Betrayal

When dark approached he had to take a break. They hadn't passed another soul on the trail. His phone was still a no go. He gathered wood and built a small fire in a semicircle of rocks, built so the heat would reflect out the open area and warm her. He found a stream nearby and although it was freezing, he took his clothes off, washed, and lay down in the water. Feels great he thought.

He was partially visible in the fading light. She did not look away.

"Well, Ali. My clothes are starting to smell about as ripe as yours. Is it OK if I go wash them and hang 'em by the fire? Promise, I'm not going commando and I have conservative undies on. But when you're as big as I am? Well, you know."

"I know that that's probably where you keep an extra pair of socks...." He laughed.

"My secret's out. Actually, I have some kinda clean clothes I can change into. I have a couple of T-shirts in my pack if you would like to change yours."

"Sure. I'd love to get my pants washed, but I have no idea how I would get them off. What with the splints and all. And my undies are pretty small...."

"Tell you what. I know you didn't want to do it, but I have a pair of sweat pants in the pack. What if I cut your pants off..." She started to protest. "I'll get you some water so you can wash off and you can put the sweat pants on. I'll just cut the seam of your pants so they're easy to sew back. Hell, I'll just buy you a new pair if you'll feel better about it.

"Once we get back and drop you off at the hospital I can drive to your house and get some more clothes." A look of pain filled her features. She appeared to deflate and started to cry.

"Ali. I'm sorry. What...what'd I do wrong?"

"Nothing, Ian. It's me. I don't have any other clothes. I don't have anything."

She pulled up the sleeves of her sweat shirt. Scars. Lumps, irregularities. "Ian. I was a junkie. My mom got me hooked on heroin when I was younger. We scraped by, but a couple years ago she switched to meth.

"I just couldn't do it. She just fell apart in front of my eyes. It was like she was rotting. Then she died. Probably an overdose. I don't know. I was so high I didn't even know it for hours. I stopped that day. Never again. God it was awful. Cold turkey. It was so hard. I rolled around on the floor and...well, doesn't matter.

"I've been off it a year, but I'm still at that Church's crisis house. I have a part time job, but no one will hire me because, well, you know. These are small towns and they all knew my mom. They don't trust me or want me around.

"I don't blame them. It's just... it takes money to move and start over somewhere else. Money I don't have. So if you want to just leave me here, I'll understand. You've done more than enough for me."

"No way. You quit the hard stuff. That takes guts. A lot of guts. That's an incredible accomplishment. And here I was feeling sorry for myself. Don't worry, Ali. I'll help you through this and get you on your feet. No strings attached." He held up his hands. "Honest."

She teared up and started to cry. "Why, Ian? Why would you do that?"

"Because you need help. You need a hand. And that's just what we non-country, southern boys do." He chuckled then got out the sweat pants and T-shirt. And smiling, "I think they're just about your size."

"Alright. Alright. Cut them off and get me some water."

He took off the splints. Carefully split her pants to the thighs, covered her with the sleeping bag and slid her pants down, over her shoes and off. He did notice her torn thong as the bag shifted. I'm going to have to do something about that!

"Here's some fresh, mountain stream water. Fairly chilly, but I didn't really have anything to warm it in. Oh, and a tee shirt to wash with. Guess I'll just burn it when you're done with it."

She smiled. "Ogre. You have quite a way with words. They make a girl feel oh so special. Now quit trying to peek and let me get to washing!"

She washed the best she could and slid the sweat pants on. They were huge. Like the tee shirt.

Oh, this shirt smells just like Ian. I like it.

She stuffed her thong and bra in his pack. I should burn those, but my only other set was in the pack.

She was asleep when he got back. He gathered more wood. Some more peanut butter. Refilled their water. And laid down next to her after making sure she was completely covered by the bag.

A few hours later, he was awakened by a shuffling nearby. He flipped on the head lamp. Damn. A bear. Just our luck. He jumped up, grabbed a stick that was still burning in the fire and walked towards the black bear. The bear backed away and left, but Ian knew it would be back. Smells the food. The wonders of peanut butter. The universal animal attractant.

Might as well get going. He roused Ali, got her and everything squared away, leaving her in the sweat pants. He walked the rest of the night and as dawn approached, he spotted the parking lot and his truck. Not bad! A day and a half.

"Let's get you loaded up and I'll drive you to the hospital at Dillard. They have an Orthopedist there who can hopefully take care of this."

When they got to the ED he went in, explained what had happened and came back to the truck with a wheelchair and a nurse. They loaded her up and the nurse took her in while he parked the truck.

By the time he got back, Ali was off to X-ray and the nurse approached with a bunch of forms for him to read. He explained that he had simply found her on the trail and carried her back from close to Jackson's Peak. The nurse was flabbergasted. "You carried her all that way in 36 hours? You're a hero. We need to call the paper."

"No. No hero. I just did what I had to. She's the hero. She made it for two days with two broken legs before I found her. Nothing to eat or drink. Then another day and a half being bounced around on my shoulders. So make her the hero."

A short time later the Orthopedist came out to the waiting area. "Ian?" He nodded. "Hello. I'm Dr. Jones. Ali gave me permission to talk to you. She says you just met on the trail?" He nodded. "Well, she needs to go to surgery as soon as we can get set up. Her fractures are a mess. Lots of pieces. She really did a job on those bones.

"So plates on the small bone in the leg, the fibula. But the main bone, the tibia. Well, I'm going to try to skewer the big pieces with a rod, put a long plate across all the breaks then add some screws, bone grafts. Man, she looks like one of our high speed motorcycle wrecks. You know, a high impact sort of thing. Bone smushed in a bunch of segments and pieces. I don't know how she managed it.

"And because it still won't be stable, I need to add this metal thing on the outside until things stabilize and start to get sticky and hold together.

"Then switch to casts. Probably like 6 weeks or so down the line. The surgery is going to take a few hours. She won't be able to put any weight on her legs for at least four and maybe up to six months. And then she'll need rehab...One leg and she could do crutches. But both legs and..."

"Doctor, she made me promise to tell you that she wants absolutely no pain medication. She... Well she had some problems with drugs and is afraid she'll get hooked again."

"Yea. We talked about that. Getting IV access was no fun. Believe me. We had to put one in that big vein in her neck. It's amazing how far she's come. So we're going to give her some nerve blocks that should last a day or so, hopefully. And then acetaminophen. I guess if she can put up with the pain for what, almost four days? I guess she can handle some surgical pain.

"She'll be in here several days. But she can't really go back to the crisis house and doesn't appear to have any family....."

"Not a problem Doctor. She can stay at my place and I can look after her. Whatever she needs to get better..."

"You'd do that? You just met her?"

"That's what people do, Sir. Help those who need help, right? So no problem."

"Where do you live, Ian?"

"Not far. Grinwald. I own the computer store there."

"So you're that guy. My wife got a computer through you. She loved the service and absolutely loves her computer. Maybe the hospital could use the services of a guy like you.

"Seems to me they're wasting a lot of money and the system we have is incredibly slow, never seems to work right. Especially when we're all making rounds and doing stuff on it first thing in the morning. I'm going to talk to them.

"Anyway, would you like to visit with her until we take her back? She was asking about you..."

"I'm kinda dirty, Doctor. Are you sure it's OK? I mean..."

"It's fine. Ian. This is a country hospital. Not some celebrity hospital."

Walking to the preop holding area. "Hey, Ali. You smell better."

"And you still stink, Ogre." She teared up. "I'm scared, Ian. Scared of the surgery. Scared of what I'm going to do afterwards.... He said I couldn't put any weight on my legs for four to six months. Or longer!" Sobbing,

"What am I going to do, Ian? Am I going to be in a nursing home or something with all those old, really sick people? Or something worse? I'm scared. Really, really scared!

"In my old life, well, it really didn't matter. Life sucked so bad...But now? I...What am I going to do?"

He took her hand. She startled and automatically started to withdraw. He held tight. But then she looked into his eyes and relaxed.

"I've got it all worked out. You can move into my place...."

She flinched and tried to pull her hand away. "Dammit, Ali. No! Nothing like that. I won't touch you. No strings. You need help and the Doctor says there's no one else. I promise.

"You get the bedroom. I'll get the couch. It'll be fine. When you feel up to it, you can help out in my store to pay me back. How's that? You said you wanted to be employee of the month, right? And if you hate having me around....Well, I'll sleep at the office or something. Whatever you need and feel comfortable with."

She just stared into his blue eyes. Searching. Looking deeply. Who is this guy?

"You would do that for me? Why? Why would you do it? We just met? No one. No one has ever done anything, anything at all for me. Ever!" Her eyes filled with tears again. He handed her a tissue.

"So, the plan is...I'll stay with you until surgery starts. Then dash home, get cleaned up..." And I better tidy up my apartment, get food and a bunch of other stuff. "And then be back by the time you go to a room. Sound like a plan?" Or at least I hope I'm back.

"But, Ian. You don't have to...."

"Yes. Yes, I do. There's no way I won't help, Ali." And maybe it'll help me focus on something other than my own crap filled past. She squeezed his hand.

"Thanks, Ogre. And thanks for saving me. My life and maybe in other ways as well." She smiled. "But no more fucking peanut butter!" He smiled.

"Wait 'til you try my peanut butter pie. I get one of those premade crusts, melt a jar of peanut butter...."

"Enough! You're making me gag." They both laughed.

When the OR folks came to gather her, he wished her luck and kissed her on the forehead. She flinched again as his face approached hers, but then relaxed and smiled. "Sorry, Ian. I...well, I have issues. But thank you for everything. Wish me luck."

As they rolled her away, he dashed off. Better go home and get cleaned up first. The folks at the grocery won't appreciate it if I walk in like this. Bad for business. Way to clear a store.

He smiled to himself, gave the apartment a quick clean, picked up all his dirty clothes and put a load in the washing machine. Rinsed the dishes, put them in the dishwasher, started it. Changed the sheets on the bed, cleaned the bathroom, etc.

One hour gone. Off to the department store. Tooth brush, deodorant, girlie soap with a scrubber, shampoo, cream rinse, hair brush for her long blonde hair. Some of those scrunchy things to tie her hair up. Hell, I don't know what she needs. Never had sisters. Sam had short hair. But I guess most of the other stuff will be similar. Heck, I'm going to need another cart soon. Stocking up with this stuff for the first time adds up. Oh, well.

Then clothes. The nurse had given him an estimate of her sizes. Sam was bigger. All the labels of her clothes were unreadable. Scrubs, shorts, T-shirts. Sweat shirts. Socks, shoes. 2 sizes of sneakers. Heck, I can always return what doesn't fit. He looked at bras....No way. I have no idea.

Also, an inflatable mattress. God, this is going to suck. Sheets, blankets, towels, wash cloths. His place was pretty stripped down. A single guy's place. But now someone else was going to be there. And a wounded woman at that.

Off to the equipment supply store. He explained the issue and they helped him select the appropriate home equipment.

Finally, to the grocery. He loaded up. Good stuff. Not his usual frozen meals. Salads, meat, vegetables, cereal...His truck was loaded. Thank goodness for the bed cover.

He got it all put away and back to the hospital in three hours. He had just pulled out his computer to work on some things when the surgeon came out. He jumped up."Is she OK?"

"Yes, Ian. The surgery went fine. No problems. Lots of little pieces and lots of healing to do. Unfortunately, because of all the pieces and a big segment, plates alone wouldn't really hold it in place. So to make sure things stay in alignment we did put her in that external fixator I mentioned.

"Hers is bigger with a lot more rods than most, at least on her right leg. The left wasn't quite as bad. She won't like them, but really no worse and probably better than the casts she'll get later. She won't like bilateral long leg casts."

Ian gave him a questioning look. "Sorry. Her casts will go from foot to thigh on both sides."

"Oh."

"She'll have to be non weight bearing for at least three months and maybe up to six or longer to make sure things don't kind of drift apart until they're solid. Really solid. So, wheel chair, etc. But none of the joints are involved. And she's young...so, should do fine. But it's going to take a while. Like a year all told."

"I picked up some equipment while she was in surgery."

"Great. The nurses will give you a list of what she'll need at home to make sure you got the right stuff, and social services may be able to help."

"Can I see her?"

"Soon, when she goes to a room."

When they called him, he went to her room. Still groggy. He approached the bed and tentatively pushed her hair from her face. She opened her eyes and smiled. "Hey there, Ogre. You look pretty dapper. You didn't have to get all dressed up on account a little old me...." And she batted her eyelids.

He laughed. "I may have to stay at the office after all. The Ortho guy said everything went well, but you've got some fancy hardware under those sheets."

He handed her a bouquet of flowers he'd purchased. She teared up. "You ass. I just come back from surgery and you make me cry. Ian? No one has ever, in my entire life, bought me flowers. Well, once. But I didn't get them. Thank you?

"But why are you doing all this?"

"Because I can. And I want to. I need....OK. So the white ring thing was very...well, not good." I can't get my mind of it. I need a purpose. Something to take my mind off stuff. And helping her may be just what I need. Something to keep my mind off the past. "And. Uh. It's simple, because you need help. That's what people do. Or at least should do."

He smiled. "Besides...What other option do you have? You'll be off your feet quite a while. How are you doing?"

"Hurts, but not like before. I swear they put bricks in these dressings to make them heavier."

"Want to have a look?"

"Yes. As long as you promise not to try and look up my gown. I know your type." He rolled his eyes. "A joke, Big Guy."

They peeled back the sheet and could see large metal rods suspended from a frame on both legs. "Well, those look handy." Her eyes watered. "Ian. I don't know what I'd have done if you didn't help me."

"No big deal. A bear would have eaten you and you wouldn't have to go through all this."

"Well, that sure makes me feel oh so much better. Honestly, though. Thank you." And she squeezed his hand.

On day five she was allowed to go home. She could be in a wheel chair, but the legs were supposed to be elevated most of the time to lessen the swelling. He had been visiting with her before and after work and they learned quite a bit about each other, but avoided each other's past.

At Ian's apartment, "Here it is, Ali. Home sweet home. Fortunately it's a walk in so we can wheel you in and out easily. Hang on, I'll give you a tour. Here's the living room. I use a Roku for TV and movies. I'll show you how it works.

"And here is the kitchen where you can prepare all my food..." He laughed. "Actually. I moved a lot of stuff to the lower shelves here and in the pantry over there so you can reach all the candy and protein bars from your chair. And here's the peanut butter....'

Sarcastically, "Extra crunchy i hope..."

"Of course."

"But, I don't think you'll want any of my cooking, Ian. Not fit for human consumption. The FDA has a warning label and a recall on all of my cooking, if you catch my drift."

"Here's the bathroom...."

"What's that thing in there?"

"A shower chair. You transfer from wheel chair to shower chair. Do your thing, then back. I got you all kinds of girlie soaps, shampoos, and crap. Out here I have tooth brush, comb, brush, deodorant, razor.

"Extra heavy duty razor and like a ton of blades. The package says it works on llamas. And I stopped by the veterinary supply place for some sheep trimmers. You know. Just in case." She stuck out her tongue at him. "Oh, and some of these." He blushed.

"You bought me tampons?" She felt tears welling up. "Holy shit, Mountain Man. How do you know about tampons? Did you buy them for..." he grimaced. "Sorry, Ian. I shouldn't have..."

"Hardest thing I ever bought. Never did it before. Sizes, shapes, brands. I finally asked a woman and told her this girl had a very, very special one and she recommended these super jumbo sized ones. They're washable and reusable."

"Get out of here, you jerk."

"No, I did ask a woman and she recommended these and some pads. I can get whatever else you need. Just make a list."

"Ian. You've already done so much. I'll figure out how to pay you back. I, I..." More tears.

"Alrighty then. On with the tour. Here's the bedroom. With new sheets. I burned the old ones and sprayed for fleas and ticks. Certified bed bug free.

"Remember, you have to do all those exercises like six times a day. And you need to make those puny arms of yours stronger so you can transfer more easily. I can't be carrying you all over the place. You know. My bad back and all."

"What is that thing?"

"A bedside commode. You know, so when you get up in the middle of the night, you can just move onto it and do your business. If you call, I can help move your legs. Although you might be able to just pivot your bottom onto the seat and leave your legs on the bed.

"Oh. And there's like a pot underneath that can get emptied and cleaned in the morning. Like a chamber pot. And I stacked about about thirty rolls of toilet paper next to it. Based on how your condition in the mountains was."

Now she blushed. "Sorry about that, Ian. This is too much. Way too much. And way too much about my personal hygiene.

"But are you sure it wouldn't be better for you to have it? The chair, I mean. I know as an older guy, your prostate starts getting big and you have to pee all the time...." And laughed.

"Nice, Ali," ignoring her poke, but smiling. "It's just what you need to get better. You need to call when you need help. And I promise to be strictly professional and avoid attempting to view any secondary sexual characteristics."