Tag: suspense

Choking.

On something hot burning up her throat and spewing out of her.

Hot. Not cold.

The first warm thing Cara could remember in … she wasn’t even sure.

Everything felt hazy and foggy, but when she was rolled to her side and something hard hit her between the shoulder blades everything snapped back into place.

“There you go, good girl, cough up all that water,” a voice urged.

Liam’s voice.

She remembered fainting from exhaustion right when the cabin had come into sight. She must have fallen off the small bridge and into the river, and then Liam must have jumped in after her.

Saving her again.

“S-s-sorry,” she mumbled through chattering teeth. Her passing out could have killed them both.

“Nothing to be sorry about. We’re almost to the cabin. Thankfully we didn’t float far down the river. Another thirty minutes tops and we should be there.”

The thought of being warm and dry, inside out of the elements, sounded almost too good to be true, but as amazing as it sounded Cara wasn’t sure she could hike for another thirty minutes.

She wanted to, would do her best, anything to make sure Liam was safe, but her body had run out of fuel, and she would be pushing it beyond what it could handle.

Still what choice did she have?

“L-lets g-go,” she stammered, trying to push herself up, but her body wouldn’t seem to cooperate.

“Don’t think you’re walking this one on your own two feet, honey,” Liam said, and before she could argue he’d lifted her and had her slung across his shoulders.

He had to be as exhausted as she was, and as cold, but he was definitely moving quicker carrying her than they had when she’d been walking on her own. It sounded liked Liam prayed that he would be able to get her to safety, and she echoed that prayer.

Counting the seconds, Cara wasn’t sure how many times she lost her place and started over, but when the wind suddenly ceased, and a warmth she’d been dreaming about curled around her, she realised he’d done it.

Liam had gotten them to safety.

“You did it,” she cheered, as he slipped her off his shoulders and onto a soft, comfortable couch. She expected him to cheer along with her, but instead as he switched on a lamp, she saw that he looked troubled.

Something was wrong.

Just when he’d thought it was over, just when he thought they were safe, just when he could hear his own voice echoing in his mind yelling “that sounds great!” as he thought about a warm fire, dry clothes, and being out of the elements, it all fell apart. 

Having reached the end of her rope a quarter of a mile away from safety, Cara collapsed beside him. 

Liam grabbed at her but he was numb from the cold, clumsy, exhausted for hiking for a couple of hours in the elements, without proper clothing, and he missed by a mere inch. 

The splash as Cara hit the water seemed to rise above the sounds of the storm. 

Her head went under and it didn’t come back, the icy water not enough to rouse her injured body from unconsciousness. For a split second Liam hesitated. If he went in after her there was a chance the current would drag them both under and to their deaths. But if he didn’t go in then there was zero percent chance that Cara would survive. 

Knowing there was no way he could live with her death on his conscience, Liam jumped. 

If asked he would have sworn that there was no way anything could make him feel any colder than he already did. But he was wrong. The freezing water made it feel like a million tiny knives were stabbing into his skin, and even though he was a strong swimmer, had swum in this exact river many times before, his body seized up as his muscles protested the drop in temperature. 

It was only sheer willpower, and a healthy amount of fear for the woman who had battled bravely through their trek without a single complaint even though he knew she was hurting, that he managed to regain control of his body before the cold water dragged him under and he succumb to its power. With strokes a lot less smooth and steady than normal, he began to search for Cara. 

The dark choppy water, the continuing rain and sleet striking him from above, made it almost impossible to see anything further away than about a foot in front of him, but he didn’t give up. Couldn’t. Cara hadn’t and he wouldn’t either. 

So he searched, and searched, and searched. 

And when his search was rewarded by something soft brushing against his hands, he grabbed hold of it, of her, and prayed that he’d found her in time. And that he could get them both out of the freezing water before it was too late. 

One foot in front of the other.

One foot in front of the other.

One foot in front of the other.

It was the mantra Cara kept repeating as she and Liam trudged their way through the forest.

The rain had progressed to sleet, and there was now a heavy amount of snow mixed in with it. Each step along the muddy ground felt harder and harder, but there was one thing she was positive of.

Giving up was not an option.

Giving up meant death.

Not just to her, but to Liam as well, because from the way he had remained glued to her side, his arm around her, carrying more of her weight than she was, she doubted he would leave her behind.

Which meant he’d actually shown her more care and consideration than her own family.

So she couldn’t die. Wouldn’t doom a good, honourable man like Liam to death out here in the snow.

Although she had no idea where they were going, he seemed to. He walked towards his cabin with a confidence she could only wish for. Each step was sure, he chose them a path with careful consideration, and seemed to know how to get past every obstacle that came their way.

“Not much further,” his voice spoke, his breath warm against her ear as he leaned in close so his words wouldn’t be stolen by the wind.

That wasn’t the first time he’d said that so Cara didn’t allow herself to get her hopes up too high. Not wanting to waste energy answering aloud, she merely nodded and kept moving forward, hating how much she had to lean on Liam.

Time had no meaning out here, but what she would guess was fifteen minutes later they stopped. As badly as she wanted to sit, not even caring the ground was muddy, wet, and ice cold, she locked her knees to remain upright. If she sat she wouldn’t be getting back up any time soon. She was teetering on the edge of exhaustion.

“Just across the river,” Liam told her. “See there’s an old bridge here, when we’re halfway across you’ll be able to see the cabin.”

Close.

So close.

Yet so far away.

The world began to dance about in front of her, and no amount of pretending it was the blowing wind would change that. Black dots filled her vision but she kept going.

One foot in front of the other.

The world around her began to recede a little.

“There it is.”

At Liam’s excited voice, she looked up but unfortunately as soon as she sees the cabin she passes out.

“Th-thank you s-s-so much!” Cara whispered, still shivering violently, as he manoeuvred her out of her wrecked car.

There was something about the sincerity in her tone that was like a punch to the guy. When was the last time someone had shown him genuine gratefulness?

While he loved his parents, he and his brother, one older and one younger, hadn’t had an easy childhood. Both his mom and his dad were perfectionists and they expected their children to always be the best at anything and everything they did. From school to sports to chores, if something wasn’t done perfectly they were punished.

Likewise his girlfriend had complained constantly any time he hadn’t catered to one of her many whims. It had taken him a while to realise how spoilt she was, and by then he was convinced he was in love with her and that once they were married things would even out.

But when she cheated on him he realised, maybe he hadn’t been as in love with her as he believed himself to be.

“No need to thank me,” he assured Cara as he quickly backtracked out of the river before setting her on her feet. As much as he wanted to do a thorough check of her body for injuries, hypothermia was her biggest danger. He was out here alone, no team, no back up, not even proper gear. Add in the storm and he was feeling like this job was less and less doable.

“D-do we n-need to go b-ack up th-there?” Cara asked and he saw she’d tilted her head up to survey the ravine she’d just come down.

It was the quickest way to get back to his car, but he knew she was in no condition to climb, and honestly he didn’t think he could get her up on his own either. He was exhausted and without proper gear it made this rescue all the more challenging.

Quickly running assessments in his mind, Liam formulated a plan. The long way would take them several hours to get to his car. In the same time they could probably traverse the forest and make it to his cabin. His cabin would have proper medical supplies, warmth, shower, bed, food, water, everything he would need to take care of Cara until he could get a signal and call for help.

Mind made up, he shook his head. “We’re going to keep following the river until we get to my cabin.”

“Your cabin?”

“It’s where I was heading when I saw your car go over the edge. We won’t make it up there to the road, and if its going to take us hours to get out of the storm we may as well have a whole cabin waiting for us instead of my cold car.”

“Okay,” she agreed, trusting green eyes staring up him.

“It’s not going to be easy,” he warned.

Like he’d just issued a challenge, the small woman standing beside him, injured and freezing, straightened her spine, her expression turning fierce. “I can make it.”

Could she? That remained to be seen. But Liam had no doubt that Cara was going to give it everything she had, and he knew that he wasn’t going to allow her to fail.

The set of eyes staring down at her were so very blue.

Somewhere in the back of her mind Cara thought she shouldn’t be able to tell that, it was dark, she shouldn’t be able to see anything.

But the eyes were so blue.

And they stared into her with an intensity that made her shake.

Or maybe it was the cold making her shake.

Now that she thought about it, she was frozen to the bone and shaking badly.

Oh my.

A panicked thought occurred to her. What if the blue eyes belonged to an angel? What if she was dead?

“Easy,” a voice soothed and she could barely detect fingers touching her neck. “It’s okay. My name is Liam, can you tell me yours?”

“C-C-Cara,” she stammered automatically.

“Okay, Cara, it’s nice to meet you, although not under these circumstances. Do you remember what happened?”

“C-c-c-car,” she stuttered. “C-c-crashed.”

“Thats right. You must have lost control on the muddy roads. You went down a steep ravine, and your car is partially in the river. I want to get you out of the cold but before I move you I need to know if your neck hurts and if you can feel your arms and legs.”

That felt like too much information for her brain to handle.

Feel something?

She was numb all over.

Something warm suddenly engulfed her hands and she looked down to see that the man, Liam, had covered her hands with his own.

“I c-can feel th-that,” she said softly.

“Thats good, and you moved your head. I’d still rather not move you but we don’t have a choice, that storm is getting worse and you won’t survive it if we stay here.”

With capable hands this Liam man did what she hadn’t been able to and unclipped her seatbelt, then slipped an arm around her shoulders, another under her legs.

“W-wait,” she stopped him. “Are y-you an a-angel?”

“An angel? No, honey, I’m not an angel. Just a guy who happened to be in the right place at the right time, and who knows a thing or two about rescuing people.”

Despite his words, as he gently eased her out of her wrecked vehicle Cara couldn’t help but think he was an angel after all. He’d saved her life, even if he was a man, he was an angel too.