On The Run

Chapter Ten

"I can't!" He's yelling now. We have been stopped at a fallen tree for about an hour or so.
"Iz, I haven't eaten in two days, I'm hurt, and we can't drink the water from the stream!" He sounds so defeated.

No, he can't stop now! He's the only thing keeping me going. He's my only motivation.
"Ty! I'm tired too but we only have about two more hours to walk. I know it seems too long but we can do it if we just keep walking." He doesn't budge. Come on Ty! My strong Ty, please get up.

I can't help it. I burst into tears. How long has it been since I last cried? A year almost.
When my dad didn't come to my birthday. He was out on a "business trip" better known as meeting his not so secrete mistress.

I am crying about my head, I'm crying about Ty's ankle, about no food, fatigue, my selfish parents, my loving brother, whose birthday is in three days. I just need to let it out.
I can't lose Ty too.

Unexpectedly, he gets up from the tree and puts me in a long embrace. We stay like that for a long time, both supporting each other, both needing each other.
"I can't do this without you." I whisper in his ear.
And I don't know if it's his hug, or my feelings toward him, but I stop crying, slowly, I calm myself.

And he kisses me, right here, in the forest, with a bleeding ankle, and my banged up head, we kiss. And I become dizzy, relying solely on his support.

We both sit down on the tree, and in comfortable silence, we rest. I put my head in his lap, as he leans on the back of the fallen tree behind us, and we sleep.

We wake up comfortable with no wolfs in front of us, the warm weather back to console us. And without needing to persuade each other, we both get up, and begin our journey home- er- back to the trailer... Again.
We are walking in the stream and the water must be covering our scent, because there is no sign of anyone following us, which is our first break in four days.

As we walk, holding hands, I can't help but to think of everything that has happened this past week with Ty.
From being kidnapped at gun point, to hating my parents, to siding with Ty, to....
Falling in love with him.
I fell in love with my kidnapper.

"What are you thinking about?" He asks.
What do I say?
"You. And this running. And my brother. But mostly you." I blush, and I'm glad he doesn't notice.

"Me too." He says, and it's amazing how those two words made my day. After a while of walking, I decide I should change his bandages.

We sit down, and I tear some of his fabric on his other leg. I take one strip from my gown, and I'm running out of fabric. I undo his bandages and decide to bury them under the mood in the creek so the can't track us. I wrap up his leg, glad to see it hasn't infected, by some miracle.

Here, we rest for a while, soaking up the sun shimmering between the leaves of the tree. He's holding my hand. This is nice.
But I can't ignore how hungry I am. And the water in the creek is teasing me as it runs down and rolls off the rocks. I don't know how much longer I can hold off. I'm already dizzy from my concussion. This is bad. I don't think we are going to get up. We may both die here.

"I didn't plan for this, Iz." I hear him croak. Oh gosh. He doesn't sound good either. I don't know what we are going to do.
"I know, I'm sorry I got you into this mess." I sound weak, but I see him shake his head in the corner of my eye.
"That's not what I meant." He says.
"I didn't mean to fall in love." He whispers.

This was it. This was what I needed to motivate myself.
"I love you too, Ty." I say
"Now get your ass up!" I order.
"What? Iz, no, I can't. I just told you that because I know I'm not gonna make it much longer." He says.
No. I won't let him just sit here and dwindle away. I go to the creek, cup my hands, and wait for the water to fill up.