Chapter seven

A mighty wind had picked up for the past hour or so, and Joseph kept his eye on the knotting of the chute material every so often. So far it had been holding out well, and serving its purpose. Still a little wind managed to find its way inside, sending a slight chill through the air. It was nothing Joseph could not handle. He was more afraid for her, as always. She needed to be warm.

He rested as best as he could, too alert to the outside to sleep. Maybe it was better he didn't. He needed to keep watch over her. He needed to make sure she stayed wrapped and his arms.

The night often brings sounds of an eerie nature. Here they were prominent. Joseph could make out a few, but the rest were foreign to him. He knew where they were, and it made matters worse for them. The chopped had dropped them inside the Reserve. Deep inside. Clarisse had lobbied Parliament for the animal reserve years ago. Eventually she won, only because they had no other use for the hilly land, and the reserve would be privately funded by several agencies willing to undertake the financial responsibility.

Joseph wondered aloud just how Clarisse would take the news at the first wild animals she heard, or worse yet, saw. First he had to get her awake.

The wind whistled through the steel of the scrap metal. Someplace close an owl hooted. In the distance, the wolves sang their hunting chant. Limbs rubbed together, fighting as the wind urged them on. The steel creaked and moaned. Those were only the sounds he could recognize.

Somehow and sometime during the night he drifted off. Maybe it was whistling of the wind that lulled him to sleep, along with the gentle rocking of the cargo hold. Maybe it was the warmth between them that soothed his soul. Or possibly just exhaustion taking over. He slept.

The first thing she noticed was her aching head. It was almost painful to open her eyes. Yet as she coaxed them open, more questions came to her, and she chose to close them once again. Trying to place a hand on her forehead, the second thing she noticed was the fact her arm refused to move. It wasn't all that painful, it just laid beside her like it had a mind of its own. 'Okay', she thought to herself, 'this is a dream and I'll wake up in my own bed feeling fine'.

She wasn't fine and she knew it. Memories slowly adhered to her brain cells, and the bits and pieces were slowly fitting together. Still she was warm. Very warm, and relaxed. How that was possible now Clarisse couldn't fathom. She was afraid to really concentrate on her situation, for with thinking came even more questions, questions she might not want to know the answer to right away.

She realized he was beside her even before she was fully awake. It had been no shock to find him there, he would be there. She would have expected it from him. Giving up on the questions until they were both awake, and she felt less nauseated, she concentrated on his breathing and let it lull her back to sleep, though not without leaning her body even more into his. It was her comfort zone. She had never needed it more.

The wind had died down substantially by morning, though the rain still drizzled and a fog bank had descended down upon the hills during the early morning hours. The clouds were becoming less dense, as Joseph could tell it was much lighter than the day before. The sun was seeping through someplace.

He pulled the cover back in place, and reached for his canteen, filled with fresh water. It soothed his throat going down. He screwed the lid on, realizing eyes were upon him.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." Joseph ran a hand over her forehead and hair. "You gave me quite a scare, you know." He rolled back on his side facing her, more than eager to kiss her now pink lips.

"Joseph," she sighed more than spoke.

"I'm here. It's not the best of circumstances to welcome you home, but we'll manage. We're in the eastern hills. I'm afraid we're gonna have to hike it out of here...but not before you are well enough to make the trip." His hand rand down her face, tracing the outline of her nose and mouth.

"Joseph, tell me." He knew what she wanted. She wanted the whole truth. Biting his tongue, he tried his best at lying.

"Everyone has been taken care of...you were hard to find, as this section is a few kilometers from the rest of the plane. I stayed for you, everyone else is making their way out of the forest. I put a gag order on the whole incident, so it's just you and I, but the press knows nothing."

She was silent. Joseph watched her, knowing she might not be able to handle the full truth now. In any case, she didn't need to know it. He would tell her later, when they were safe at home. She would be angry, he knew that, and he would take her wrath with pleasure this time, knowing he almost lost it.

"I can't move my arm." It was a simple statement, but one Joseph had feared. He had no way of accessing her condition when she was unconscious. He was far from being a doctor. Joseph nodded his head as he pulled the covers down enough to see her arm.

"This one?" It was the one that he had pulled from under the heavy crate when he moved her. It was badly bruised, but not out of shape. Clearly if she couldn't move it, it had to be broken. "We'll have to mobilize that. Do you hurt anyplace else?"

She stopped to think for moment. "My foot it hurt. My left foot." Joseph nodded, moving the blanket out of the way. He hadn't noticed this the evening before. Her foot was swollen, he could tell even without pulling off the sock. She gasped as he slowly rolled it down, taking in the horrible coloring of her ankle. Injured indeed. This is one injury that had dampened Joseph's hope of getting her out quickly. It would indeed slow them down and be a problem.

"I can't tell if it's broken, Clarisse. I do know it's badly injured." He gently rolled the sock back up, and pulled the blanket back up as well. "How do you feel?"

"I'm not really sure. It's a strange feeling. I'm kinda dizzy I guess, and have a slight headache." Joseph nodded.

"Here, take a drink of water." He handed her his canteen full of cool water, and helped her to partially sit while she sipped the refreshing liquid. "Good, now rest. I don't see any way we can move on with it still raining, besides, you need to rest some more. You were in shock." Joseph ran his hand over her head lovingly, but at the same time feeling for any bumps or cuts that he could have missed before. When he was convinced there was none, he focused on making her comfortable so maybe she would sleep some more.

"I'm going to rummage through some more of these crates and see if there are any more supplies that we can use. You rest." He got up to crawl out when she stopped him.

"Joseph..." He turned back to look at her.

"I'll not be far, just outside. If you need me, just call. I'll be within earshot." He reassured her, and before leaving, placed a simple kiss upon her forehead. "Sleep. You need more rest. We have a long journey ahead and you are injured. Rest love, rest."

With her eyes closed, and Joseph satisfied that he had soothed her, he finally made his way out of the makeshift tent. The morning was beginning to look brighter, and Joseph somehow felt a sense of relief, although they were far from being out of the woods yet.