Olympic Dreaming Ch. 02

She started yawning and said we'd better try and have a nap so we could leave as soon as it stopped.

I agreed and leaned back against the wall with my legs outstretched. She fidgeted for a while, trying to get comfortable, then looked at me and shyly asked.

"Would you mind if I come over there and lie next to you? I'd feel safer, and you're probably a better pillow than this wall."

I opened my arms and beckoned her over. "Of course, whatever you're comfortable with. "

She walked over, went down on her side between my legs, and rested her head on my chest. After wriggling around a few times, she ended up on her left side with her head still on my chest and her right hand resting on my left shoulder.

"Thank you for everything tonight," she whispered. "I realise now what a stupid idea that was. My parents would never have got over it if I had gone ahead. You're right; in two years, I'll be at university and be able to make new, proper friends who love me for who I am."

I gently kissed the top of her head and replied, "I'm glad I was here for you. You're a wonderful person; don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You just need to build up your self-belief and confidence." I listened to her breathing as she closed her eyes and fell asleep before I joined her.

The storm eventually died out about half past four, but neither of us realised as we were too deeply asleep. Around this time, back in her holiday cottage, her mother had got up to go to the toilet. Upon returning to bed, she looked in to see if Alicia was okay after the storm before realising she wasn't in bed. There was only one bathroom, so she went downstairs to see if Alicia had gone to get a drink, but she wasn't there either. Then she saw a note by the kettle; she picked it up and let out a piercing scream. Her husband jumped out of bed and ran downstairs to see his wife kneeling on the floor in floods of tears, holding the note out to her husband. He read it out; it was a goodbye message from Alicia explaining how much she loved them but couldn't bear to live anymore. Her parents both felt their world had ended as they held each other, not knowing what to do.

After a couple of minutes of collecting his thoughts, Alicia's dad phoned the police and explained where they were and that they had found a suicide note from their daughter. They then had to wait nearly an hour until, eventually, two police cars turned up, and two officers and a police dog handler got out and came to the door. The Sergeant asked them both some questions and read the note.

"How well does your daughter know the area?" she asked.

"It's the first time we've been to the island," Alicia's mum responded. "We've been to some of the sites by car, and she has walked up this mountain a few times to explore while we went to the Whiskey Distillery, as she didn't fancy going to see that."

"There's an old quarry on the mountain with views over to the Isle of Coll; we'll try up there first; it's a local beauty spot and is probably the most likely place she'd go. If not, we'll try and see if we can get the police helicopter to do a sweep of the area."

They got into the two police cars and drove up the track as far as possible before stopping and getting out. The dog handler then led the way up the mountain, his dog sniffing ahead. As they ascended, the sergeant took the young police constable who had come with her to one side and quietly said.

"We've had a few jumpers up here before. I warn you now if she's done that, it won't be pretty, so prepare yourself. We need to keep the parents from seeing that if we can, they need to remember her like she was not how she might be now."

By the time they reached the quarry, it was just after 6 am, and the sun was starting to break. The police officers asked Alicia's parents to wait while they had a look around, and they waited nervously looking around. Carefully looking over the edge, the police started trying to see down to the quarry bottom. Just as the sergeant was about to ask the dog handler to go with their dog to the bottom of the quarry to search, Alicia's mother shouted out.

"Smoke! There's some smoke coming from that hut!"

She raced ahead to look, beating the others there and peered into the hut. She saw her daughter curled up on a topless youth with his hand around her. She was ecstatic to find Alicia alive and confused about who the hell she was curled up with and why she appeared to be wearing his top.

"Alicia!" she broke down and sobbed.

I heard her call out and opened my eyes, seeing a woman crying in the doorway, followed soon after by a police officer. I then realised where my hand was and quickly removed it, gently shaking Alicia.

"Alicia, wake up! The storms have passed, and we have visitors!" I gently said.

Alicia blinked in confusion and then saw her mother. She jumped up and ran to her, jumping into her arms. Her dad put his arms around them, and they all started crying and hugging each other.

"Wait here," the sergeant said gently to me, "I'll need to talk with you in a moment."

"Of course," I said, "I'll just make sure this fire is fully out," and I covered the fire with dirt.

The sergeant then spoke to Alicia to check if she was hurt and find out what had happened overnight. Her parents waited with the police dog handler a short distance apart, holding on to each other and listening to Alicia's story. I'm not quite sure why the constable stayed in the hut with me, as I'd done nothing wrong and wasn't likely to run off, but I suppose they have a procedure they must follow.

Once the sergeant had finished talking to Alicia, she returned to her parents for another hug and cry, and the sergeant came in to speak to me. I filled her in with my part of the story, of how I'd woken up and run up here for the only reason that I couldn't sleep and felt something was wrong.

"We're all very grateful you did that," she exclaimed. "It would have torn her family apart and been such a waste of life," she continued. I then told her about finding Simon's brother and the impact on their family.

"You did well; where do you need to return to?" she asked. I explained I was staying with my uncle on his farm and was catching the ferry back to the mainland later. She knew my uncle; it was a small island with few permanent inhabitants, so that didn't surprise me. She then offered to drive me back to the farm and explain my absence to my uncle and aunt. I was emotionally tired, so I thought that would be a good idea. We headed back to the cars; I picked Alicia's top up and carried it with me. They would get a lift back in the dog handler's car while I went with the sergeant and constable. As we got near the car, I called Alicia's mum.

"Here, Alicia caught this on a nail, so it's ripped and has a bit of blood on it. I think it's ruined, but it might be fixable." I handed the top to her, and she took it and hugged me, crying into my shoulder.

"We can never thank you enough for what you did last night," she sobbed.

"All the thanks I need is to see her back with her parents," I responded, "We talked a great deal last night, and I think her head is in a better place now. You all need to have a heart-to-heart chat and support her through this. I'm not a psychologist, so I don't know how you'd best support her, but I'm sure there is someone who can help."

"We will. We'll do anything for her. We'll talk as much as she wants when she's ready and offer whatever advice and help we can. Thank you again." With that, she kissed me on both cheeks and went to get in the car with her husband.

Alicia had seen her mum talking to me and then kissing me, and she also came over.

"I'll never forget you!" she said, giving me a big, strong hug. Then she pulled back her head, looked me in the eyes and then kissed me on the lips.

She smiled at me and said, "When I woke up in the night, you had your arm around me, and for the first time, I didn't mind someone doing that! On the contrary, I liked it and held your hand closer!" She then laughed and ran to get in the car with her parents.

I smiled, and then the sergeant and constable drove me back to the farm. My aunt saw the police car drive up and came out to see why it was there. When we all stepped out, she came over.

"David, is everything alright? Where have you been? We assumed you'd gone for a final run before going home."

My uncle also welcomed the sergeant and asked them if they wanted to come in for tea or coffee. I went upstairs, grabbed a new top, and came down as my aunt poured the tea. The sergeant then explained what had happened overnight, and I added a few comments.

"So, the good news is I'm not a werewolf!" I said to my aunt. She stood up and hugged me, telling me how proud they were of me. After the police left, I went upstairs to shower and get appropriately dressed. I packed my things and prepared them for the ferry crossing later. My uncle was finishing on the phone with my Mum, explaining my adventures and asking her to keep an eye on me in case, once I got home, I suffered delayed shock or something.

"I'll be fine!" I said, "It all ended well; I just hope she puts this behind her and her future is happier for her now."