Cold (15 page)

Jo shrugged. "That and the pills." She took a deep breath. "You okay?"

Rocky had been gazing at her, unashamedly staring. "Yeah." She looked away, suddenly finding the fire extremely interesting.

"Rocky, you were screaming." Jo reached out and once again took a shaking hand into her own. "And now you're shaking."

"Just confused when I woke up there. That's all." She closed her eyes against the throbbing headache, which was intensifying rapidly.

"You were terrified, Rocky." Jo gripped the hand tighter as Rocky attempted to pull away. Then she reached across with her free hand and cupped a flushed cheek. "You're hot, your clothes are drenched through. We need to get you changed into something dry."

Panic-filled green eyes turned towards her.

"Hey," said Jo quickly. "There's nothing to be afraid of. Just let me help you."

Rocky's head dropped. "This is really hard." She looked back up into gentle blue eyes. "I've been alone so long. Haven't had to depend on anyone."

"And I've never had anyone depend on me. But then," she leaned forward, brushing her lips against the blonde's, "I've never cared about anyone else before."

When she leaned back she saw Rocky's eyes were shut, a dreamy look on her face. But Jo put that down to the drugs. "Come on," she said. "Let's get you out of those clothes."

Green eyes snapped open, and Jo winced. "That sounds all wrong doesn't it. I don't mean it like that. Well.... I mean, I would like... it if you would...." Jo sighed long and hard. "Look, I'll help you for as long as you need me. But if you're not comfortable with something, just say. Sound good to you?"

Rocky nodded shakily, and allowed herself to be carefully pulled to her feet. "Come on, I'll find something for you to wear."

Jo headed up the stairs, smiling to herself when she heard the blonde following.

Rocky stood outside Jo's bedroom, watching as her friend rifled through her drawers trying to find something for the smaller woman to wear.

"This might do." She held up a plain white tee shirt, which was large even on her. She estimated it would come down to the smaller girl's knees. She threw that on the bed and opened a smaller top drawer, throwing some briefs onto the bed next to the tee shirt.

Rocky was still standing outside the door. "You can come on in."

Rocky entered, looking around the room as she did so. "This is nice."

"Thanks." She took the blonde gently by the shoulders and pushed her down onto the bed. Rocky was too tired to resist, and sat quietly watching with sleepy eyes as Jo started to undo the knot holding the sling in place. She held the injured arm in place as she threw the scarf into a corner. "Okay, let's think about the best way to do this. Hold on."

She ran down the stairs and looked through the drawers in the kitchen, finally finding what she was looking for: a large pair of scissors.

Rocky hadn't moved, and she knelt down again in front of her. "The shirt should be easy to get off, but the thermal will be more difficult," Jo said.

Rocky nodded, bending her good arm as Jo eased the shirt off. "We'll leave the thermal on for now. I think we'll do the trousers next."

"No." The word was little more than a whisper.

Jo ducked to see into watery green eyes. "Rocky? Sweetheart, we need to get you out of these damp clothes."

"It's ok, I'm used to it."

"But tonight you don't have to be used to it. And tonight you're sick. And tired. And hurting." She ran her fingers through damp blonde hair. "Please?"

"You don't understand." Tears squeezed from between tightly shut lids.

"What don't I understand?" She waited patiently, but Rocky just shook her head. "Hey," she whispered and got up from the floor and sat beside the sobbing girl on the bed. She carefully put her arm around Rocky's shoulders and gently pulled her against her chest. Jo supported her injured arm with one hand, the other rubbing the heaving back. She rested her cheek against blonde hair and let the girl cry herself out. When she was finished she pulled away from Jo, and looked up at her with tired green eyes.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Jo asked, wiping away tears with her fingers.

Rocky nodded, and pushed her hair out of her eyes. "It's just.... My clothes, they're .... Well, they're dirty."

Jo cocked her head to one side, waiting for Rocky to continue.

Rocky took a deep breath. "I don't get to change very often."

Realisation hit Jo, and she felt suddenly ashamed that she had put the girl thorough this without thinking about it.

"Did you think that would bother me?"

Rocky shrugged. "Everything you have is so nice." She looked around the room, at the quilt and at the clothes Jo had put out for her to wear. "So clean."

"Rocky," she said, pulling the pale face back so that Rocky was looking at her again. "I didn't think twice about bringing you back here. I know where you've been living for the past five years, and I know the consequences of that. I'm not going to judge you because you have dirty trousers on." She smiled, relieved to see the smile echoed in the face of the blonde. "So, will you let me help you?"

Rocky nodded her head, and stood shakily. Jo stood as well, and they faced each other for a moment. Rocky looked suddenly very vulnerable, standing there in her thermal vest and huge trousers.

Jo turned her attention to the old leather belt which held the very large pair of trousers up. There was no button or zip, and once they were lowered Jo was faced with another similar pair of trousers. "Okay, step out of them."

Rocky did as she was asked, and waited while Jo struggled with the button fastening the top of the second pair of trousers. "The button's stiff," she said as she managed to get it open.

"Army surplus," said Rocky. "I always tried to get it if I could."

Jo cast a quick glance up as she lowered the zip of the trousers and pulled them down.

Many times before, she had undressed women in this room. But how different this occasion was. This time there was no ulterior motive. There would be no seduction, no night of blinding passion.

"Sexy, huh?" said Rocky with a small smile. She looked down at herself, now dressed in her thermal vest and long johns.

Jo sat back on her heels. "Looks good to me." She smiled up at the blonde, pleased to see that she appeared to be relaxing. "Ready?" she asked, hooking her fingers in the waistband of the long johns.

Rocky nodded, and the white garment was pulled down over slim legs. Rocky stood now in nothing but a white vest, dark blue briefs, and thick, grey army socks.

So Jo had decided that there would be no passion in this particular disrobing exercise. She swallowed hard, seeing the shapely legs only inches from her face. "Um, there you are." She stood quickly, and picked up the scissors. "I'm going to have to cut the vest off."

Rocky had started to shiver, and Jo knew it was time to start hurrying. She didn't believe the girl was cold, but knew the ordeal was starting to take its toll on the blonde.

"I'll cut it from the back," Jo said.

Jo turned the blonde and carefully started to cut the vest from the hem to the neck. When it was open at the back, she pulled it forward and off. Trying hard to avert her eyes from the expanse of creamy white skin in front of her, she reached for the tee shirt lying on the bed. She opened the neck and drew it over the blonde head.

"Can you get your arm through?" she asked.

Rocky tried, and, as the shirt was so big, she managed it with comparative ease. When she was in the tee shirt, Jo turned her and retrieved the makeshift sling. Positioning Rocky's arm against her stomach, she refastened the sling.

"There, how's that?"

Rocky smiled up at her; there were tears in her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Come on." Jo pulled back the quilt and urged Rocky into the bed. "You get some rest. I'm going down to get one of your painkillers."

Rocky snuggled into the thick quilt, her eyes fluttering closed as her head hit the pillow.

When Jo returned, Rocky was asleep, so she lay on top of the quilt next to her friend. For a long moment she watched her sleep.

"When you wake, you will tell me about your nightmares," she told the sleeping girl, smoothing away the soft blonde hair from a warm forehead.

She settled down beside Rocky, lying on top of the quilt, and kept watch. She lay in wait for the demons that had come for the girl on both occasions she had slept in Jo's presence.

And when they came, she would chase them off.

Jo rolled over as she woke, and found herself face to face with an angel.

Rocky was lying on her back, her face turned towards her host. Jo felt a pressure on her hand and looked down to see a smaller one gripping it. Craning her neck to see the clock beside the bed, she found it was close to noon.

She was surprised that the girl had slept so long. She'd expected the night demons that haunted the small blonde to pay her a visit during the night. But she saw that the sleeping face looked relaxed though pale.

She enjoyed the moment, feeling free to watch the girl sleep. Her gaze fell upon soft lips slightly parted in sleep. She remembered the photograph she'd had, how she'd studied it in great detail, committed to memory every facet of the face before her.

The she looked down at the small hand curled around her own. The image blurred and Jo blinked her eyes rapidly, confused at the appearance of tears.

Her gaze returned to the pale face of the blonde, to find misty green eyes regarding her thoughtfully.

"Hi," said Rocky, concern evident on her face. "You okay?"

Jo nodded, swallowing tightly. "Yeah, I'm fine."

They regarded each other for a long moment, the blonde not moving from her reclined position. Nor did she move as the dark-haired woman dipped her head and brushed her lips briefly against those of the smaller woman.

Jo pulled back, looking for any discomfort from Rocky. The small hand left her own, and she felt a pressure on the back of her neck, pulling her back down. Trying to keep the majority of her weight off the blonde, she gave in to the gentle tugging. The meeting of their lips was more insistent this time, the contact more solid. Both sets of breathing became ragged, and it was a small gasp of pain from the smaller woman that made Jo back away.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, pushing dishevelled blonde hair off Rocky's face.

"It's alright. Just forgot about it for a moment then."

Jo chuckled and stood, walking around the bottom of the bed. She sat on the edge of the bed to Rocky's left, and handed her the pain pill she'd put there the night before. "You'd better take this now." She helped her sit up and gave her the glass of orange.

"I'm going to pop out for a while. Is there anything you want me to get you?"

Rocky shook her head, peering into the bottom of her now-empty glass.

"I'm going to go to the chemist, get some dressings for your side. I'm sure I could get some water-proof ones, then you could have a bath, or a shower."

Green eyes looked confused. "My side?"

"Yeah, you have a couple of stitches in it."

"I do?"

Jo shook her head. "What happened exactly?" She stood and went to her wardrobe, pulling out a pair of jeans.

"At the leather works?" Rocky asked.

Jo looked up from the drawers she was rifling through and nodded.

The brow beneath the fair hair furrowed as Rocky thought back to the previous night. "I was looking for wood," she began. "It was colder than usual, and I needed a lot to make sure the fire lasted through the night. I wasn't really concentrating and just about walked into a bunch of guys. I think it was a drug deal." She looked up to find wide blue eyes regarding her. She shrugged. "I ran, back into the factory. I hid from them, and they gave up. I was back in a part of the factory I've never been in before. When I tried to get back out, I fell through the floor," she finished in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Something must have gone right through your jacket and everything else to have cut your side," said Jo, hopping from one foot to the other as she pulled her jeans on.

"I didn't know it had. I hit the bottom pretty hard, and I knew I'd hurt my shoulder. I managed to get to my feet, and I found an old rusty ladder. I think I was down in the boiler room or something. I got out; the old boys found me and went and got Edna. Don't remember much after that."

Jo pulled on a sweatshirt. "Well, Edna got in touch with me, and more by luck than judgement, I managed to find the factory." She sat on the edge of the bed and pulled on her boots. "Right, then," she said, standing. "I'll be as quick as I can. Is there anything you need before I go?"

"No, I'm fine."

Jo hurried over to the bed, leaned down, and kissed Rocky on the forehead.

"Thanks for looking after me," said the blonde.

Jo's answer was a dazzling smile, and then she was gone. Rocky listened to her footsteps as she descended the stairs, and then heard the front door close. She snuggled back down into the quilt and drifted off to sleep again.

Rocky woke with a start. She knew she hadn't been asleep long, but the nightmare had come quickly. She had the same feeling of panic as always, the tightness in her chest and the thumping pain in her head. She tried to rise, but quickly fell back onto the bed, the pain in her shoulder excruciating. She knew she couldn't take another painkiller for a while, so she eased herself carefully out of bed, and made her way to the bathroom.

As she exited the bathroom she heard a buzzing noise. She carefully descended the stairs, the pain in her shoulder making her dizzy. She went into the lounge and then the kitchen. The noise sounded again, and she followed the noise until she found a grey box with a flashing red light on it at the top of the stairs. There was a small black button next to the red light. Below the black button was a white button, with the word `open` on it.

The buzzer sounded again, causing her to take a step back. Maybe she had to do something, maybe there was a security system and Jo had forgotten to reset it. Had she set it off by walking through the house?