I find this story so entertaining. Once again I own nothing except for the plot and Angel.
Angel winced. Erik was wrapping up her leg and even though he was unexpectedly gentle it still hurt. She had a huge gouge where the bone had pierced the skin when her leg broke.
Erik tenderly set her leg on a fluffy pillow. Angel refused to let him bandage her shoulder because now that she was conscious she wasn't about to let him touch her shoulders.
As he went to get some more bandages for her, she contemplated the happenings of the last few hours.
Should I tell him? she thought. No, I can't do that. That would be bad. So…what do I do? Lie? But how long can I keep it up? They're sure to find me.
Then Erik came back and she came to attention out of her thoughts.
"Oh! Hi!" She smiled a rather fake smile.
Erik looked at her oddly. "Uh, hi. Are you feeling alright?"
She toned down her smile a notch, making it look a little more normal. "Um, yeah, I'm okay. Well, besides the fact that I have a broken leg and a wounded shoulder…but other than that…"
Erik smiled and Angel noticed that he looked rather handsome when he smiled, despite his still swollen nose and half of his face flawed. Of course she pushed the thought immediately from her mind. Imagine, thinking about this strange man like that!
Erik noticed her looking at him with a dreamy look in her eyes.
Now this is what I'm used to, Erik thought. Should I ask her? Yes, now was the time.
"So, tell me about yourself. How'd you get that bullet in your shoulder?" Erik looked at her with questioning blue-green eyes.
This made Angel a little uncomfortable since she had just made up her mind to not tell him anything. This was going to need an elaborate story.
"Well, I was…riding my horse from…" Where was she from? "…Nooooorway."
"You're Norwegian?" asked Erik, surprised. "Well, where's your accent?"
"Uh…I dooon't knooow…laddie…" Angel knew this sounded retarded. "I…uh…loooost it."
Erik raised an eyebrow (the one that was visible) at her, wondering what had gotten into her. "Um…okay…Does that explain the bullet? Do Norwegians normally shoot other Norwegians?"
Angel thought quickly. "Well my horse…fell into the…the river! Yeah, the river."
"The river?"
"Yes the river!" she said, trying to sound indignant. "So…I walked around and I found a cow farm…because there are a lot of cows between here and Norway, you know."
Yeah, a lot of water too, thought Erik to himself. This whole story was a bit unbelievable, not to mention confusing.
Angel noticed that Erik still wore a perplexed look, so she continued.
"And I was hungry because my horse had had all of my supplies. So I stole a cow because cows make milk."
"Really? Cows make milk?"
"Yeah! And you can ride them too! They're a bit sluggish but they…"
"You ride them?" Erik seemed a bit astounded by this comment.
"Don't you? They get very good gas mileage!" She was really getting into this story.
Of course, it was a bit outlandish but you never know. She was sure Erik had never been to Norway so how did he know they didn't ride cows?
"So, as I was riding my cow a hunter mistook us for a moose and shot at us, only he hit me…"
"A hunter shot you!" Erik exclaimed.
"Well yes. That does explain the bullet wound, right?"
Erik nodded slowly.
"And the hunter, realizing his mistake shot the cow, trying to hide the evidence. And the cow…" Here she got a little teary-eyed. "The cow didn't…make it!"
She had to admit the look on his face was priceless.
"Really? Come now…"
At this comment she got even tearier and said with a shaky voice, "You mean…you don't… believe me?"
Erik seemed startled at her reaction. "No! Of course…I mean…" He almost laid a hand on her shoulder and then took it away. "Um…I believe you!"
She sniffled. "So, what happened to your…" She motioned toward his face.
Erik blushed a little at this, she noticed.
Well, since she came up with such a ludicrous story I can come up with a better one.
"When I was but a small child, I lived in…" He had to think about that one. "Um, Africa."
"Africa?" She sounded impressed.
"Yeah, and in Africa it was a fad in my village to get face peircings." This was going to be good…
Angel looked interested. He's a very good storyteller even if he is lying…he is lying, right?
"So I got a few, but they got…infected." Erik said this very dramatically.
Angel's eyes widened.
"Yes, it got infected. So that's why my face got like this…" Erik knew he should probably explain the wig too. "But that's not the end of it!"
"Really?" asked Angel. How could it get any better than African facial peircings?
"I saw the Ghost of…" The ghost of what? Now what was that ghost's name again? "…of Easter…Past…"
"Easter Past? Isn't it Christmas Past? And do they celebrate either in Africa?" Angel found this worse than her story about Norwegian cows and moose hunters.
Christmas Past! That's what it was! Darn it! He turned toward her and plastered an offended look on his face. "They have ghosts for Easter too! Haven't you heart of An Easter Hymn? It's just like A Christmas Carol only at Easter time…"
"Oh, no I haven't heard of that…" Angel was amused.
"Well seeing the Ghost of…"
"Of Easter Past," finished Angel.
"Right, seeing the Ghost of Easter Past made my hair turn white because if you saw him you'd understand because he's rather frightening and…I was…scared."
"But your hair is black…" Angel protested.
"Yes but I wear wig now, you know…" Erik would have thought she would've noticed this.
"Oh, well it's a very lovely shade of black, your wig is," she said awkwardly.
She still looked at him skeptically, knowing that that couldn't possibly be true.
He got a hurt look on his face and his lower lip trembled as if he were going to cry. "Doesn't my face explain it? Doesn't this…" He pointed to his face and pulled off his wig for dramatic effect. "…show you that what I say is true?"
Angel didn't know he was going to have such a reaction. She said quickly, "Oh, I'm so sorry! I…"
She was suddenly aware of the playful smirk that was crossing over his face. His lips were upturned in a mischievous grin. This made her painfully conscious of those lips…nice lips… So this made her quickly punch him with her good arm.
He flinched at this and clutched his arm. "Ow! That hurt!"
She had a look that said, 'serves you right!' written all over her face. "Put your wig back on! I like your hair better black!"
He frowned at her and said, "For a little thing you sure push around your weight…"
"Well dynamite comes in small packages!"
Note: This story cracks me up! It's bound to get more comical and interesting in the next chapters. I will be out of town for the next two weeks, but have no fear! I will update when I can!
Disclaimer: We sorry, but please, all you Norwegians out there, do not shoot us! We know that you don't ride cows…do you?