Chapter six
The blue-gray of her face frightened him. Sliding an arm under her neck, he felt her cold skin and called forcefully to her. "Clarisse. Clarisse! Dammit Clarisse, wake up!" Joseph pulled her out of the muddy puddle and half shielded her from the rain with his own body. He was almost, no he was afraid to check. If not for his arm her head would fall limp, like the rest of her wet, cold body.
The sight of her like this made him physically and emotionally sick.
Joseph placed a single solitary finger on the side of her neck. Her pale, smooth neck, the same neck that his most intimate urges had stemmed from. Oh how he wished to find her full of life, to be able to dream of tasting her neck once more. Slowly circling the band of muscle and tissue for any sign of life, Joseph became impatient at feeling nothing but the hard coldness about her.
"Clarisse. Clarisse! Dammit Clarisse wake up!" Joseph's body rocked with sobs, although the only sounds he emitted was her name. He shook with pain, deep stabbing pain that tore at his insides from his head to his heart to his every extremity.
Falling down beside her, still holding her tightly, he began to cry. Joseph had never cried. Never in his life, that he could remember anyway. Tears and rain blinded him, and washed his cheeks with his will to live. It was slowly escaping through his tear ducts, slowly but surly. Laying his head onto her chest, they dripped onto her. He somehow deemed his own life for hers. If somehow it were possible...
Rain continued hitting all around him, emitting drumming sounds of different tones rhythms. It pounded in his ears, though Joseph paid hardly no attention to it now. The rain was insignificant, though he was slowly realizing it was the last rain he would ever see or feel. Right here with her was where he would stay forever, rain or no.
The pounding continued and Joseph listened to it between his sobs of sorrow and distress, even between the stabbing pains in his heart and the cracking of his very soul. Louder and louder they pounded in his ear like the beating of a drummer, constant and demanding of the sound. It now radiated through his ear, passing through the drum and into his inner ear where the electrical pulses translated it for him. It was the undying tone of a heart.
As if lightning hit him, he jolted into reality where she lay in his arms. Again he felt her neck, pressing more lightly this time...all around, until at last her rhythm had been found.
He cried again, silent tears of joy and everlasting devotion.
"Clarisse! Wake up love. Clarisse." While speaking to her, Joseph slightly shook her body, now realizing her state was simply cold and shock. She was alive, very much alive, and in his care.
Warm, he had to get her warm and out of the rain. That was the first obstacle, and harder to do than it sounded. She was soaked, weighed heavily with rain, as he was, from her shoes to her hair, and everything in between. If ever he had to think fast, now was the time.
Joseph lifted her off the muddy ground, careful of her extremities, in which he was uncertain of their condition. He gently laid her upon a plastic crate, black with bright yellow indicating the parachutes. Too late for those now. However Joseph's mind deemed them to be usable. But first things first.
He scoured his surroundings once more, running about, grabbing anything he could use to help them, from her luggage to his backpack. He piled it inside the gap of the open cargo hold, keeping it somewhat dry. What else had been packed inside those crates, he had no idea. Eventually he would find out.
Moving Clarisse inside the cargo hold, he opened the chute case, and tore at the material and rope until he was satisfied he had all he needed. Working quickly through the pouring rain, Joseph used the scrap of plane metal to help build a makeshift tent with the chute material. He knotted the ropes quickly and stood back to look over his creation.
It would do. For now. It would keep her dry, and hopefully shield from the cool night air and any wind that might blow through the hills.
Crawling under the fabric, he moved Clarisse onto the single blanket he had carried in, along with a sleeping bag. Praying for forgiveness, he stripped her wet clothing quickly, and dried her soaked body before redressing her in his casual hiking clothes, the extra pair he had brought along. Her clothing would never do out here. When she was dry and dressed, he wrapped her lovingly, and prayed once more.
While she slept soundly, Joseph scoured the cargo crates for anything useful. he did find a little food that was still good, thanks to the packing of the crates. Cheeses and wine were among them, and chocolate. He snickered a little, knowing Clarisse would not visit America without returning with milk chocolate. He recovered several more blankets, and a set of clothing for himself from Shades' bag which would be good to hike in, along with a pair of boots.
As the rain slowed to a shower, night began to set in. Joseph loaded his pistol at the howling of wolves, which sounded just over the next ridge. He was grateful for what he had found today, and most grateful for her. Looking at her now, her skin tone was warming and her facial features more becoming of a Queen. My God above, he loved her.
His only wish was for a fire, which was out of the question. Not only was there no dry wood anyplace, but the chute material was highly flammable. So that remained out of the question. He did have several flashlights, and that served to calm him even more.
He took several gulps of wine from the bottle, and laid next to her, holding her tightly to keep her warm. The night was most likely to be long, and sleep would probably be nonexistent. However he didn't care. She was alive and in his arms. He would take care of her, whatever that would entail. He would somehow manage to get her home again, however long that would take. He would love her more fiercely than he had ever.