Chapter Eight
The busy day drew to an end. I lay back in the large chair behind the front desk, letting my long hair drape over the back of the chair as I relaxed down into its comfort.
“How can the weather change so many times in one day?” I asked Sam as I watched the rain hit the windows. “It’s absolutely freezing now.” I could feel the coldness from the outside leach inside through the glass.
“Oh, it’s not really that cold I don’t suppose,” he answered as he neatened the map stand next to the desk. “We’re just used to extreme heat. I went to the snow region once. Now, that’s cold.” He shivered at the thought.
“I’d like to visit the snow one day,” I said absentmindedly, as I imagined soft, fluffy snow falling gently.
“Well, you might be sooner than you think. I was reading in the newspaper earlier that a cold front is being pushed up from Tasmania. It is meant to hit later today.” He hobbled closer to the desk. “So you make sure you are home and have the heater turned right up before it hits,” he instructed as he wagged a finger at me.
“I will be, Sam. I’ve just got a bit of paperwork to do, and I’ll be on my way,” I promised him.
“Well, you just make sure that you are. And don’t dilly-dally on your way home. You haven’t lived in Warrangatta long enough to see a real storm tear through here, and they say the one that’s on its way is going to be a real doozy. You don’t want to be caught up in it. I would wait with you, but the vet is dropping Vinnie home in twenty minutes and I need to be there for him. That damned dog is costing me a fortune,” he complained as he took his coat from the coat rack and slipped it over his arms.
“It’s fine, Sam,” I smiled at him. I knew although he complained about the vet bill, he would spend any amount of money on that dog.
“Alright, well I might not be in tomorrow. It will depend on Vinnie. I might need to keep an eye on him,” he told me as he pulled his cap on and pulled the door open.
"No worries, I'll see you when I see you."
"Right." He gave a quick wave and walked through the door. An icy breeze came rushing through the door the moment it opened. The freezing air danced across my skin, instantly producing goose bumps.
All the other shops were now shut because of the weather. A cold snap like that in Warrangatta was very unusual. The tourists had fled to their accommodation for the night, so the street was deserted. Even the pub across the road had closed its doors.
I only spent about half an hour sorting through the paperwork, when I heard the wind howl down the alley beside the store. The wind thrashed the rain against the window making the glass vibrate. I pushed my chair closer to the window and looked up to the sky. Night had fallen prematurely. The storm Sam was talking about must have hit. I could feel the temperature plummet even further.
I lived at least fifteen minutes away and I knew if I didn’t drop everything and leave now, I probably wouldn’t be able to get through on the roads, and I did not want to be stuck on the side of the road during a storm.
I slipped the paperwork back into the folder and placed it in the top drawer of the desk. A clap of thunder sounded. I knew I had to hurry. I quickly switched the lights off and pulled on my coat. It wasn’t waterproof, but it was warm.
I pulled the door open and instantly my face felt as though a million tiny needles were hitting it, making me cringe. I pulled the door shut behind me and locked it, which was a challenge in itself because the wild wind was fighting against me.
I began walking to my car with my coat wrapped tightly around me, but it offered no protection as the rain thrashed in every direction, drenching my clothing.
“Alexandra?” I heard a deep, male voice call from behind me.
I turned to see where the voice had come from. There stood the man who had purchased the cake decorating book from me earlier. My stomach fluttered at the sight of him. It was the coldest weather I had ever experienced, but I suddenly felt hot.
“Oh, Hi. Not something wrong with the book, is there? We’re shut for tonight but we’ll be open again at 9 a.m.” I had to yell over the rain, which was hitting the tin roofs of the nearby shops. He must have been freezing because he still only wore a shirt with his cargo pants.
“So you remember me?” He asked as he wiped the rain from his face. His upper arm muscles bulged as he bent his arm to his face and his wet shirt pulled taught around his torso showing his sculpted body. My body heat began to soar as I forced myself to look away. “Yeah of course, you bought the cook book earlier.” I tugged my coat around my waist further.
A clap of thunder sounded above us, reverberating down the street, making the shop windows shake. It was followed by another gust of wind. The thunder was so explosive, I was certain the buildings were going to crumble around us.
“I’ve never seen weather like this in Warrangatta. We can’t stay out in this,” I yelled.
I had no sooner finished speaking when a gust of wind whipped down the street with such force that it lifted a sheet of tin from a shop across the street and sent it hurtling directly towards me. I wanted to move but my body was frozen. All I was able to do was close my eyes and brace for the hit.
Just before the tin struck me, I felt him grab me and push me against the wall. He threw himself over me as the tin smashed through the glass window, the shattered glass blowing into the street.
He slowly pushed himself from me and took a few steps back. “Are you okay?”
I couldn’t answer; I couldn’t find any words to speak. I stared at the sheet of tin that lay through the window of the shop—it should have killed me. Another gust tore down the street, ripping several branches off a nearby tree, sending pieces flying in every direction. “We need to get out of this,” I yelled at him over the howling wind.
The only shelter I had access to was the bookstore. “We’ll wait it out in the shop.” My voice was barely audible over the pelting rain and ferocious wind.
“Okay,” he yelled back.
He wrapped his arm tightly around me as we forced our way through the unyielding wind. The rain was being shot through the air with such velocity it felt like I was being hit with tiny bullets.
When we reached the door to the bookstore, I slipped the key into the lock and turned the handle, but the door was torn from my hand as the wind slammed it open. Immediately the wind began playing havoc with the books and loose pieces of paper, tossing them through the air. I reached for the door with both of my hands and tried to push it closed but the wind was offering too much resistance. He reached over me and, with little effort, slammed the door shut. Instantly the pages that had become airborne dropped to the floor, and I fell against the door as I tried to catch my breath.
My coat was soaked through from the rain and hung heavily from me. I unzipped it, threw it over the counter and fell back to the door. All the while, he stood next to me with one hand on the door as though in anticipation of it flying open again.
I felt something drip onto my bare shoulder. As I wiped it away with my hand, I realised it was tainted red. Another drip landed on my shoulder. It was blood! Thinking I had been cut by the flying timber or glass, I felt around my face and head for signs of a wound, but there was no blood on my hands. I looked up to see blood coming from his arm.
“The tin! It must have cut you.” There was a cut under his arm. A small pool of blood was forming at his feet as his wound bled steadily.
I knew a moment of panic, understanding the need to stop the bleeding quickly. I raced to the staff room and pulled open the small blue cupboards under the sink. My hands were shaking as I reached for the first aid kit, knocking over several bottles in my haste. I also grabbed a small silver bowl and filled it with warm water; I knew there would be antiseptic in the first aid kit, which I would add to it later. I tucked the first aid kit under my arm, as I balanced the water with as many towels as I could carry and hurried back to where he stood. Although his skin was dark, his face was beginning to pale. I looked down to the fl
oor at his feet. The pool of blood had quadrupled in size.
“There’s a couch down the back. Can you make it there?” I was worried he was going to die of blood loss before I was able to tend to him. I hadn’t had any medical training but I knew a major artery was located near where his arm was cut.
He smiled. “Yes. But it is not that bad. I have had much worse.” His voice was calm.
I, however, was on the brink of having a panic attack, certain he was going to die. I had never seen a person bleed as much as he was right now.
He took one of the towels I was holding and pushed it firmly into his cut. It turned red instantly, which made my stomach flip.
“Sit on the couch and I’ll wrap it.” My voice was pitched higher than usual, and I was breathing faster than I should. I didn’t wait for him to respond. I darted for the couch and carefully placed the water and towels on the nearby coffee table. He sat on the couch casually, with an amused expression.
“How are you not panicking? Your arm is almost sliced in two.” I growled at him. I found it annoying that he wasn’t concerned for his own safety.
“It will be fine, Alexandra. It looks worse than it is.” He almost laughed as he spoke.
“It needs to be cleaned and bandaged!” I insisted. I knelt down next to the table, soaked a towel in the water and squeezed it several times. “That tin was completely rusted. God only knows what other bacteria it had on it. Not to mention any arteries it severed. You really need a hospital, but that’s impossible! The closest hospital is hours away! I have to tend to it. ” My annoyance and panic were growing and he found it amusing, which only aggravated me further.
“Fine,” he groaned and rolled his eyes.
He grabbed at the back of his shirt and pulled it over his head. He was careful not to allow the towel to be lowered. I sat back on my heels in awe; I breathed in sharply as I looked at him. He wore several black, raised tattoos across his chest and down each side of his abdomen. Every muscle of his body was perfectly defined. I had only seen men with bodies like that in magazines or movies, never in real life.
“You can take a picture if you like.” He sucked his lip in and let it out with a smile.
“What?” I asked dismissively, as I was shocked out of my gaze. I knelt down and busied myself soaking and squeezing the towel in the antiseptic water. I could feel his eyes on me, my face beginning to burn red. I pulled my long hair around my face in the hope of disguising my embarrassment. My hair was wet and cold as it landed around my face.
I held the back of his hand, which he used to support the blood soaked towel and I readied my clean towel to exchange them quickly. I pulled his hand away and quickly pressed the clean towel to his wound. Blood soaked the clean towel just as quickly as it did the first one. My stomach fell even further. He was going to die because he saved me. The thought made my chest tighten.
“Stitches. It needs stitches.” I said frantically, as I held two blood soaked towels in my hands. “I don’t know how to stitch.” My hands began to shake again. “We need a doctor.” I could feel panic rise higher inside me. “There are no phones. Oh God!”
“Alexandra. Calm down.” He placed his clean hand on my shoulder. “I will hold this.” He held his hand over the towel under his arm. “Open the first aid kit,” he instructed.
I slowly lowered my shaking hands and reached for the first aid kit. I tried to open it but my blood-covered fingers were sliding across the latches. I wiped my hands on my jeans and tugged at the lid again. This time, it opened.
“There should be large gauze pads and bandages. Take them out and unwrap them.”
I sifted through the various medical items in the kit until I found the gauze padding. I ripped it from its plastic covering.
He reached across and took the gauze pad from my hand. His movement shifted the air in my direction and with it carried the smell of his aftershave. The scent of ancient forests filled my lungs. As I breathed it in, I could feel my toes curl in my boots. I shook my head slightly to bring myself back to reality.
He removed the blood-soaked towel and replaced it with the gauze. “Can you wrap the bandage?”
I stood quickly with bandage in hand. I leant across him and gingerly begun to wrap the bandage around his arm. My fingers were shaking as I passed the bandage from hand to hand around his arm.
“That doesn’t hurt, does it?” I asked as I pulled the bandage firmly into place. I had never wrapped a bandage before, and I was scared I would pull too hard and hurt him.
He laughed. “No.”
“Why are you laughing?” I asked sternly, thinking I might be doing something wrong.
“You are so worried and there is no need to be.” He leant back into the couch as he watched me wrap the bandage up and down his arm.
“You have a huge cut in your arm and lost so much blood. How on Earth are you not concerned?” I couldn’t understand his blasé attitude to his injury.
“This is not a lot of blood, Alexandra,” he smirked.
“Even so, why aren’t you worried?” I frowned as I positioned each cycle of bandage perfectly, laying it over the previous section.
“Why are you?”
I slowed my layering of the bandages. I didn’t have an answer for that question. I had no idea why I was so concerned for a complete stranger. I had no inkling as to who he was, yet I felt an urgency to help him, to protect him—to be near him.
“Anyone would be worried ... you should be worried,” I said impatiently, trying to disguise my irrational attraction.
I tucked the last piece of bandage into itself and checked to ensure no more blood had seeped through. The bandage remained clean. “All done,” I said inhaling deeply. As I let out my breath, it ran from my mouth as fog. Only then did I realise how cold it was. I looked to the large front windows; their corners had begun to ice up.
“This cold snap really isn’t mucking around, is it?” I said vaguely, as I watched the ice on the windows inch along the glass.
An enormous clap of thunder rolled over the town, shaking the entire building as it went. Instantly the room turned black, making me jump.
I could hear the wind tug and pull at the roof as hailstones pelted against the glass. He stood by my side as we both watched the front windows begin to ice up on the corners. I don’t know how it happened, but somehow I found my fingers intertwining themselves with his, and I stepped closer to him. Storms rarely scared me, but this one did. It was the most violent storm I had ever experienced.
“The power’s out now. It usually doesn’t get put back on for days. Everyone has generators, but they’re outside …”
“We are safe in here,” he comforted me.
He slipped his hand from mine and gently placed it around my shoulder and pulled me into him. “You are cold, Alexandra.” He spun me to face him as he rubbed his hands over my exposed arms. “You are freezing, and your clothes are wet.” His voice was rushed and urgent. “Take your clothes off.”
“Excuse me?” I wrapped my arms around myself and took several steps backwards.
“The wet clothes will cause your body temperature to fall too quickly. Why do you think I did not put my shirt back on?”
“It’s okay. I’ll acclimatise,” I said. I knew he was right about the wet clothes forcing my body temperature down, but I was not removing any of my clothes while he was with me. Emilee, Andy and I regularly went skinny-dipping at Warimudga. They had both seen me naked more times that I could count, and I didn’t care what they thought of me. But I did care what he might think.
“I cannot see you; it is dark in here. There is no need to be embarrassed. Please, just take your wet clothes off. I have been with people who have suffered from hypothermia, both mild and severe. I do not wish you to experience it.” His voice changed; he was no longer amused and easy. He was pleading with me.
I didn’t want to take my clothes off, but I knew I couldn’t stay in them either. I was already beginning to shiver uncontrollab
ly. I looked out the front windows. The rain continued to beat against the glass with no sign of reprieve, and the thunder continued to roll across the skies.
“Okay,” I reluctantly agreed.
I sat on the edge of the couch, pulled a blanket from under it and wrapped it around myself. My eyes were beginning to adjust to the dark room, and I could vaguely see his silhouette. He was looking away from me, towards the staffroom. Although he couldn’t see me clearly through the darkness or under the blanket, it made me feel more relaxed that he was looking away. I pulled my clothes from me and threw them on the floor beside the couch, leaving only my underwear on. I hugged the blanket around my almost naked body as I huddled in the corner of the soft couch.
“Are you covered?” he asked as he continued to look away.
“Yes. Thank you. I only just realised, I don’t know your name.”
He turned back to face me. “My name is Derrek.”
“Well, Derrek. I bet you had better plans for tonight than being caught in here with me, with all this ...” I gestured towards the rain and hail crashing into the windows.
He sat at the end of the couch, his elbows resting on his knees with his forearms and hands hanging loosely between his legs.
“You are correct; I did have big plans for tonight.”
I couldn’t help feeling disappointed at his response, but then he continued. “I had hoped to be eating dinner with you now.” He looked across to me, the whites of his eyes gently reflecting the slither of moonlight peering through our windows.
“What?” I breathed.
“That is why I came back tonight, Alexandra. I had hoped to take you to dinner.”
“Really? You wanted to take me to dinner?”
“I understand if you would not be interested. I did notice earlier, you and your friend are very close ...”
“You mean Andy? No, no. I mean, he’s great. But he’s just a friend.”
“I am happy to hear that.” His upper body shivered as he spoke.
I grabbed the side of the blanket and threw it across him.
“No, it is okay,” he said and pushed the blanket away.
“You’ll freeze. You just told me how bad hypothermia is.”
“It is, but I know you are uncomfortable being unclothed. I will add to your discomfort if I share the blanket.” He spoke plainly, like a soldier giving an order.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” I dismissed his concern, although he was accurate.
“I have been in far worse conditions than this. I know I will survive.” He laughed slightly.
I pushed down all feelings of inadequacy and guilt and the other negative emotions that were flooding my body. I slid across to him, lay my back to his chest and pulled the blanket around the both of us. His body was warm and smooth against my bare skin. My heart raced furiously, and I could feel my face burn as I waited for his response. I could barely breathe as I waited for him either to accept me or to reject me. I was expecting him to move away. Instead, he gently put his arm around my shoulder and rested it on my arm.
“Thank you, Alexandra.” He spoke quietly. His breath was warm on the side of my neck, sending a shiver through me.
I knew that he was not allowing me to sit like this because he was attracted to me—it was purely a survival technique. I couldn’t relax onto him, so I held my body rigid, fighting my emotions.
“I am making you nervous. I do not mean to,” he said quietly.
“No. It’s just that … ” I was reluctant to finish the sentence because I would reveal my true feelings, but before I could stop myself, I was speaking. “I lost my husband about two years ago, and I haven’t been … close with anyone since.” After I said it, I realised how it sounded and what it implied. “It just feels strange being so close to someone who isn’t him.” I quickly added. “I kind of feel like …”
“You are being unfaithful?” he finished my sentence for me.
“Yes …” I was surprised he knew how I was feeling.
“I, also, have been in love.” He drew circles on my arm with his thumb.
“What was she like?”
He took a deep breath in. “They say perfection does not exist. But it did in her.”
“Michael was perfect too—and Sasha.” I hadn’t spoken much of her since I arrived in Warrangatta, and even though a couple of years had passed, just the mention of her name tugged strongly at my emotions.
“Sasha? Who is Sasha?” he asked.
I couldn’t help it. I tried to hold back any tears that were forming behind my eyes, but I couldn’t.
“My daughter,” I spluttered. “I’m sorry.” I clapped my hand over my mouth.
Just hearing her name aloud pushed thorns through my heart. I held my breath for several seconds as I tried to stop my emotions overflowing.
He wrapped his arm tightly around me and pulled me into him. “It is okay.” He pressed his lips against the back of my head as he spoke. His breath was warm as it ran down my neck.
For a split second, I forgot it was him holding me and thought of Michael who used to comfort me in the same way. I twisted myself onto my side and lay my head on his chest. As soon as I had moved, I regretted it. That was more than a survival technique. He would never respond well to that. As I began to push myself from him, he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. I could smell nothing but his aftershave and feel nothing but his warmth. My heart leapt and my stomach tensed. A new warmth flooded my body, a warmth that no heater or blanket could begin to produce. As his warmth flowed into me, my eyes became heavy. I didn’t want to sleep; I wanted to talk to him all night. I only closed my eyes for a second, but it was long enough for sleep to take me.
The Aztec Saga - Hunted Page 16
