4 - Melissa

4

Melissa

I knew I was dreaming, because King Kong was carrying me up a skyscraper.

Despite knowing it wasn’t real, I screamed in terror. How could I not? We were halfway up the Empire State Building, the enormous ape’s fists smashing through windows to gain purchase as he climbed. Even if I could escape the grasp of his fingers wrapped around me, I couldn’t do anything about it because it felt like my leg was broken. I was totally helpless, unable to move or fight or flee. All agency had been stripped from me.

The feeling left me screaming into the sky.

I jerked awake. I was in the back of Jack’s Jeep, with him gently shaking my arm.

“We’re here,” he said.

I looked around. It was dark outside, and we were parked in the admittance loop of the Crested Butte Medical Center. Ash was already outside, fiddling with the bike mounted on the back.

“I’m… wow, I don’t remember falling asleep,” I said, trying to shake off my grogginess while stepping out of the car.

“You were dead to the world. We didn’t want to wake you.”

“That’s the most sleep I’ve gotten since starting the Colorado Trail,” I admitted.

Ash gave a silent wave to Jack, then mounted the bike and rode away. Watching him, a pool of warmth settled into the base of my stomach as I remembered the way he had carried me like I weighed nothing. The warmth began to tingle.

Shut up, lady-parts , I cursed myself. I’m not attracted to enormous dudes covered in tattoos.

“He’s… an interesting character,” I said.

Jack snorted. “If you can get past the rough exterior, he’s a really good guy. Let’s get you inside.”

By now, my ankle was swollen up to the size of a softball, and had turned a wicked shade of purple. But I could put more weight on it now than I could on the trail, and I was able to limp into the waiting room without Jack’s help.

“Jack!” the receptionist behind the desk greeted happily. “Didn’t expect to see you today. Thought you were clearing trails in the San Juans.”

“Picked up a stray while I was there.” He jerked his head toward me. “Is Noah working tonight? It’s kind of an off-books situation.”

The receptionist nodded in understanding. “Go on back to exam room four. I’ll let him know you’re here.”

“You’re a peach.”

The medical center was mostly deserted at this time of night. I had to do some mental math to figure out that it was a Tuesday. We went into the exam room and closed the door.

“Thanks for getting me here,” I said, sitting on the examination table. “You don’t have to babysit me though, if you’ve got better things to do.”

Jack crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “I want to chat with Noah to make sure he doesn’t charge you.”

“Oh, right.”

While we waited, I tried flexing my ankle. I had almost no range of movement; if I attempted to point my toes at the ceiling, my foot tilted less than an inch.

I tried a little too hard, and hissed in pain. “Stop that,” Jack said.

“I’m seeing how bad it is.”

“You can see how bad it is based on the color of your skin,” he replied dryly. “Unless it’s normally that shade of violet.”

Ignoring him, I bent down and massaged it. The skin was swollen and tender. It was a reminder that I was an idiot who didn’t know what she was doing, and had bitten off more than she could chew.

No. I dismissed that thought. Anyone could roll their ankle, regardless of experience.

Sighing, Jack went to a mini-fridge in the corner of the room and pulled out a reusable ice pack. Without asking if he could, he bent down and pressed it against my ankle.

“I’ve got it,” I hissed, taking the pack from him.

He rose, held out his palms defensively, and took up his position against the wall again.

“I’ve had a bad day,” I muttered. “Sorry I’m grumpy.”

“I hadn’t noticed.”

Jack pulled out his phone, so I instinctively did the same and plugged it into the outlet so it could charge. This was the first time I’d had any juice since it died yesterday, so turning it on felt like a return to civilization even more than being in an honest-to-God building with air conditioning.

A flurry of texts from my friends and family came in first, but I opened the Maps app first. I wasn’t good with geography, and hadn’t done much research on Colorado towns beyond what was near the trail route. I had no idea where Crested Butte was, and assumed it was somewhere in southwestern Colorado near the trail where Jack had parked.

But when I zoomed out on the map, I did a double-take. “We’re in the middle of Colorado?”

Jack frowned at me. “As opposed to the middle of Texas?”

I hopped to my feet and almost fell before steadying myself on my good ankle. I limped over to Jack and showed him my screen. “You picked me up way down here. And now we’re way the hell up here .”

“I told you I was taking you to Crested Butte,” he said flatly.

“I hadn’t heard of this town before you picked me up!” I said heatedly. “I didn’t know it was almost two hundred miles away! Right now, I’m closer to the finish of the Colorado Trail than the start!”

He blinked at me. “I don’t understand.”

“I thought you were taking me somewhere nearby. Not halfway across the state.”

“This is the only hospital where I know a doctor who will treat you for free. I’m sorry you’re not better at geography.”

“Unbelievable,” I muttered. “I don’t want to seem ungrateful for your help, but my plans are kind of fucked right now. Unless you’re going to drive me two hundred miles back to where you picked me up?”

“Wasn’t planning on it. But I’m sure I can find someone driving that way.”

“Cool. So you’ve derailed my entire hike. That’s great.”

He rolled his eyes. “That ankle is derailing your hike more than anything right now. Look. I could be home right now drinking a cold beer rather than getting yelled at for helping an ungrateful asshole.”

I whipped my head toward him. “Don’t call me an asshole!”

“It’s a whole lot nicer than what I really want to call you,” he muttered.

“Go home and drink yourself to sleep,” I hissed. “I don’t care.”

“Fine by me,” he snapped, fire flaring in his dark eyes. “Good luck finding a ride back to the trail with your busted ankle, because I’m done helping you.”

“I don’t want any more of your help , if you can even call it that!”

He didn’t slam the door on his way out, but he certainly wasn’t gentle.

I let out an annoyed snarl. Everything had gone off the rails. All I wanted to do was get my ankle fixed up, return to the trail, and hang out at a campsite until I was healthy enough to continue. Jack may have solved one minor problem, but he had created several new ones.

The door opened, and I immediately said, “I told you I don’t want your help with—”

I cut off when I saw that it wasn’t Jack.

It was, quite possibly, the most attractive man I had ever seen in my life.