject when they were in the hospital in New Hampshire, but it was inevitable that she'd want to know why he searched for her. He wasn't sure how to explain it to himself, much less to her though. The truth was that there was no rational thought involved, not after he stormed out of the Pine Valley Police Department. He'd thought only of how to find her and get her away from Jonathan Kinder.

As he'd lain in a hospital bed in New Hampshire, he'd contemplated the entire outrageous situation more thoroughly as it began to sink in that he'd nearly gotten killed saving a woman who hated his guts. When that FBI agent, that plain-looking woman with an equally plain and forgettable name confirmed for him that no, Erica had not been raped by Jonathan Kinder, he'd felt enormous relief. He'd seen for himself just how difficult it was for Erica to cope with memories of her rape at age 14. He'd seen how she struggled to cope with her daughter Bianca suffering that same fate and bearing a child from rape, just as her mother had done years before.

When David found out that he did get there in time – just in the nick of time in fact – to prevent Erica from being brutally raped again, he told himself that that's why he did it. He went to New Hampshire and ultimately took a bullet for her because he was fairly convinced that if she had to go through that all again, there was no way she'd pull through it with her sanity intact.

He took a deep breath as he looked at her.

"Yeah, you tried to put me in jail, but before that you leaned on me for support. We were friends. We were… we were close. We loved each other once. You were furious over what I did for Krystal and for Babe, and you took that out on me. I'd expect no less from Erica Kane. But that doesn't mean I'd be willing to let a monster like Kinder hurt you," he said sincerely, "Not after what you've already been through."

"David, I'm… I'm more grateful to you than you can possibly know. What you did, the way you rescued me in New Hampshire… you went above and beyond the call of friendship. And now, letting me stay here like this to try to work through some of my emotions… I just didn't expect this from you, and I don't know what to think about it," she admitted as she watched for his reaction.

He sat down on the sofa and watched the flames dancing in the fireplace as he debated a response. "Erica, it seems like no matter what happens to us, there's always something there that never disappears. There's a bond we have that just doesn't go away."

Her suspicious expression softened at his words. He watched as her breathing seemed to increase, and he had no doubt that if he could put his hand on her chest, he'd be able to feel her heart beating rapidly under his palm.

Erica felt her heart skip a beat. He'd said something very similar to her once before, shortly after Bianca's father died. She'd pulled back from him then, she'd run from him the way she always did whenever emotion overwhelmed her, whenever the man in her life got too close for comfort. Was this him trying to subtly admit that he still had feelings for her? Did he still love her? Was that why he'd risked his life to save her? God, this conversation was exactly what she'd feared when she'd agreed to stay here. They had too much unfinished business between them. Too many unsaid words. Too much emotion, too much, well, everything there just beneath the surface.

She was married to Jack. It was what she'd wanted for so many years. They had a home and a life together. They'd built an extended family together. She had been happy before Jonathan Kinder tried to wreck it all! She shouldn't be here with David. He was dangerous - they were dangerous together. She knew he'd never agree to let her leave in this weather, but she could hide in the guest room. Read a book. Work on her laptop. Wait out the snowstorm and then go to Opal's.

That was what the rational, logical part of her brain told her. But the rest of her body didn't seem to get the message. Before she knew it, Erica was sitting down on the sofa beside David, her eyes locked with his.