Ice (13 page)

As she had done so many times before, Alex gathered Maggie in her arms and painfully limped to the bathroom. Mindless of the frigid water sloshing over the sides, Alex placed her inside, and when the woman didn’t even flinch at the temperature, Alex rushed to get more snow. Bucket after bucket she carried through the cabin, but no matter how much snow Alex piled on her, Maggie remained motionless. Mindless that the socks on her feet were now covered in ice, and her own clothes were soaking wet, Alex refused to give up until the painful throbbing in her leg forced her to stop. Collapsing to the floor, she sat in a puddle of snowy slush and began to cry.

Staring at the floor, Alex sat there listening to the sound of Maggie’s ragged breathing as it slowly grew fainter. Minutes ticked by, and even though she was shivering, Alex refused to move until finally the room grew quiet. It was over.

Choking back her tears, she looked up and when she saw Maggie’s hazel-green eyes staring back at her, Alex’s face lit up.

“Hey,” she said, as she sniffled back what remained of her tears. Wiping her nose with the back of her hand, she grinned. “I thought for a minute, I’d lost you.”

Exhausted and freezing, Maggie was unable to speak. Shivering in the water, she merely shook her head slightly to acknowledge what Alex had said.

Rising to her feet, Alex reached into the tub and lifted Maggie out, groaning as the strain caused her back to twinge and her leg to throb. Icy water dripped from Maggie’s soaked clothes, drenching Alex in an instant, but Alex couldn’t have cared less. Quickly returning to the bedroom, she placed Maggie on the floor, and even though she had always tried to allow the woman a certain amount of privacy, now was not the time.

Feeling as if she had just prevented death from claiming another victim, Alex practically ripped the wet clothes from Maggie’s body, and disregarding the woman’s nudity, placed her back in the bed and covered her with the quilt.

The room was warm, but under the blankets, Maggie shivered uncontrollably. As another chill trembled its way through her body, she stuttered, “I’m so…c—c—cold.”

“I know,” Alex whispered, tucking the blankets in around her. “I’m going to put some more logs on the fire and get something dry to wear. I’ll be right back.”

As Maggie watched in silence, Alex tossed more wood on the fire and then opened the trunk at the foot of the bed and rummaged inside.

“How you doing?” Alex asked, looking up as she pushed her sweatpants to the floor.

“I—I—I can’t stop shaking.”

Frowning at the response, Alex pulled a white t-shirt from the trunk. Turning her back to Maggie, she quickly changed her shirt.

Maggie knew that she should allow Alex some privacy, but as hard as she tried, she simply could not look away from the woman’s well-muscled physique. Sinewy without being overt, it was clear that Alex took pride in her body, and at that particular moment, so did Maggie. However, when another shiver ran down her spine, Maggie groaned loudly as she pulled the blankets up to her nose.

Hanging the wet clothes near the fireplace, Alex walked to the bed. Without saying a word, she climbed under the covers, wrapping one strong arm around Maggie as she gently pulled her toward her. Fully expecting the ill woman to balk at her presence in the bed, when Maggie snuggled against her warmth, Alex let out the breath she had been holding.

“I’m scared,” Maggie confessed as she continued to shake.

Rubbing her hand briskly over Maggie’s back, Alex whispered, “So am I.”

When she opened her eyes, Alex became aware of three things. Her nose was cold, her leg was throbbing, and she was holding a warm, soft woman in her arms. Reaching over, she placed her hand lightly against Maggie’s forehead and grinned. For most of the night Alex had held her, rubbing her back and arms to try to fight off the chills that had ravaged her body. In the early hours of the morning, Maggie had finally fallen asleep, and Alex had quickly followed. For the next twelve hours, they slept soundly…and fever free.

Stealthily slipping out from under the sheets so as not to wake Maggie, Alex grabbed a pair of sweat pants and crept from the room. Visiting the bathroom first, she emptied her bladder, brushed her teeth courtesy of the packaged toiletries she had found in the cellar, and grabbing a pair of dry socks from the towel bar, covered her feet and shuffled to the kitchen.

Returning to the bedroom a short time later, she was surprised to find Maggie not only awake, but looking better than she had in days. Her skin was no longer a ghostly white, and her eyes were bright and clear.

“Hi there! How you feeling?” Alex said, trying her best to hide her limp as she walked to the bed.

It should have been an easy question to answer; Maggie was clear-headed for the first time in days, and while she felt as if she had run a marathon, her fever was gone. She was thirsty. She was hungry, and her powers of observation were rapidly returning. The fact that Alex wasn’t wearing a bra was more than evident, and having a hard time keeping her eyes off of the woman wearing a gauze-thin white t-shirt, Maggie quickly sputtered, “Better…I…I…I think the fever broke.”

Totally unaware of her appearance, Alex handed Maggie a bottle of water. “Yeah, it broke last night, but I still think you need to drink this.”

Nodding her head, Maggie began to gulp the water until Alex pulled the bottle away.

“Slowly, remember?”

“Sorry,” Maggie said, her eyes once again finding their way to Alex’s chest.

Watching as she sipped the water, Alex asked, “You hungry?”

“Actually, I am.”

“Good. Drink your water. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

As Alex headed for the door, Maggie called out, “Alex, can you…um…can you find me something to wear?”

“Oh, right,” Alex said with a chuckle, remembering that Maggie was naked under the blankets. “Hold on.”

Grabbing a flannel shirt and a pair of sweat pants, Alex placed them on the bed.

“You going to be all right with this?”

“Yeah, I think I can manage.”

“Right, well then you get dressed, and I’ll scrounge us up some food,” Alex said, leaving the room to give Maggie some privacy.

When she came back a short time later, Maggie was not only thankful for the breakfast she was carrying, but also for the fact that the slight chill of the cabin had forced Alex to put on an over-sized corduroy shirt. Sitting quietly as she sipped her tea and ate some peaches, Maggie listened as Alex told her about the root cellar and its contents.

“So we’ll be okay, then?” Maggie asked.

“Yeah, we’ve got food, water, toiletries…all the comforts of home, except home, that is.”

Noticing that Maggie seemed to be fidgeting in the bed, Alex grinned, already knowing the question before it was asked. “You need the loo?”

A hint of blush crossed Maggie’s cheeks. “Yes, please.”

Helping Maggie to her feet, when she began to sway, Alex wrapped her arm around her shoulders and walked her slowly to the bathroom.

“You can handle this yourself now – yes?”

Maggie’s cheeks flamed instantly. Alex’s words solidifying what she had already assumed, Maggie nodded her head. “I’ll be fine.”

“I’m going to get some more wood, so if you need me, just shout out.”

“I will. Thanks.”

Believing that her trip to the wood pile would be brief, between the ice-laden snow drifts, the heavy winds and the intense pain in her thigh, it was nearly an hour before Alex had enough wood stacked on the porch to last them another day. After transferring the pile inside, she slowly limped to the lounge. About to kick off her boots, she looked over and noticed Maggie standing in the hallway staring back at her.

“What’s wrong with your leg?” Maggie asked.

“Nothing. Just a bit sore, that’s all,” Alex said with a shrug.

Even though Maggie felt as if she could crawl back into bed and sleep for a week, her temper was as healthy as ever. Sensing that Alex was hiding something, Maggie glared at the woman as she walked closer. “Don’t you dare lie to me, Alex. You’ve just spent the last four days saving my bloody life, and if there’s something wrong with you, if you’re
hurt
, then I think I have the right to know.”

Letting out a long breath, Alex sat on the arm of the sofa and looked at the woman who had haunted her dreams for over three years. The clothing Maggie wore was wrinkled and several sizes too large, and her hair was tangled and in need of a wash, but as Alex gazed at the auburn-haired Inspector, she couldn’t remember ever seeing anyone more beautiful. Captivated, Alex allowed her chivalry to slip a notch.

“I got a few cuts on my leg when we crashed,” she explained. “One seems to be doing okay, but the other still hurts like a bugger.”

“Why don’t you let me take a look?”

“Because
you
need to rest.”

“Alex—”

“Look, I’ll do you a deal. You take a short kip, and when you wake up, I’ll let you play doctor. How’s that?”

“No,” Maggie said firmly.

Raising an eyebrow, Alex said, “Excuse me?”

“I’ll take a nap
after
I look at your leg.”

“Christ, you’re pushy.”

“You have no idea,” Maggie said with a grin. “Now take off those sweatpants.”

***

As she waited for Alex to return with the first-aid supplies, Maggie sat on the sofa taking in her surroundings. Other than the faded Mohican patterned upholstery covering the sofa and chairs, and several fish mounted in various poses of capture hanging from the walls, the main room of the cabin was identical to the bedroom down to the fireplace encompassing one wall. Noticing a bit of sunlight creeping in around the shutters covering the windows, Maggie walked over and removed one of the wooden bars holding them closed. Blinking as sunlight streamed through the frost-covered window, she smiled when she felt the cold radiating through the glass. It was good to be alive.

Hearing a noise, Maggie looked over her shoulder and watched as Alex limped back into the room carrying the first-aid kit and a bottle of what appeared to be liquor.

“What’s in the bottle?” Maggie asked.

“Scotch,” Alex replied, placing everything on the coffee table.

“Bit early for that, don’t you think?”

“There’s not much disinfectant left, and if the cut is infected, you might need something else to clean it.”

“Well, hopefully it won’t come to that,” Maggie said, returning to the couch. “You’ll need to take off your boots.”

“Oh, right,” Alex said, easily stepping out of the left one. However, when she tried to do the same with the right, she instantly grimaced.

“Here, let me do that,” Maggie said as she reached down, carefully removing the boot.

Sitting on the sofa, Maggie looked up at the tall woman now standing in front of her. Swallowing hard at the beauty staring back at her, Maggie suddenly felt as if the past three years had never happened. All the feelings that she had worked so diligently to bury seemed to have come back in force. Taking a deep breath to clear away her thoughts, she untied the string holding up Alex’s loose-fitting sweat pants, and a second later the baggy clothing was puddled around Alex’s feet.

Alex’s body throbbed in response, and surprised by the intensity of the pulse of awareness between her legs, a small groan slipped from her lips.

Look up, Maggie asked, “You okay?”

“Um…yeah…yeah, I’m fine. Just wasn’t prepared for the draft,” Alex quipped, all the while praying that the cool cabin air would help to stifle her overactive libido.

Flashing a quick grin, Maggie returned to the matter at hand, and lifting the hem of Alex’s shirt, she examined the small cut on the front of her thigh. Running her finger lightly over the rapidly healing cut, she said, “This doesn’t look infected.”

“The entrance wound is on the back of my leg. I could never manage to get a good look at it,” Alex said as she turned her back to Maggie. Feeling her shirttail being lifted out of the way, Alex waited for Maggie to say something, but when she heard the woman gasp, it confirmed what Alex had already known.

Blanching at the sight of the wound, Maggie asked, “How did this happen?”

“When I woke up after the crash, I found that a piece of metal had gone through my seat…and through my leg.”

“Jesus Christ!” Maggie exclaimed. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“If you remember, you weren’t in any shape to listen, and once I got myself free, it wasn’t too bad.”

“Well, it looks bad now.”

“Yeah?”

“Alex, it’s definitely infected. You need to lie down and let me see what I can do.”

Moving off the sofa to allow Alex room, Maggie opened the first-aid kit and examined the contents. Although there seemed to be plenty of gauze, bandages and tape, the only disinfectant was a partially filled bottle of isopropyl rubbing alcohol.

Returning to sit on the edge of the sofa, Maggie lifted the tails of the shirt and looked at the gash again. It was less than two inches long, but the entire thing was swollen, and yellow pus appeared to be building just below the surface of the skin. Gently, Maggie ran her finger over the cut, hoping that the slight pressure she was applying would force it to open on its own, but when Alex yelped in pain, Maggie pulled her hand away. Thinking for a moment, she looked around the room, and seeing a cast-iron kettle hanging on a hook over the fire, she asked, “The pot over the fireplace, what’s that for?

“I use it to boil water.” Alex answered, looking over her shoulder at Maggie.

“Do we have salt?”

“Yes, in the cellar. Why?”

“Because we need to draw this infection out.”

“Is it that bad?”

Grimacing as she glanced at the cut again, Maggie said, “It’s worse.”

***

After losing the argument deciding who would gather the water, salt and washcloths, Alex sat on the edge of the sofa, trying her best not to put pressure on the back of her leg while Maggie shuffled around the cabin for the supplies. Eyeing the bottle of scotch still sitting on the coffee table, Alex was contemplating having a sip when Maggie came from the kitchen carrying two glasses. Without saying a word, she picked up the bottle and began filling the glasses.