Jack opened his eyes and realized that he accidentally fell asleep while resting on the edge of a cliff. He looked around and when his gaze fell on the western horizon, he saw that the sun was already hanging a little low. He let out a long sigh and tried to get up.

"It's tome to go down." He whispered to himself, gathering his things. He looked around one more time before finally he made a move to go down because the forest would get dark soon.

He trotted on easy-to-pass paths and remained careful on steep descents. He could smell the rain when he started to enter the forest area which was quite dense, and the wind was blowing a little fast.

In the midst of concentrating on getting down as quickly as possible, he suddenly heard a faint scream. He stopped walking and tried to hear better where the sound was coming from.

"Help!"

The scream came from his left. And that was definitely a woman's scream. He walked in the direction of the screaming and could hear it more and more clearly, meaning he was going in the right direction.

"Hello! Is anybody there?! Please, help!"

He pushed his way through the wild bushes and when he got a better look down, he could see a woman sitting among the bushes with her face flushed with tears and sweat. And it was not just any woman.

The woman waved desperately and when their gazes met, she seemed to freeze. Her hand stopped mid air and was stunned for a moment.

"Help-Uh... " Her mouth dropped open to see who came as her potential savior.

Jack smirked. Again, he found the woman's face was adorable. His heart dance a little. "Hang in there, I'll come down and get you."

"I think you sprained it." Said Jack, carefully slipping the shoe on one of the woman's feet.

After helping her up, Jack helped her sit on a large rock and examined the woman's feet because she kept whimpering when she had to use her right foot. He didn't aware he was being watched by the woman intensely.

"You're lucky it's not broken." He tightened the shoelaces and looked up, smiling.

"Uh, t-thank you anyway." The woman nodded, her words stuttering slightly.

Jack just chuckled and reached for his backpack, he was still crouching before the woman. His smile turned teasing. For some reason he liked to make fun of her because he found it amusing looking at her nervous face.

"You must be a real chicken." He said.

"What?" The woman asked confused.

"You lied about having a company." Jack looked around and found no-one.

"N-no!" The woman tried to reason. "We just got separated. That's all." She explained why she was alone, the same thing she said earlier.

Jack nodded but couldn't help but let out a small laugh. He didn't quite believe what the woman said. He then got on his feet and slung his backpack over his shoulder.

"Can you walk?" He asked, stepping backward to give the woman a bit of space. When he saw the woman was having a problem standing up, he reached for her hand.

"Aaawwwhh!" She whimpered when she couldn't even stand up and decided to sit back down.

"Does it hurt a lot?" Jack helped her back into her seat. He looked at his watch and sighed at the realization that they didn't have much time. Looking back at the woman who was stroking her ankle, he decided one thing.

"Get on my back." He crouched with his back to the woman and removed his backpack.

"Pardon?"

"Get on my back. I'll give you a piggyback ride."

"I-i can't."

Jack turned and saw the woman's face turning red and she looked any where but him. He looked at his watch again.

"Hurry. It'll get dark really soon. If it gets dark, we'll be stuck." He said, with a bit of firmness. He was not joking about getting stuck in the forest.

"I'll walk." The woman said, trying to get up. "I can walk."

He was taken aback by the woman's words, he stood up and shifted slightly to make way.

"It'd be faster if you got on my back." He saw how hard it was for her to try to walk but he couldn't force her to do something she didn't want to do.

"I've been carried too many times. I want to walk. You don't know how lucky you are to be able to walk on your own." The woman limped past Jack.

Jack didn't really understand what the woman meant but he let her be.

Stubborn, he just thought.

Jack walked carefully behind her but before too long, the woman clutched her ankle and whimpered even harder than before.

"See?" Jack sighed. "Come on, get on my back." He put his hands on the woman shoulders. He didn't know where he got that courage to do that but he was concerned about the woman and mostly about being stuck in the forest.

The woman seemed to think about something for a moment before finally looked up at him.

"Can I," She cleared her throat. "Can I borrow your shoulder?" She looked down immediately.

Jack almost snorted at that but he tried to keep it cool. He knew the woman was shy and that was nothing wrong about that. His priority for now was how they can get down as fast as possible.

"Sure." Jack stepped forward and waited for the woman to put her hand on his shoulder. Once he felt hands on his shoulder he strated to walk. Slowly.

"Careful." He said, glanced at his right where the woman was.

The two of them walked at a moderate pace and the woman now had all his right arm to rely on.

"You arlight?" Jack asked after about half an hour.

"Yeah. I guess." The woman panted slightly but still seemed able to carry on.

They were silent again when suddenly it rained heavily. Jack reacted quickly and held the woman's side and sought shelter under a large and dense tree so that the rainwater could not penetrate through its leaves.

"Oh, God. On top of everything, now it's raining." The woman said, her face expressing various emotions. Scared, worried, nervous and hopeless.

"I don't think it's just a passing shower. It'll take hours." Jack said, assessing his surrounding.

"Do you have a phone that I can borrow?" The woman said, she was holding her phone but maybe ther was no service up here.

Jack shook his head. "I'm sorry. I didn't bring my phone with me." He then opened his backpack and looked for a coat. And after he found it, he tried to put it over the woman shoulders even though the woman tried to avoid the gesture.

"It's okay, I'm okay." She said.

But Jack insisted. "Put it on. We have to spend the night." His priorities changed, finding shelter and not getting lost was the main thing right now.

"What?" Her eyes were wide like soucers. She thought she heard it wrong.

"There's a cabin nearby. We'd better stay over there tonight." He said, looking at his watch and yes, they were running out of time.

"What do you mean?"

"It's a long way down. And at this rate... " Jack glanced at the woman ankle, "It'll get dark really soon and we might get lost." He explained.

The woman seemed to be thinking hard. And Jack could guess what she was thinking.

"Are you worried about me? Do I scare you?"

"Uh it's not that." The woman was clearly nervous about something. "It's just that, there's a saying that whe should be afraid of the men you meet in the woods."

"Ah, " Jack nodded in understanding but somehow he felt offended. "I'm disappointed. I saved your life twice already but you still think I'm some kind of criminal." He slung his backlack and got up on his feet.

"Is it to the cabin with me, or do you want to go down alone?" He gave the woman choices. He couldn't wait any longer, he need to get to the cabin like, right now.

"I'll go down." The woman said slowly, she took off the coat and handed it back to Jack. "I have to give it my best shot."

Super stubborn, Jack thought. But he knew that he couldn't do anything. He just sighed slowly and nodded his head.

"Whatever you want. I'm not into getting lost in the woods. Good luck though. And wear this. It'll be cold." He handed the coat back to the woman and then left.

He really didn't want to leave the woman alone but she was so stubborn. And if she was really being reasonable and put aside her bad thoughts about him, she would-

"Wait!"

Jack smirked, now you want me to wait. At least he knew he didn't have to leave her alone. He put on his serious expression and turned around.

"You can't leave me here." The woman said. Her face filled with fear.

He began to enjoy this. Not that he was being cruel or something, it was just that this one woman should not be too stubborn when the situation is not in her favor and he is her best hope.

He walked slowly, trying to be dramatic because he knew, she was getting nervous every step he took. His playful side returned after who knows how long and guess what, it was only because of this stubborn woman.

"I'm a married woman!" The woman shouted suddenly, holding out her hand and deliberately exposing the diamond ring on her finger.

Jack stopped. Although confused, he tried to make all of this together and chuckled when he realized that she still thought he was a man with a dirty mind and would try to take advantage of her. Being alone in the woods an all.

"Really?" He let out a laugh, not believing what the woman had just said. But he tried to respect that and still with his amused smile on his face, he nodded his head in understanding.

Meanwhile, Anna was getting worried waiting for Elsa who didn't come after hours and she still couldn't reach her cell phone. She lost her sister a few hours ago and decided to rent a room and wait there.

She already felt that coming to the mountain was not a good idea and she regretted about agreeing to accompany her.

"What happened to her?" She paced the terrace while it was raining heavily. "God, Elsa. Where are you? Rey-rey is going to kill me."

Coinciding with her last words, the cell phone in her hand rang. She almost jumped in surprise and she bit her lower lip when she saw who was trying to reach her.

"Your soon-to-be-husband is really going to kill me." Anna cleared her throat and then decided to answer the call.

"Hi, Rey-rey! How are you?" She face-palmed at her question. "Oh, Elsa? She... Yeah, hang on." She put the phone on her shoulder.

"Elsa! Reynold is looking for you! What? Okay, I'll tell him." She said to no one, pretending Elsa was with her. She didn't want to take the risk if Reynold knew that Elsa had not returned from the forest.

"Rey? She's busy right now. I'll tell her you call, okay? Spend the night here? I don't know. Maybe. Okay. I'll take care of her. Bye!" She breathed a sigh of relief, even though the situation wasn't completely under control until Elsa returned.

"Let me see your feet."

Elsa heard the man said. Various thoughts crossed her mind when the two of them entered a room with only a hard bed which was quite wide. The owner of the cabin let them rest there mainly seeing that she was hurt.

The man who helped her had taken off his wet shirt and was now wearing the jacket he had previously kept in his backpack. As for her, she was able to stay dry thanks to the coat that the man had lent her.

And when the man asked to show her feet, she felt nervous because she didn't know if her poor heart would be able to last much longer because it was already beating at an abnormal speed ever since she saw the man when she was still in the bushes. And her heart beat was getting erratic when they touched each other. This was not healthy for her.

"It's okay." Elsa said, moved her feet away. She couldn't risk being touched again by the man.

"I have to make sure it heals. So you can walk tomorrow." The man inched closer.

While Elsa, she moved her butt to inch further. "It's really okay. Really."

"Let's see." The man ignored Elsa's reluctance and grabbed her feet gently, placing them on the bed. She had to hold back her whimper because her right foot still hurts when it moved.

The man examined the injured ankle and did a few movements that hurt her more. And with one last quick movement, Elsa had to scream because it was oh, so painful.

"There. Try to stand up." The man ordered, pointing to the bed.

Elsa reluctantly obeyed and got on the bed and then stood up.

"Oh?" She bent down and looked at her ankle, which was now surprisingly painless.

The man smirked, and Elsa had to swear that, that smirked made her heart dance clumsily.

"Try to walk now."

Elsa complied, and now her heart was dancing with joy that she could walk so comfortably. She was just about to smile and say thank you when a rumbling from her stomach came interrupting, making the man smile crookedly.

"I guess someone is hungry." The man grabbed his backpack and rummaged through its contents. He took out something wrapped in food paper. "Do you mind sharing food?"

And moments later the two of them sat side by side enjoying half a sandwich each. They ate in silence for a while until suddenly the man opened his mouth to speak.

"Did your husband come with you too?" He asked, chewing his last bite of the sandwich.

"Uh... No, just my sister."

"Then your husband is a very understanding man."

Elsa nodded. "Yeah, he is." Reynold was indeed a very understanding man.

"I'm impressed." The man said, looking thoughtful. "Sending such a youg wife to the mountain by herself."

Somehow Elsa got the impression that the man didn't believe that she already had a husband, or was criticizing her husband for letting her go to the mountains alone. She found the need to defend her husband.

"My husband thinks that a woman should be independent." Elsa said, finishing her sandwich.

The man found nothing to argue with that so he just nodded his head. "Was it good? The sandwich?"

"Oh, it was heavenly. Thank you."

The man smiled. He rummaged through the contents of his backpack again and took out some of its contents. Hot water tumbler, camping tumbler and something like coffee.

Els watched the man silently, thinking that this person must have come to this mountain many times.

"Real coffee flavour comes from drinking out of these cups in the mountain." The man handed a cup of coffee to Elsa.

Elsa gladly accepted the cup and sipped the hot liquid from it. She sighed in content and found that what the man had just said was true.

"You're right." Suddenly a thought crossed her mind. "Do you know what coffee and love have in common?" She asked, taking another sip of the coffee.

"Coffee and love?" The man looked confused. "Well..."

"Both of them are sweet and bitter, and there are many varieties." Elsa said, smiling.

"It's hard to switch the flavour once you get used to a certain one." The man said, looking up at the dark ceiling.

"The flavour changes depending on the temperature, but it's best hot."

"It's addictive. Both love and coffee are hard to give up."

"You start when you're grown up. And isntant is also good." Elsa laughed at her own words.

Suddenly the man looked a bit gloomy. "On a rainy day, you crave it more."

Elsa rested her chin on her knees. She hugged her legs that bent close to her body. "The mood has a big effect on it."

They both fell in a comfortable silent for a few moments until the door was suddenly opened by the owner of the cabin.

"It gets cold at night. Use these." The owner gave them two sheet of blankets.

The man took the blankets and said thank you. "And I think it's time to go to bed." He handed Elsa one blanket. He cleared the bed and prepared to lie down.

Elsa's heart, which had been dancing with a calming rhythm, suddenly had to beat irregularly when she thought what the man would do.

"What do you mean by that? What are you going to do?" Elsa hugged the blanket and moved until her back was now against the wall.

The man turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Haven't you slept with a man before?"

Elsa gasped, hugging her blanket even more tightly. "Sleep with a man, you say?"

"That's strange." The man scratched his forehead. "What I meant was, I thought you were married?"

"B-but he is my husband, not some kind of strange man I meet in the mountain." Elsa muttered the last sentence, not wanting to offend the man.

"Look, when it's cold, the body heat is the best heater. Don't make a fuss, let's sleep. Good night." The man zipped up his jacket and lay down.

Elsa couldn't do this, she can't sleep with the man on the same bed. "Even if I freeze to death, I can't sleep like this." She stood up and was about to get off the bed when suddenly the man got up.

"Hold on." He said. "I'll go sleep with the old man. You sleep here." He added, he bent down to put on his shoes.

Somehow, Elsa got more scared. This is not what she wanted. "But, I'll be too scared." She looked around the dark, unfamiliar room. Her spine ran cold at the thought she had to sleep all alone.

The man let out a long sigh. A stubborn and a real chicken. "Aren't you scared of me too?"

Elsa couldn't answer. She was almost sure that the man was not a bad man. If he wanted to do something bad to her, he would have done that when they both were still in the forest. Right? He wouldn't share his sandwich and made her coffee. But still, she was so nerveous about all of this.

"Then let's sleep." The man looked at Elsa pleadingly. "I'm really tired. And you must be tired too. Okay? Okay, good night."

Elsa didn't know when or how she fell asleep, maybe because she was also very tired, but when she opened her eyes it was already morning. The room was bright with morning light streaming through the glass walls and she noticed that the door was open. There was nobody in the room.

Holding back a yawn, Elsa got out of bed and out of the room. The air was fresh and cool, sunny mornings after a night of rain were the best.

She rubbed her arms in an attempt to warm herself up and after a few steps, she could see the man standing leaning against a railing. He was still wearing the jacket from last night, his hair messy from sleep and looked like he was enjoying the morning as well.

Els smiled unconsciously. She was about to walk over when she felt something when she saw the man's back. Something that made her stop in her tracks. She remained standing watching and the heartbeat that had become erratic was the one she had grown used to anticipating whenever the man around.

"Did you sleep well?" The main asked after he turned around and found Elsa was behind him. "It's a nice morning by the way." He added, smiling.

"Y-yeah." Elsa copied the man's smile only with nervousness.

And after some brief conversation, the two of them decided to quickly continue their journey down the forest. The man looked relieved to see that Elsa could use her feet comfortably so they could walk at a fairly fast pace.

"So you really don't work?" Elsa asked after sometimes.

"Yet. I'll work with my friend. Maybe next week. But until then, I'm a jobless."

"But you're not a bum right?" Elsa didn't realize she asked that and immediately covered her mouth when she saw the look on the man's face. She looked up at the man apologetically. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's okay." The man just let out a small laugh. "I have an apartment. So, I'm not a bum."

"Oh-okay. I was thinking you had a story to tell."

"Story?"

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that you look sad from the back? You do look sad from the back. So I thought that maybe you came to console your broken heart."

The man looked at Elsa for a few second before finally gave Elsa a sad smile. Elsa didn't notice that though.

"Then I have to remember to show women or girls only my backside." He said with a joking tone.

"So, I don't scare you anymore?" The man tried to change the conversation.

"You are kinder than I thought." Elsa offered the man her best smile.

"Why would you say that?"

"No one who loves plants and animals could have a bad heart." Elsa pointed the man's feet. "You avoid stepping on flowers."

"He's the man at the donor center." Reynold's man put a piece of paper on the desk.

"Can he find the donor?" Reynold asked, picking up the piece of paper.

"I gave him a heads-up on the situation, but I can't say anything for sure. Give him a call."

"Thanks, Andy."

Reynold didn't waste time and immediately called the number on the piece of paper. He carried on small talk until he finally asked what his main question was.

"You have no other information on the donor? Are you sure this is the correct hospital?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it."

Reynold listened carefully to the explanation of the person on the other end of the phone. What he failed to see was that the person at the donor center was holding a file with a photograph of a young blonde woman by the name of Evelyn Louise Edward.

to be continued...