= = =
Falling
‘You should stay still,’ Diana told Hank. ‘You need as much rest as you can get. We are not going anywhere until you are ok, understand?’
She put her hand to his shoulder to reassure him, but that only served to make Hank feel worse. It had been a stupid mistake, one worthy of the Cavalier, not of the Ranger!
She stood and walked back down to the campfire, leaving Hank to pull the blankets tightly around his shoulders, leaning back against the tree and closing his eyes.
The chance of getting to the Portal was gone. He had tried to argue that he was ok, but Diana was unshakeable. He had to rest and stay still; that was what the book said and even though he didn’t usually trust things that came out of the Hat, he was in no position to argue.
How could he have let this happen?
Eric had fallen any number of times and he’d come though it with little more than a bruised ego! The first time Hank had fallen, he’d sprained his ankle and very nearly drowned!
The makeshift splint and sling felt awkward, and his foot still hurt. There was nothing much anyone could do about the pain, though Presto assured him that he would keep trying to get something more effective out of the Hat.
Hank leaned back against the tree, reliving the moment again and again. He had acted without thinking, just leaping forward to help her up, and his foot had slipped on the wet stones by the raging river. He’d been too worried about Sheila to pay enough attention to the rocks, and over he had gone. One moment he’d been standing upright, the next he was being sucked under the water by the unexpectedly strong current. He still couldn’t quite understand how they had managed to pull him out!
How could he have let this happen? One moment of carelessness and another chance was gone.
There was the sound of light footsteps over the grass and Hank opened his eyes with a start. He didn’t want to speak to anyone, he dreaded what the others were going to say; the looks he would get from Bobby, and the caustic remarks he was certain to get from Eric.
But the dread faded as he saw who it was: Sheila.
She stepped carefully up towards him, mostly looking down at the ground. Every so often she would glance up and give a nervous smile. True, he didn’t want to speak to anyone, but he would always want to be with Sheila. In spite of his embarrassment and the ache in his leg and his chest, he smiled at her.
She didn’t hesitate to side down next to him, pushing close against the thick layers of blankets that Diana had insisted that he wrap around him.
‘Diana said that someone needs to keep an eye on you,’ she said, licking her lips, ‘so I volunteered for the first watch.’
Though he was grateful, the colour still grew in his cheeks. Now they were reduced to keeping an eye on him! She must have noticed, and she put her and on the bundle of blankets above his arm.
‘It’s ok Hank, you shouldn’t be upset…’
‘But we’ve missed another chance!’ he blurted out. ‘We should be half way to the Gate of Night by now, instead, we’re stuck here, looking after me!’
‘You almost drowned,’ she said quietly. ‘It was… it was really close.’
There was a catch in her voice that he didn’t expect, and tears in her eyes.
‘Sorry,’ he murmured. ‘It’s just that I hate thinking of you stuck here because of me.’
‘I would rather be stuck here with you than anywhere else without you,’ Sheila replied.
There was silence as Hank realised what she was saying and his heart started to thump loudly in his chest. When he looked into her eyes, she looked back at him steadily that made his heart thud even more loudly.
Before he could reply, she shifted closer to him, tilting her head slightly, then she more forward to kiss him full on the lips with an exquisite tenderness.
Hank responded, breathing in the sensations and the scent of her skin and hair. He would have pulled her closer, but his arms were still trapped under a thick layer of blankets.
They continued to kiss for over a minute before slowly and with a hint of regret Sheila pulled away. She reached out to flick the hair out of his eyes then cuddled into his shoulder without another word.
Close by, the others were ignoring them, busying themselves with making camp and cooking dinner. No one had noticed, or at least no one was letting on that they had noticed! And he didn’t care if they had!
Hank smiled, his heart lighter than it had been in months. He leaned his head against Sheila and she snuggled closer. There were few things in the Realm worth nearly dying for, but this was one of them!