Page 82 of Reluctant Chemistry

CeCe concentrated on following Nick’s footsteps as he walked ahead of her. He turned several times, offering his hand in places where the mud was thick and slushy until he stopped at a point where the track was little more than a jagged ledge.

“Looks like the rain’s washed out some of the track.” He craned his neck for a better view. “Keep close and hold on to those tree roots until we’re past the worst of it. Another fifteen minutes, and we’ll be there.”

Rooted to the spot, CeCe studied the river below, shallow but swift and full of boulders. “Maybe we should turn back.”

“We’re better off moving forward at this point.” Nick glanced up. “By the look of that sky, it’s going to rain again tonight. Come on. I’m starving.”

CeCe grabbed her water bottle and gulped a few mouthfuls before returning it to the side pocket of her backpack. She followed him, one clammy hand clenching tree roots on the bank to her left and the other aiding her balance as gray clouds rumbled above.

She was just about to grab another tree root when she stumbled. “Nick!”

As she grasped wildly for his outstretched hand, CeCe’s foot slipped beneath her, and before she realized what was happening, she’d plunged down the cliff face and into the ice-cold water below.

39

In Limbo

Her headlamp turned to low, CeCe stared over at the stove. Not that there was any point. Even if there had been a glint of an ember in the potbelly, she wouldn’t be able to see it through the cast-iron door. With her phone flat and her watch lost somewhere on the floor beneath the bunk, she had no idea of the time but guessed it must be around midnight, meaning Nick had been gone almost seven hours.

Without a fire, the hut offered no protection from the cold, but at least she was dry. Desperate to pee, CeCe struggled out of bed and squatted over the plastic-lined bucket Nick had left for her. She didn’t need an X-ray to know she’d broken her collarbone but hadn’t realized how painful a break of that type would be.

With CeCe shaken, sore, and sporting a laceration to her thigh that bled like crazy, it had taken them a good hour to get from the river to the hut. Nick carried her most of the way, leaving his pack where she’d fallen. It wasn’t until he returned for it later that he realized he’d left his personal locator beacon on the back seat of his car.

When he’d set off to find help, it had still been light. Daylight saving time started almost a month ago, so at least that worked in his favor. He should have traveled the worst of the track before night fell, with only the last couple of hours descending into darkness. Unable to bear the thought of being left alone, she’d pleaded with him not to go at first. But as Nick lay out his argument in front of her, she knew he had to leave before dark. If he didn’t go while the rain held off, they might end up trapped there for days.

Returning to her sleeping bag on the bottom bunk, CeCe started to shake, the laceration throbbing to the rhythm of her heartbeat and the pain from her collarbone making it difficult to move. Irrational thoughts flooded her mind as her body tensed. What if Nick hadn’t made it out? The rain had gained in intensity now, and with the rivers already swollen, he could easily slip and injure himself just as she had that afternoon.

With her pack ripped from her shoulders and floating downstream to who knows where, Nick had dressed her in his dry clothes before leaving to seek help. Although it was the first time he’d ever seen her close to naked, there had been no trepidation on her part. Nudity ceases to be an issue when you’re in pain and a fellow human is doing their best for you. You grin and bear it. Because, what other choice do you have?

Tears welling in her eyes, CeCe swallowed hard. In an attempt to distract herself, she imagined she was with Molly in Burger Shack, eating fries sprinkled with herb salt and drinking an ice-cold strawberry shake while they checked out their social media and talked about boys.

Now that Molly lived in Auckland, they hadn’t seen each other since her visit to Lime Tree Hill months before. Sure, they texted all the time, but it wasn’t the same as a friendly hug and a burger.

Outside, the wind howled in time to the rain hammering the tin roof. If she concentrated on the sound, would it soothe her to sleep like those white noise apps? She closed her eyes and focused on the rhythm of her breath. But instead of drifting off, she thought of Luka. How she’d once ached for him and how she’d never told him her true feelings. She’d loved him, even if he hadn’t loved her in return.

While CeCe had once thought she knew him pretty well, now she couldn’t even begin to figure him out. She inhaled a ragged breath and began to sing:

“Will you dance with me? Hold me like I’m precious? Be my only man?

Will you hear me, dare me, catch me when I fall head over heels?

My heart is in your hands…”

Her voice could barely form the words, and the song was more of a croak than a tune. She wondered what her sisters and Mitch and Tayla were doing. Whether anyone missed her. Her father would be furious when he found out Nick left his personal locator beacon in his SUV and that hers had floated down the river, tucked into the side pocket of her backpack.

As CeCe’s mind churned, her thoughts returned to Luka. How they’d met. The ease of conversation as they watched the sunrise over Sandwater Bay. The way he’d held her like she was precious…heard her, dared her.

And then, the days spent sitting in his class as if they were strangers, in denial of the pleasure they’d once brought one another.

The way he’d dropped her when she fell.

Drifting in and out of a fretful sleep, CeCe awoke with a jolt every time she moved. Nick had given her two painkillers, plus a honey sandwich and a banana before he left, but now her stomach rumbled with hunger, and everything hurt a whole lot more than it had a couple of hours ago.

She tried to sit up so she could take more meds, but as she steadied herself on the side of the bunk, nausea swirled in her gut, and an overwhelming sense of dread washed over her.

How much longer?

CeCe imagined she heard voices approaching outside. Maybe hunters who’d trekked into the national park seeking refuge from the weather, or perhaps another group in search of warmth and shelter.

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