Finding Love the Hard Way

by Vickery, Rebecca J.

  With a sigh, she admitted, "No, I don't think I really hate it so much. I like what I see here. It's beautiful. Like this..." she gestured around her, "it's not so scary. But when I think of all the dangers out there and what could happen..." Lena didn't finish the thought, but shrugged again, at a loss for words.

  Walker reluctantly released her hand and walked on. "Fear of the great unknown. I guess I get that. But I'm glad you don't really hate it. There's so much to see and learn." He didn't tell her he would enjoy teaching her all about it, but he came close. Definitely too soon for that.

  Not long after, Lena heard a sound like distant thunder. It grew louder as they walked. When she couldn't hear herself think, Walker took her hand and guided her off the trail, hiking down a long slope. Bushes and trees blocked her view, but the noise grew fainter and then louder again.

  "What is it?" she yelled at one point.

  Walker shook his head then grinned at her. "You'll see. Come on."

  The sound became intense once more, almost deafening. Lena could feel the ground vibrating beneath her feet.

  They stepped out from behind the thick, low-growing bushes and Walker pointed.

  Lena gasped at the sight of the waterfall plunging down from above into the large blue-green pool spread out in front of her. Had it not been for the rocks and huge boulders bordering it, she might have thought they'd found a tropical oasis. "It's beautiful. Look at the rainbows."

  The sunlight filtering through the mist created multiple arcs of vibrant color up and down the fifty-foot fall of water. The flow erupted over a stone ledge then crashed with a thunderous sound into the pool, throwing white spray high into the air.

  Walker leaned near her ear to yell, "You can go wading if you want. Just don't go in too far. The undertow from the fall might drag you under."

  Lena grinned up at him and wasted no time shucking her hiking boots and socks before rolling up the legs of her jeans to mid-calf. "It's so cold," she giggled as she eased one foot then the other into the clear mountain pool.

  The water felt wonderful to her sore, achy feet. She watched Walker as he chose a rock to sit on while he chewed on a piece of jerky. He struck her as an odd man, but how nice of him to bring her to see the waterfall.

  When her feet grew numb from the cold and her toes looked like prunes, she joined him on the rock. Lena grinned happily as she accepted the bar of chocolate he handed over.

  Much too soon, Walker yelled in her ear, "We need to go back to check on the others and have lunch."

  Lena reluctantly slid the two pair of socks onto her air-dried feet and tugged on her hiking boots.

  The hike back took a while with most of the trail being uphill. Walker began to worry he'd left the others unsupervised for too long, but he'd been captivated watching Lena play in the water. Then just sitting with her gave him such unexpected pleasure. He moved out a bit in front of Lena, hoping she would move along faster.

  However, Lena's legs soon tired and threatened cramps from the unfamiliar climbing. Walker helped her up the steepest parts, but it didn't prevent the strain on her legs. She moved slower and slower as her legs ached.

  Finally, not too far from the spot where they left Eileen and Rob earlier, a sudden muscle spasm ripped through her left calf muscle. Lena grabbed for her lower leg. Her right foot slipped on the rocky surface. She couldn't regain her balance and tumbled into the river racing by several feet below. The cold water took her breath. She felt pummeled by the strong currents and couldn't stop herself from being carried along.

  Walker heard her scream and turned back, but couldn't grab her in time. He saw her hit the water head first. He blamed himself, knowing he should never have moved out so far ahead.

  The rushing whitewater quickly swept her away from him. "Roll on your back! Keep your head up!" Walker shouted and prayed she could hear him. He shrugged out of his daypack and dropped it, afraid of catching it on a rock when he eventually went in after her. Then he raced down the bank, jumping from rock to rock, trying to keep up with her – to keep her in sight. Hopefully, she would wash to the side in one of the small pools where he could fish her out. Fear that her head would be slammed against a rock tightened his gut.

  Lena didn't weigh much and he saw the rapids toss her around like a leaf in a tornado. She also had no training in whitewater survival. Lena continued to fight the water instead of relaxing back to let it carry her along on top. He watched as she buffeted against boulders and tried to grab on. Walker shouted himself hoarse trying to tell her what to do, how to save herself, until he could reach her.

  In a panic, Lena couldn't force her body to give in and let the rapids sweep her along as Walker yelled for her to do. Is he crazy? Or maybe he just wanted to be rid of her, once and for all. If she weren't so terrified for her life, she would laugh at the irony of the situation.

  A numbing cold stole through her body. At least the cramps in her legs were gone, along with most of the feeling. Maybe Walker would get his way after all. Bumping against the boulders sticking out of the water didn't hurt so much any more. God, I'm so tired. She would relax for just a minute to regain enough strength to fight once more.

  Walker saw the instant when Lena gave herself up to the current. She began riding along the top of the rapids instead of being beaten by them. Good girl! He raced faster. Walker knew he must reach her before she got to the long narrow chute of rough white water leading directly to the waterfall.

  Never slowing down, Walker raced along the trail ahead of Lena then plunged into the only pool left where he might intercept her. The shock of the cold water robbed his lungs of air as he fought out into the chest-deep center of the pool. The water slowed and swirled to each side, but the current moved strongly through the middle. He waited anxiously for Lena to appear while ignoring the cold biting into his flesh and sapping him of strength and body heat. Walker knew he had only this one chance, and he would make it work.

  Lena felt as if she crashed into a brick wall. Then something grabbed her and refused to let go. Too weak from the cold and her previous struggles in the water to fight any longer, Lena kept her eyes closed and smiled to herself as she wondered if it would be painful to be eaten by whatever creature dragged her out of the water.

  Chapter Six

  The forceful slam of Lena's body hurtling downstream – water-filled hiking boots first – hit Walker hard enough to knock him off his feet. Even as he went under, he retained enough presence of mind to wrap his arms around her and hold on. When he surfaced, he steered both of them toward the calmer water to one side.

  Finally, regaining his feet, he found himself too weak to lift her. He could barely move. Every breath he drew caused agony to arrow through his right lower chest. At least one broken rib, maybe more, he decided. He felt like a huge truck crashed into his chest.

  Walker half dragged and half floated Lena to the nearest bank. He held his right arm firmly against his injured ribs as he crawled out of the water. Reaching back with his left hand, he held onto Lena by the neck of her shirt and hauled her up onto dry ground as far as he could. Then he collapsed beside her, breathing carefully as he tried to ease the searing pain in his ribcage and across his chest.

  The warmth of the noon sun bearing down caused Lena to shiver as circulation and feeling gradually returned to her limbs. Aches and pains all along her body told her she survived the nightmare of the river. If she were dead there wouldn't be any pain, she reasoned. Afraid, but curious, she opened her eyes to see what danger she now faced. What had pulled her from the water?

  A very wet, pale-faced Walker lay beside her. She rose up onto an elbow and coughed up water. Groaning, Lena turned toward the man who saved her life. "Walker? Are you okay?" Her voice sounded weak and whispery, but at least she could talk. Another coughing spell and she spit out more water.

  "Yeah, I'm here," he wheezed, hoarse and in pain.

  "How bad are you hurt? Where are we? Will the others come looking for us, do you think?" Lena s
at up and leaned toward Walker, brushing his hair back from his face.

  "Busted ribs..." Walker drew in a short pained breath then went on, "Just above the falls... They're not...supposed to... Should go back to base camp...call for help." He started coughing and thought he would pass out from the agony tearing through his chest.

  Lena scooted closer and wiped away the bit of foamy blood at the corner of his mouth with the tail of her tee shirt. She didn't like the look of that. She gently brushed his water-darkened hair back from his face.

  "It's bad isn't it, Walker? What should I do?" she whispered. Fear clutched at her, terror at what might come out of the forest at any minute combined with concern over how to get help for Walker.

  "Just give me...a few minutes. Once I rest...we'll head toward camp." He concentrated on lying perfectly still, praying the pain would go away, or at least become tolerable.

  Lena watched, doubting very seriously if Walker would be going anywhere any time soon. Whatever was done would be up to her. She started trying to think of everything she'd ever seen or heard about chest injuries.

  Scenes from old movies flashed through her head. They always wrapped the chest – tightly. A year ago when one of her senior clients fell and broke a rib, the doctor wrapped his chest. She might do that if she had some bandages. Tears sprang to her eyes as she thought about how helpless and out of her element she felt.

  No! I can do this. I have to do this for Walker. He saved my life and I won't let him down. I will not be a failure at this too.

  Pushing painfully to her feet, Lena moved around to make sure everything worked. Aside from scrapes and several painful bumps and bruises where she bounced against the rocks, she seemed to be okay.

  "Stay close... Don't wander off..." Walker hoarsely warned.

  "Don't worry. You're gonna think we're Siamese twins until we get out of this," she promised. "I'm just seeing if all my parts still work."

  "They look...pretty good to me," he whispered. "Are you really okay? You scared ten years...off my life...at least."

  She knelt down beside him to tenderly touch his face. "I'm really all right. Just some bruises." Lena leaned down and kissed his lips lightly. "You saved my life. Thank you."

  "You had to wait...to do that until I can't...kiss you back..." he groaned with a crooked smile.

  "Yeah, I've got you right where I want you – helpless and dependant." Lena stood and removed her tee shirt.

  Walker swallowed hard as he looked at her lace-covered breasts and smooth, bare stomach. "Whoa...not sure I'm up to—"

  "Don't get any ideas," she interrupted. "I'm going to tear part of this off and make a bandage for your ribs. We need to bind them up so you don't do any more damage in there. Right?" Lena looked to him, suddenly unsure of herself again.

  "Good idea. It might help." He watched as she ripped off the bottom half of the damp, blue, cotton tee shirt then slipped the top part back on. The torn shirt left her midriff showing which emphasized her well-rounded bottom even more. He couldn't help noticing, in spite of his pain.

  Lena tore the bottom portion of the shirt into two long strips and seemed satisfied. Then she stopped and stared at Walker, trying to decide the best way to go about wrapping his chest. She knelt beside him again and unbuttoned his shirt. Shoving it apart, she gasped at the large red and purple mottled bruising already showing on the right side of his chest.

  "Oh, Walker, I'm so sorry..."

  "Not your fault. Help me sit up." Walker reached out to her with his left arm.

  As gently as possible, while closing her ears to his groans and curses, she helped him to a sitting position then slid his shirt down his arms. She couldn't resist the urge to rub her palm across his shoulders and savor the feel of his warm, firm flesh beneath her hand.

  Something about this man made her need to touch him and to rejoice in being alive. His broad shoulders felt every bit as good as they looked, taut and well-muscled. She cleared her throat and moved around in front of Walker, blushing at what went through her mind as she knelt before him.

  Carefully, she took the strips of tee shirt and wound them around him. Her nose practically brushed the golden hairs sprinkled across his chest as she reached around him.

  "Tighter," he insisted through gritted teeth.

  She hesitated, not wanting to do more harm than good.

  "It has to be tighter. You can do it, Lena," Walker growled. Then he sat as straight as possible to aid her efforts.

  Pulling the ends with most of her strength, Lena finally tied them together, and then sat back. "How is it now?"

  "Hurts like the devil, but I can breathe a little better. Give me a few minutes and we'll head for camp."

  "Don't you think it might be better to stay put and wait for someone to come after us? I mean... Uh, what if we don't make it back before dark? At least here, we have water... And I might manage a fire, if you tell me how." Lena felt more frightened of attempting to hike back and getting caught in the woods after dark than she was of staying put. What if Walker passed out on her? "Honestly, I just don't know how far I could go. I'm pretty done in."

  "Yeah, me too. It might mean staying here all night. Are you up for that?"

  Lena frowned at him. "Guess I have to be. Let me rest a bit then I'll gather some wood." She sat down behind him and they propped back to back, supporting each other. "I could sure use one of those sandwiches you packed this morning."

  "Too bad I left my daypack up the trail. There was jerky and a couple more candy bars in it," Walker admitted. Thankfully, the pain eased off considerably since Lena wrapped his ribs and gave him something to lean against. Sitting up also helped him breathe a bit easier.

  "It would have gotten all wet when I knocked you down anyway," Lena reminded him.

  "True." He chuckled and groaned. "Don't make me laugh...hurts like the dickens."

  "I'll get some wood. Hope you've got something to light it with. I don't see me starting a fire by rubbing two sticks together." She eased away from his back and got to her feet.

  "Lena?" Walker spoke softly and waited for her to come around to face him. "I think you can do anything you set your mind to. Don't let anyone tell you differently, okay?"

  Tears moistened her eyes and she smiled down at him. "Thank you, Walker. That is the nicest thing anyone has said to me in a long time. I'll stay well within yelling distance." She turned away and began looking for fallen limbs and branches for firewood. Would this man ever stop surprising her? Funny how he knew she needed her confidence boosted just now.

  Lena generally felt like a total failure. During the last two years, her life had sure taken some unexpected turns. She'd flunked out of college in her junior year. Dratted algebra. Then she flunked out of two relationships, lost umpteen jobs, and became estranged from her father who developed a liking for twenty-year-old girls after his fiftieth birthday. Most recently, she bombed out on a possible relationship with Rob before it ever got started. And now, she'd almost killed their guide.

  Lena shook her head and pushed away the post mortem on her life as she found a pile of pine cones scattered under an old, dead tree. She gathered up several then headed back to dump her armful before returning to find more wood around the dead tree.

  Walker had scooted around and leaned back against a boulder with his eyes closed. His color appeared less gray and she didn't see any more foamy blood. She hoped that was a good sign. God, please let me do this right, at least. Don't let me start a forest fire or permanently damage this poor man.

  She picked up his wet shirt and spread it over a bush to dry. He would need it when the sun went down. Then, forcing herself not to stare at his bare, sun-bronzed chest, she went back to collect more wood for a fire she wasn't even sure she could start.

  Chapter Seven

  Lena found she could build an adequate fire with the right instruction. Walker patiently explained how to build a pyramid shape with twigs and pinecones in the base and thin pieces of wood. He carried a small
waterproof cylinder in his pocket and Lena almost jumped for joy when he pulled out one of several matches.

  But his next instructions filled her with dismay.

  "I need you to go over there and move some of those small rocks. There should be grubs or worms under them—"

  "No way!" Lena jumped back and held up a hand like a stop sign. "I am not near hungry enough to eat bugs."

  Walker hooted with laughter then groaned and held his sore ribs. "Oh Lord, Lena, you're going to kill me yet." He waited for the pain and the amusement to pass. "Honey, I have a fish hook and a few feet of line in my pocket survival box. I thought if you could get a grub or a worm, you might be able to catch our supper."

  "Oh..." Lena dropped her hand and shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I could try it. But only if you promise I don't have to bait the hook or, should miracles actually happen, I don't have to touch a fish."

  Fighting back laughter again, Walker agreed. He watched in disbelief when Lena turned over a few rocks, but refused to touch the white grub she uncovered. She used a small stick, raked it onto a leaf, and then brought it to him, holding it far away from her body.

  He pierced it with the small gold hook and handed her the long stick to which he tied the line. "Now, whatever you do, don't let go of the stick. There's a good spot right over there where you can dangle the bait in the water." Walker reached out and tugged gently on the line. "When you feel a tug like that, tug back then lift up the end of the stick. You'll have a fish for us to cook for supper."

  "Hmm... Okay, if you say so." She frowned and chewed her lower lip, but then left him to go dangle the end of the line containing the hook and bug into the edge of the water. Lena shifted from foot to foot and smacked a bug away from her face. She remembered why she hated fishing. It required patience and she'd also flunked out on that more than once.