"Shirayuki? Wake up, sweetheart."
A hand lightly shook her shoulder. She grumbled, huddling down further under the blanket, eyes scrunched against the sunlight hitting her closed eyes.
"Shirayuki, we've reached the inn. We need to get the boy inside, where it's warm."
At that, her eyes flicked blearily open, and she frowned bemusedly down at the boy held in her arms, his face pressed against the bare skin of her neck, naked torso draped across her body, his arms wrapped loosely around her waist. She bit off a sharp squawk of surprise, her face flushing deeply as she realized the position that they were in, eyes flicking up to her grandfather's quirked eyebrow. "It's not what it looks like!" she squeaked, her blush deepening even further. "I was just trying to keep him warm, I don't even know how this happened, I -"
"I know, Shirayuki," her grandfather chuckled gently, not even bothering to conceal his amusement. "Now come on. I'm going to need your help to take care of him."
She nodded, some of her blush fading now that it was back to business. She carefully extricated herself from the boy's unconscious embrace, then helped her grandfather to wrap the blanket around him and lift him from the wagon. She hurried ahead of him, opening doors and forewarning a wide-eyed man on the stairs as they hurried to the room her grandfather had procured. Once there, she pulled back the thick quilt so that her grandfather could lay him in the bed, then turned away blushing as he tugged off the boy's still-damp trousers and tucked him in.
"Keep an eye on him, Shirayuki," her grandfather murmured. "I'm going to take care of the horses and bring up our things."
"Okay," the red-haired girl called back, settling down on the edge of the bed next to the boy and laying a soft hand against his forehead. It felt a little warmer than before. He'd started shivering, which concerned her a little, but his pulse, when she found it, seemed a little steadier. It was tempting to climb into bed with him in the hope that would help again, but her memories of her grandfather finding her wrapped up with this strange boy in the back of the wagon forestalled her, bringing a hot flush to her cheeks once more. She fidgeted uncomfortably, glancing down over her blood-stained clothes and hands. What a sight she must have looked when she entered the inn.
A knock startled her from such thoughts. Confused, she hurried to the door and cracked it open, where she was presented by the kindly, weathered face of a middle-aged woman, supporting a large, steaming wooden basin between her hip and knee. Instantly, Shirayuki recognized her as the innkeeper's wife.
"Good afternoon, miss," she murmured. "Your grandfather requested that we draw a warm bath for you. Something about washing that needed to be done."
"Oh! Oh yes, of course! Thank you."
She cracked the door wider, allowing the woman to bustle inside and place the basin in the middle of the room. As she straightened up, she frowned with motherly concern towards the bed. "That's him then? The boy your grandfather mentioned?"
"Yeah." Shirayuki replied, her own brow deeply furrowed. "I did what I could, but he still hasn't woken up."
The woman walked to his bedside, laying a hand on his forehead and clicking her tongue anxiously. "Feels like he's hypothermic."
"Hypo-what?"
"It means that his body is too cold. I'll bring up some clean rags and more hot water. Maybe some warm rags on his face could help."
She hurried out before Shirayuki could express more than a thank you. She frowned down at her bloodied dress, glanced up at the boy, and back at her dress. Then, with a reluctant sigh, she tugged the laces free at the nape of her neck and shimmied out of it, so that she was dressed only in her cream-colored shift. Then she walked over to the basin and plunged the dirty garment into the hot water, hissing slightly against the heat. She'd almost finished scrubbing the stains out of both the garment and her hands when the knock came again, only this time the door opened without waiting for her. The woman hurried inside, nodding an acknowledgement to her before placing a steaming bowl on the bedside table and pulling out a clean linen cloth, which she wrung out briefly before folding it and laying it across the boy's forehead.
A quiet sigh caused Shirayuki's head to snap up, towards where the boy seemed to settle deeper into the bed, his head turning as though seeking to find the source of this new warmth. The woman smiled faintly, nodding to herself in satisfaction. "Do you think you can handle changing the water for him?" she asked, looking towards the wide-eyed thirteen-year old.
"Yes. Yes, I should be able to do that," she replied, hurriedly lifting her dress from the water and wringing it out as best as she could before laying it out in the corner.
"I wish we had a fireplace up here," the woman clicked her tongue as she headed towards the door, "but this will have to do. Don't be afraid to ask for anything, dear. I have some hot broth downstairs, so if he wakes up and wants anything, come fetch some."
"Okay. Thank you so much, ma'am."
She nodded, then slipped out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. Shirayuki settled herself down at the boy's side again, gazing silently at his too-pale face. How had he gotten those injuries? Why was he in the river? Where was he from?
"I wonder," she murmured, reaching out to brush his bangs back from his face, "what's your name?"