He Came From The Wild

Chapter Two | A New World

It took a full day and another night for Miranda to wake up and when she finally opened her eyes, she wished she hadn't. Not a single part of her was free of pain and her whole body seemed to pulse with agony. The only movement she could manage was to turn her head and the lighter patch in the distance broke up the blackness that surrounded her.

A few long blinks later, she had managed to work out she was inside something; a tunnel perhaps? She could smell smoke, earth and dirt along with what reminded her of her Dads house; wet dog. If she had died, it was not what she expecting. Heaven was meant to be peaceful, brightly lit and surely the pearly gates to get in were based on some kind of fact rather than fiction. Panic hit then, what if she wasn't permitted into Heaven? Was this a waiting room for hell - was she in limbo? Religion had never been something to appeal to Miranda, and she had never regretted that more than she did in that moment.

The plane had crashed. She could remember falling, looking out the windows... then nothing. Trying to move, she cried out in agony as every muscle in her body protested the movement. Giving up on that idea, she did manage to move her arm and hesitantly touched her face and hair, soon feeling the bandage on her forehead. That wasn't what she was expecting. As much as she hurt, she decided if anything was broken she'd be able to feel it or at least be in more pain. Touching the bandage again, someone had to have put it there and hope at finding her assistant okay gave her some kind of comfort.

Gasping in agony it was as if each nerve was out to test how much she could take and rolling onto her side, it wasn't much. Tears ran down her cheeks as nausuea made her stomach churn. The world felt like it was titling and rolling onto her stomach, dirt and sand stuck to the wet corners of her mouth and tear streaked cheeks. The jacket that she wore was loose and awkward, resticting her movements and with a grunt of effort she managed to lift up her torso. Wiping her mouth on her shoulder, sharp pain raced from the length of her neck and down her arm making her stop. Hard, fast breaths had her trying to get a grip on the pain, but it didn't really help. Hunger had her feeling hollow and from holding herself up, her arms began to shake from the effort. Lying down once, she cringed as she returned to laying on her back again and slowly let sleep reclaim her.

It wasn't long before Braydon returned and walking back in, the first thing he noticed was the fact the woman had moved. Shifting back into his human skin, he curiously sat beside her and seeing the dirt on her face wiped it away gently. At his touch Miranda began to rejoin the world, blinking a few times and as the pair made eye contact, neither looked away. Miranda wasn't sure if she was dreaming at the sight of the bearded man. She could hardly distinguish his face amongst the darkness, and opening her mouth to speak his finger was placed against it to silence her.

There was no doubt now that someone was definetly with her and it wasn't Rory like she had hoped. Had he been on the plane? Trying to speak, it was as if she had laryngitis and each word came out between deep breaths. "Where. Am. I?"

Braydon didn't respond straight away. The only thing he spoke to was the voice in his head and now he had an actual person was talking to him for the first time in years - he was speechless. His silence only made Miranda panic and it showed as she tried to move. Seeing her cry out in pain, he pushed her shoulders down to stay still, and she didn't have it in her to fight.

"Please, where am i?"

This time he answered, uncertain and as afraid as she felt. "In my home."

Home? It was a dark, cave? Miranda didn't understand. "Where?"

"Here." He answered, not helping her at all.

"The plane? I was in a plane. It went down in a storm." The more she talked, the more her throat gave out so her voice was croaky and tired. Coughing, she leant away from him and as he passed her the water bottle, she took it without question. The second the liquid hit her tongue she started to gulp it down, desperate for more as her stomach bloated with the sudden rush. Ignoring the acidic burn that appeared at the base of her throat, she refused to throw up in front of this stranger who only watched her. "Thank you."