Cabin Fever

by Felicity Heaton

  Jack squeezed her hand and nodded towards the skidoos. She frowned for a moment and then raised her brows when she understood what he was implying—they were going to steal them.

  She instinctively kept her eyes fixed on the two men that were walking towards the woods as Jack began leading her over to the skidoos. The gap seemed like an impossible distance to her. They were already out in the open and still had a good fifty feet to go before they reached the safety of the outbuilding and the three skidoos.

  "Hey!"

  Kate jumped as she heard the guard shout from across the other side of the courtyard and she gave the two men on the road a panicked look as Jack started to run. She tried to resist the desire to shut her eyes as they opened fire. Running as fast as she could and ignoring the pain in her ankle, she kept her head down and fixed her eyes on their destination.

  It seemed even further away than it had been just a moment ago.

  Jack was sure he was holding her hand so tightly that he was hurting her but he couldn't let her drop the pace. They had to make it to the cover of the outbuilding and get at least one of the skidoos before the men caught up with them.

  His arm jerked backwards and he almost fell over. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as he ground to a halt and felt Kate let go of his hand. His eyes widened as he turned to see her on the floor. She was kneeling in the snow, her hand gripping her left upper arm and her face screwed up in pain.

  There was blood seeping through the gaps between her fingers.

  Bending down, he grabbed her under her right arm and hauled her to her feet at the same time as pulling his gun out. He clenched his jaw as he shot the man responsible for hurting her and then wrapped his arm about her waist, helping her run to the skidoos.

  Taking a shot at the other man, he was surprised when Kate hopped onto the skidoo nearest the woods and revved it into life. Jumping on behind her, he held her tightly around the waist with one arm and turned the skidoo hard towards the forest. Looking back as he reached the outskirts, he saw the other man starting up a skidoo.

  Letting go of Kate, he grabbed his gun and aimed at the tank of the vehicle.

  He felt Kate tense as both skidoos exploded.

  Jack put his arm about her waist again as she slumped slightly and then gave one last glance to the cabin before heading into the woods.

  "Hold on, Kate ... even if you feel sleepy, you've got to hold on, understand?” he whispered softly in her ear and smiled as she nodded. It was a positive sign that she had responded so quickly. She wasn't going into shock, yet. He directed the skidoo deeper into the woods and then stopped and looked at her. “I don't know where to go."

  Kate winced as her arm ached and her head spun. Pressing her hand against the wound, she bit her lower lip and frowned.

  "Cabin.” She pushed the word out through clenched teeth. She felt sick. The pain in her arm was getting worse and she felt so cold. The only thing keeping her warm was Jack's body where he was holding her against him.

  "About that ... it's gone. They blew it up.” Jack realised that it was probably a good time to mention it. Right now, she didn't have the strength to beat the living daylights out of him.

  He frowned as she was silent for a few seconds and he leant forwards, trying to catch a glimpse of her face to see if she was still awake.

  "The Frakes’ ... it's about two miles ... south-east.” She pointed weakly and then continued to breath labouredly as she rested her head against his chest.

  Jack held her a little tighter and headed in the direction she'd pointed. Driving through the woods, he was thankful that the snowstorm had managed to penetrate the trees and lay a thick blanket of snow all around them. It was hard to avoid the logs, branches and stumps that were hidden below it, but he did his best, for Kate's sake. She was starting to lag now. He could feel her tiredness in how heavily she was leaning against him and he felt useless. All he could do was keep talking to her and keep her talking to him.

  "Sorry about the cabin,” he whispered to her and turned the skidoo so they went around a tree.

  "Mhmm.” Kate battled against her overwhelming tiredness. Her eyelids were so heavy that she was finding it nigh on impossible to keep them open. Her body felt numb everywhere except her arm, where it throbbed with white-hot pain that felt as though someone was searing her with a branding iron. She swallowed and took a deep breath as she tried to quash the panic that had settled in her stomach.

  There was no way that she was going to die.

  She was too young to die.

  He wouldn't let her die.

  "Don't let me die.” The words slipped out as nothing more than a barely audible whisper.

  Jack brushed his fingers against her side where he was holding her, hoping it would go someway towards reassuring her.

  "I won't let you die, Kate. I promise you.” He sighed as he looked at her where she was resting against him.

  Her skin was almost as white as the snow. A quick glance at her arm told him that it wasn't as bad as he'd first thought. He could see blood, but not enough for it to be serious. Shock and exhaustion were probably making it seem worse than it was. She hadn't broken anything because he'd watched her moving her arm and when her hand had been away from the wound, he'd seen the tear in her clothes the bullet had made. It must have skimmed her arm, cutting her enough to push her fear over the limit and send her into shock.

  He had to get her somewhere safe and get her something to press against the wound. It would slow the bleeding and buy him time to dispose of the skidoo and cover their trail. He wanted to give her priority, but if he did that, he risked leaving a clear trail for Donovan to follow.

  Peering through the dark trees ahead of them, he felt relieved when he saw a small cabin in a clearing.

  Kate blinked languidly at him as they stopped outside the cabin. He bent over and carefully scooped her up. He carried her towards the house and went around the back.

  Jack set her down carefully on a seat on the back porch of the Frakes’ cabin and eyed up the door. Punching a hole through the glass, he unlatched it and opened it.

  He walked a few feet into the cabin and searched for any sign of it being occupied and then turned around to go back to Kate.

  He smiled as he saw her standing in the doorway looking tired and bemused. Picking her up again, he walked with her through the house and savoured the way she felt as she leant against him.

  Kate's head came to rest against his neck as he carried her into the house. There was something so comforting about being held by him, as though as long as his arms were around her nothing bad could happen.

  She watched the pictures on the wall go by as she was carried upstairs and then closed her eyes as he set her down on a bed. She wanted to sleep so badly but she knew that she had to keep awake like he'd told her to.

  She tried to focus on him as he knelt in front of her and sighed. He looked concerned again, his beautiful hazel eyes showing her all his worry.

  And it was all about her.

  Jack brushed his fingers against her cheek and smiled into her eyes, trying to hide how scared she was making him by looking so close to death. He knew that the cold had sapped her warmth as much as it had sapped his, and he knew that he was almost as pale as she was, but it didn't stop the worry that was eating away at him.

  Peeling her hand off her arm, he looked at the wound through the holes in her jumper. He smiled at her reassuringly, glad that his observation had been right and that it wasn't bad.

  "Don't move,” he said softly as he put his hand back over the wound. “Keep pressure on it. I won't be long. I need to get rid of the skidoo."

  It took Kate a moment to realise that he was leaving her and as she watched him stand, she managed to stifle the panic that it sparked off inside her. He had to go out. She could see that he didn't want to leave her when she was hurt, but he had to make sure they weren't followed.

  When he gave her a look that said he needed an answer, she nodded.
>
  He gave her one last look and then headed out of the room.

  Kate listened to the door close and then heard the skidoo engine start up.

  Pressing her hand harder against her arm, she ignored the way the pain and the feeling of warm blood on her fingers combined to make her feel even sicker and kept pressure on the wound like he had instructed.

  The sound of the skidoo drifted into the distance.

  She watched the door, waiting for him to return to her.

  Chapter 16

  Jack looked back at the skidoo where he'd rammed it into a tree about half a mile from the cabin and then aimed his gun at it. He looked at it for a few seconds and then decided against it. If he blew it up then it would give Donovan a place to send his men. It was best if it took them longer to find the skidoo.

  He'd backtracked as far as possible towards Donovan's cabin and had erased the trail by dragging a pine branch over the snow. The storm clouds had closed in again and the snow had started to fall, heavy enough that it was bound to cover anything that he'd missed.

  He'd driven the skidoo towards Kate's cabin, leading Donovan away from where they really were.

  And there he stood.

  Now all he had to do was get back to Kate as quickly as possible. He'd been gone so long already that he was starting to worry about whether she'd even be conscious when he got back.

  Moving through the snow, he erased his tracks as he walked swiftly back to the Frakes’ cabin.

  On reaching it, he went straight around to the back and into the kitchen. Closing the door, he rifled through the drawers, searching for a method of covering the windows. He grabbed an armful of black bin liners and managed to find some tape.

  Going around the house, he hurriedly covered each window with the bin liners and taped them into place before drawing the curtains over them. Hopefully it would block out any light and would keep them hidden for a few hours longer.

  Heading up the stairs, he taped the bin liners to all the windows and then walked into the bedroom where he'd put Kate.

  He frowned as he saw her huddled up on the bed. She was shaking badly from the mixture of cold and shock, her teeth chattering as she tightly held herself. Coming to kneel in front of her, he gave her an apologetic look and placed his hand over hers where it was pressing against the wound.

  "I'm sorry we can't light a fire. I wish we could, but it would let everyone know where we are.” The corners of his mouth curved into a slight smile. “I'm going to cover the windows so we can light some candles and take a look at that wound."

  Kate nodded. It seemed like forever since he'd left and she couldn't remember any of it. All she could remember was feeling cold and alone.

  And very scared.

  Her eyes followed him as he moved about the room, taping the black sacks over the windows and then drawing the curtains. As he walked back to her, she watched his fingers as he took the candle off the side and lit it.

  Jack sighed as he looked at her. In the pale candlelight, he could see the sticky wet patch of blood on her jumper. Her fingers were coated in it. He looked down at his hands and realised hers weren't the only ones that were covered in her blood.

  Wiping his hand on his combats, he looked around the room and smiled as he saw the bathroom behind him.

  "I need to get a look at that wound, Kate."

  Kate looked up at him with raised brows, not quite following what he was saying as her arm throbbed. She felt drowsy, docile, as she sat on the edge of the bed gripping her arm.

  He pointed awkwardly at her top and then ran his hand over his hair.

  She frowned at his expression and then looked down at her top, and realised what had him so embarrassed.

  He wanted her to strip.

  Letting go of her arm, she gritted her teeth as she tried to shimmy her good arm out of the jumper and then smiled gratefully at Jack as he helped her. She watched his hands as he gently slid her arm out of one sleeve and brought the jumper over her head before carefully manoeuvring it off over her injured arm. He did the same with her thermal top.

  Jack frowned when he saw the wound on her arm. The bullet had missed the bone and there wasn't as much blood as he'd been expecting. By the looks of things, it had gone straight in and straight out again, barely below the surface and not deep enough to hit any major veins.

  "It's not serious. I've seen worse,” he said lightly, trying to reassure her that she was going to be okay and it was mostly shock that she was feeling.

  He remembered how scared he'd been the first time he'd been shot. The bullet had embedded itself in his shoulder blade, fracturing it at the same time. It had hurt like hell and he'd sworn to God that he was going to die. The man he was on the mission with at the time had told him it was just a scratch.

  It seemed like so long ago, so far away.

  Jack roused himself from his thoughts as he stood in front of Kate and cocked his head to one side as he watched her. She was trying to cover herself. His eyes moved to rest on her chest and he smiled internally at the sight of her dark red bra clad breasts.

  Dragging his eyes away from her so he didn't make her feel more uncomfortable, he grabbed his knife and went into the bathroom. He took a small towel off the rack and split it into strips with his knife, cutting it so far and then tearing it the rest.

  "Here, keep the pressure on it.” He handed one of the strips to Kate and she dropped her jumper as she took hold of it, letting it fall away from her body and revealing herself to him again.

  Gritting his teeth and trying to stifle the urges that were swiftly threatening to overtake his common sense, he turned away and walked back into the bathroom.

  He focused on washing the blood off his hands, trying to scrub them clean so he didn't give her an infection when he dealt with her arm. Splashing some of the cold water on his face, he looked up at himself in the mirror on the door of the medicine cabinet and sighed.

  She was beautiful.

  And he couldn't deny that there was a connection.

  An attraction.

  He yanked the door to the medicine cabinet open and told himself not to be so ridiculous. The girl had just been shot. It wasn't exactly the best time to be acting on desires and feelings.

  Taking down the large medical kit, he opened it up and rifled through it. He was stunned when he saw the surgical needle and thread and then remembered where they were. Home surgery was probably the best option when you were stuck on a mountainside a good thirty miles from the nearest hospital. It would at least bridge the gap until they got Kate to a doctor.

  "People come prepared for anything up here.” He held the needle up as he walked back into the room.

  Kate nodded and looked sick as she saw what he was holding.

  He noticed the fear in her eyes as he placed the medical kit down on the bed beside her.

  "There's nothing to be afraid of. It will hurt at first, but it'll pass, and I'll do it as quickly as I can.” He gave her a reassuring look as he opened the clear packet the needle was in and threaded it.

  As he removed her hand from the wound and took the piece of towel away, Kate shook her head and shrank backwards, trying to evade him.

  "Kate...” He looked into her wide eyes and kept his voice gentle. “If it makes you feel better, you can hold my hand, squeeze it to death."

  She immediately grabbed hold of his left hand with her right one, squeezing it tightly.

  Jack looked down at their hands and smiled inside. It was nice to know that he made her feel better, even if it was just a small amount.

  Leaning towards her, he looked at the wound and then at Kate. He needed his hand free in order to clean the cut, but he got the feeling that she wasn't going to relinquish it. Juggling the needle and the antiseptic wipe, he cleaned the two holes as best he could and then let the wipe fall to the bed.

  He took a moment to get a good grip on the needle and tried to figure out the best way to tackle the wound. There wasn't a chance in hell that Kat
e was going to keep still, at least not for as long as he needed her to.

  Bringing the needle near to her arm, he frowned as she swiftly turned her head away.

  Kate bit her lip and screwed her eyes shut as she felt the needle. She furrowed her brows and leaned her head as far away from her arm as possible. Her grip on Jack's hand tightened and she was sure that she was hurting him, but he didn't say anything. As he pulled the thread through the wound in her arm, she felt sick and moved towards him, burying her face in his neck and feeling comforted as his cheek brushed lightly against hers.

  "Just try to keep still.” His tone was tender as he continued to sew.

  Jack realised that she was still now that she was hiding her face against his neck. He could feel her warm breath against his skin, could feel the moistness of it in the cold air. Her skin was freezing, her nose and forehead sapping his warmth where it was pressed against his flesh.

  He focused on his work while putting to memory the way she felt against him. She was making it hard for him to sew the wound, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her for fear of her moving away and breaking bodily contact with him.

  He didn't want that.

  Reaching into the medical kit, he picked up a pair of scissors and cut the thread. He dropped them back into the box and moved the needle to the next hole.

  "Almost done,” he said quietly as she buried her face harder against his neck as though bracing herself.

  Tightly holding her hand, he brushed his thumb against it as he began to sew the other end of the bullet hole. Working as quickly as he could, he listened to her laboured breathing and smiled as her grip on his hand loosened, allowing him to stroke more of it with his thumb.

  Kate moved her head so she could watch the motion of his thumb against her skin. It was mesmerising. Funny that something so small could give her so much comfort, could make her feel so much better. The pain seemed so distant, her fear of dying disappeared, and all she could feel was his steady, soothing caress. She smiled slightly and then realised that Jack had finished sewing her arm and she hadn't even noticed.