Crash

50: Follow my finger

Yay! The fiftieth chapter!!

Nathan-

For most of the night, I couldn't sleep. I felt so guilty for pressing Lyra. If we had just stayed out on the cliffs and taken a break, she wouldn't have been injured. I was supposed to protect her, not put her life in danger.

I looked at the woman in my arms. How could I be so dense? I think we should find shelter now. Can we stop here? I don't like the look of the sky...Why didn't I listen? She's been doing this for years and I just blew off her experience so we could walk another mile. Perfect.

Lyra mumbled in her sleep, throwing her leg over mine and pressing her face into my chest. She threw the blanket off and snuggled to me.

I eyed her thigh unhappily. She had taken my sweatpants off when they rubbed her burn painfully. The skin outside the wrap was red and inflamed. I could still hear her cry of pain. My mind immediately went to the worst and imagined her being surrounded by fire. I shook my head and held onto her tighter.

The outside of the tent began to glow and I knew it was probably sunrise. Lyra would wake up in a while. Like a creep, I'd been just gazing at her for a few hours. There was no telling how exhausted she was.

I pushed her hard yesterday, she got injured and then she stayed up late to check her star charts. The Big Dipper was almost overhead now, meaning we were close. But I wasn't concerned about that at the moment.

A shadow flashed outside the tent and I knew Baine was awake. Too bad, we're sleeping in today. Well, at least Lyra was. I was too on edge at the moment.

I leaned away from her to grab the blanket and froze when she grabbed my shirt in a panic. My worries increased when a little whimper escaped her lips and her face twisted into a look of fear.

I laid back and let her cuddle to me. Her grip on my shirt tightened and I watched as a tear ran down her cheek. I sat up and pulled her into my lap hurriedly, "Jay? Jay, wake up."

She curled up in a tight ball against me, tears rolling down her cheeks. I shook her slightly, "Lyra wake up."

Her eyes shot open and she looked dazed. When she focused on me, she smiled slightly and relaxed, "It was a dream....thank God it was a dream."

"Yeah, what happened?" I asked worriedly, keeping her pressed against me.

"Fire," she mumbled softly. Great, now I was giving her nightmares.

"Wanna talk about it?" I asked. It always helps to tell someone after you wake up, it makes you feel relieved.

"What's there to talk about?" She chuckled emotionlessly, "I couldn't get to you. A burning tree fell and you were gone. It felt so real."

I hugged her to my chest and a second later, her arms went around me to squeeze back. I pulled away far enough to kiss her tears away, "Well, this is reality. It was just a bad dream."

She leaned her head on my shoulder and sighed, "Thank God, I was dying because I thought you were dead."

"I'm okay, you're okay. We're alive," I reassured her.

"Good. I don't think I could handle your death," Lyra said quietly.

"I couldn't bear it if you died. Hell, I go berserk when you get scratched. I can't imagine loosing you," I whispered to her.

She sighed and sat back, searching my face before looking at me suspiciously. I raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Did you even sleep last night?" She asked knowingly.