Week 422 – Liam prayed that he would be able to get her to safety

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.