In Between Seasons (The Fall) (19 page)

“I’ll leave you this suture kit;
that way you don’t need to take any
thing from your active supplies,”
Doctor Skokie said.

“Get on with it,
” Hunter
ordered as he bent
down
and
put
his h
and in my good one,
“Squeeze my hand as hard as you need to, okay?”

When the d
octor started fixing my wrist I wished Hunter had really killed him. I only screamed once
,
but
ended up kicking my legs
and
squeezing Hunter’s hand as hard as it was possible.  It only served to cause the pain in my arms to filter through all of my limbs
,
and
by the end of the procedure I was covered in sweat
and
my body was numb with the torture
of the cast.

I barely heard the d
octor’s voice as he gave Hunter the pills to give me
and
the suture kit. I heard the door shut
and
Hunter come to sit next to me. His hand slid into mine
and
he sighed,
“It’s not quite over—I need to stitch up your forehead.”

I squeezed his hand,
“
It’s
okay.”

His hands were far softer tha
n the d
octor
’
s as
he
wiped my forehead,
“Are you ready?”

I nodded my head
and
the poking
and
tugging at my
skin was so much gentler tha
n the casting that it felt as though
it was
nothing more than brushing my hair. I suppose
d
that if I hadn’t
just
had someone man-
handle my bones into place
that the sewing of my skin together would have been painful.
I wasn’t really being courageous. It just didn’t hurt as much, or I was starting to not feel.

“Done,” Hunter caressed my cheek with his hand,
“Let’s sit you up a little bit
,
so I can get you something to eat
and
then give you these pills. On an empty stomach these things are killers.”

“Sure,”
I replied
as he lifted
and
placed
me back down in the bed.

“What do you want to eat?”

“What can you cook?” I teased
,
opening one eye with a smirk.

“Grill cheese?” he suggested, and
the
vein in his forehead retracted
at my smile.

Once I had eaten
and
taken the
pain killers the numbness started to take over
,
and
I wasn’t quite sure what was reality
or
dreaming. Hunter
lay
down next to me
,
and
I put my head on his chest.

“You gave me a scare there Kate,” Hunter ran
his hands
through
my hair,
“I could never live without you.”

I sure as hell hoped that part wasn’t a dream.

After two weeks of the fog caused by the
pain killers creeping in
and
out of the edges of my mind I had had enough. I was going stir crazy with not being able to train with Hunter because at the edges of the fog were dreams that the secret weapon Hunter had sought was now seeking me
out. 
I didn’t know if it was the drugs causing the anxiety, but the feeling of dread that it caused was real enough. There was one thing I was now certain of, there was a secret weapon.
I opened my eyes to see Hunter sitting at the love
seat watching a movie on the TV and a slight feeling of relief washed over me. Then it was replaced by another unpleasant thought—one that Mara had placed in my mind about Hunter, and his…friends. I found that thought more disturbing than the one about someone trying to kill me.

“What are you wat
ching?” I asked
as I kicked my feet over the side of the bed.

“Oh,” he shut
the TV off
and turned to face me
, “Nothing really. I couldn’t sleep
—
you
were talking a lot
.”

“What was I
saying?” I asked
, standing nervously.

“
Oh, nothing that really matters,” h
e replied
with a smile as I walked past
him
into the kitchen to get a drink.

“
Great, so you’
re not going to tell me?” I questioned
as I looked
over the top of the fridge door at him
. He was
leani
ng against the door, and
I had to take
a deep breath as our eyes met.

“How are you feeling?” he
asked
,
cocking his head
. His jaw line tightened
with a thought
that
I couldn’t decipher as I smiled at him.

“Good,” I replied as I looked
down at my glass
and bit
my lip.

“What’s wrong?”

“I was just thinking…”

“What?”
Hunter asked
.

“Are you a virgin?”
I whispered
,
afraid of his response.

Hunter leaned f
orward laughing,
“I think your
pain killers are talking.”

“No more pain killers,” I stated as I looked
up at him
with
my heart hamme
ring against my mending ribs so hard
that
I felt
as though they wou
ld break against the force
.

“
Kate, I’m a twenty-
five year old man…you ca
n’t think I’m a virgin,”
his eyes pacing back
and
forth as they searched my face,
“I’ve had a girlfriend or two—but if what you want to know is if I’
ve been in love before
, the
n no.”

“I
guess it was silly of me to ask,” I replied,
taking a sip of water
and
leaning against the counter.

“Let me
a
sk you a question?” Hunter leaned against the door frame,
“Are you?”

“What do you think?”
I retorted
.

He looked away from me and
out the window
as he coughed,
“I guess not then.”

“But I’ve never been in love.”

“Was it Trevor?” Hunter
asked,
looking back at me
with
his eyes intense.

“Who else?” I responded
with a shrug.

“I’m glad I
shot him,
”
he hissed under his breath, and I was glad that I heard a hint of jealousy in his voice.

“What was that?”

“Nothing at all,” h
e replied
,
a crooked smile playing on his lips.

“So when does thi
s come off?” I asked as I held my arm up, glad to change the subject.

“Soon…
another week
and
you should be good. The osteo-supplements help the healing
process speed up,” Hunter explained,
he walked
forward
and
took
my casted arm in his hands.

“We need to start tra
ining again as soon as possible,
”
I said.

“Can I take a peek at your ribs?”

“Sure,” I answered
,
putting the glass down
and
slipping my shirt off over my head. I looked up at him as in
nocent as possible.

He swallowed
and
then placed his hands gently on my torso causing goose bumps to trave
l in a visible line up my skin,
“I’m sorry if my hands are cold.”

It was my turn to be embarrassed that I couldn’t con
trol my body’s reaction to him,
“No, they’re fine.”

Our eyes met again
,
and
I found myself to be the one swallowing as my ribs threatened again to break against the pressure of my heart against them.

“They seem to be healed quite well. The fractures were minor
,
so I didn’t expect it to take
long. I’m sorry I had you doped up so long—I didn’t r
ealize they were healed so well,
”
he observed, and
his
hands
were
still resting on my skin
,
sending another rash of
goose bumps across my flesh
.

“So when can
we start training again?” I asked
,
trying to make my mind stay on anything other than the feeling of his hands a
gainst my bare skin
.

“Tonight if y
ou want,” Hunter let
his hands drop into his pockets,
“As long as you start cooking a
gain.
”

“
For sure
…you’re cooking sucks.
”

“Tell me about it,
”
he laughed, but the tension between us still hung in the air as we stood staring at one another.

I took a deep breath, “So, what would you like?”

~~~

Once we had eaten dinner
I
went and
stood outside,
leaning ag
ainst the porch railing to watch
the moon rise above the trees. The snow was still crisp on the ground
,
and
the silence of the night made me feel like nothing could be w
rong
in the world. It was peace
ful to only hear mine
and Hunter’s
breathing against the night air
. I
watch
ed
the clouds come
and
go from my mouth in slow easy succession.

“You ready?” Hunter questioned
as he pulled his hood over his head.

“Sure,”
I replied
,
and
he swept me into his arms.

“I don’t want to risk stairs with you.”

“Ha-ha,” I replied,
putting my head against his warm chest.

“
Hey, you never know
,” he teased,
and
I was struck again by his grace because as he walked down the steps there was no sound.

“W
ill I be allowed to run?” I asked
as Hunter jumped off the last step without placing me down.

“I don’t want to put too much pressure on your ribs by
having
you breathe heavily quite yet,” he explained,
beginning to run as if I were no more than a leaf.

When we reached the field Hunter
put
me to the ground
,
his breath
a whisper against the nig
ht sky as he walked past me.
When h
e turned to face me
his arms
were
crossed across his chest, and
I felt as though I was next
to the ocean as
I looked into his eyes so perfectly framed by the moonlight
and
the
snow
.
I had never seen the ocean, but
I imagined the way the stars reflected in his eyes was the way
it
would look over the water
;
shimmering despite the endless depth beneath.
It was as if the world had stopped
,
and
all I could hear was the hammering of my heart in my ears
and
his breath as he began demonstrating a move to me. His movements barely caused
t
he snow to crunch
,
and
I
felt as though I was in a dream,
but it was too clear to be a farce.
His hands gently slid up my arms as he showed me how to position myself to strike
,
but
his hands stop
ped
at my shoulders. I could see it in his eyes that he didn’t h
ave the heart for fighting
tonight. His thumb caressed my collarbone
and
his jaw tightened. He looked up at the sky
,
and
the stars reflected there perhaps deeper than before
. In one swift movement he slid his arm behind my back
and
pulled me to the ground with him. I put my head on his chest
,
and
we stared at the stars without having said a word. We stayed like that until neither of us could stand the cold
anymore
. Then we stood
and
walked hand in hand back
to the quiet house.