14 Degrees

Calling Daniel

A/N: I reached my goal of posting at least ten chapters for this story!! Yay! Hope you like this.

I have butterflies in my stomach. I have the phone against my ear and I wait for Daniel to pick up. After about seven rings, I hear a voice.

"Hello?" Daniel greets. I can tell something's troubling him just by listening to his voice, and I'm pretty sure I know what that 'something' is.

"Hi, Daniel, this is Tracy," I say into the phone. There's brief silence.

"Tracy?!" Daniel shrieks after a few seconds. "Oh, my gosh! Where are you? Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine. I'm fine," I grin. It's so good to hear his voice.

"Where did you go? I was just about to call the police!"

"It's a long story. I'll explain later. Can you pick me up?"

"Absolutely! Where are you? What's the address?"

I pause. What is the address?

"One second," I say quickly into the phone. "Catherine? What's your address?" I call from my seat. "My boyfriend's gonna pick me up."

Catherine calls back her address and I repeat it into the phone.

"Okay, I'm on my way. Stay put," Daniel commands. Before he can hang up I add one last thing. "Love you," I grin.

"Love you, too," Daniel replies. I push the 'end call' button, set the phone down on the table, lean back, and sigh with a smile.

Daniel's on his way, I have a warm cup of cocoa in arm's reach, and I'm not out in the freezing cold all alone anymore.

Wait a second. I groan. Jack's body is still out there. I grab the phone from the table and hold it close to my face again. I tap the phone icon again and I dial three numbers:

9-1-1

I hit the green button and wait for someone to pick up. I'll just explain everything, the police will take care of the crash scene, and I'll feel like a burden was lifted off of my shoulders.

Someone answers the phone and I begin to tell everything that happened. I tell how I was kidnapped, how Jack crashed the car and died at the scene, how I didn't have a phone at the time, and how I'm safe now. I give the person on the other end of the phone the rest of the needed information to find Jack and such. Once I hear that the scene will be taken care of immediately and that I have nothing to worry about surprisingly, I hang up after saying my thank-yous and good-byes.

"That was easier then I expected," I tell myself as I place the phone back down and reach for my precious cocoa. I take a couple more sips. I love hot cocoa. It reminds me of when I was a kid, staying warm on cold winter nights.

Eventually, Catherine returns.

"Can I get you anything else?" she asks. I hand her the phone.

"I just have a question," I explain. I roll up my sleeves and show her my cuts. "Do these look bad enough for a hospital?" I know, it was a weird question. I just need to know if I need stitches or something.

Catherine inspects the cuts closely. The cold peeled them open a bit and tiny traces of blood are filling the cuts.

"Well, lucky you. I'm a nurse," she smiles. Thank goodness. She's an expert. My luck is beginning to turn. "They look fine to me. Just put some cream on them later. And..." Catherine reaches out for my hand to feel my pulse. She then presses her hand against my forehead and continues, "Your body temperature is rising steadily. You might have a bit of frost bite, but I'm sure you'll be okay."

I exhale in relief. Things are getting a lot better tonight. I thank Catherine for what seems to be like the twentieth time. All I have to do now, is wait for Daniel.

A/N: I stayed up late typing this chapter (but not too late), so if it's not that good, I apologize. I'm still not done yet, though! There's a chapter eleven forming.