Page 24 of Amelia and Her Prince Charming
I’d never been so tired in my life, not even when I was working eighty-hour weeks during residency. And when I made her smile, I forgot how much my body hurt. It hurt in some small ways that were no big deal, and in some big ways that let me know we’d have to get to the other cabin tomorrow, even if we had to army crawl on our bellies to get there.
And with how shaky my legs were feeling, that wasn’t out of the question.
“I’ll tell you what Idon’tlike doing in my underwear—lying cold and wet in the forest.”
“Yeah, not my favorite activity either.” Though, with Amelia snuggled up to my side, it hadn’t been half bad.
Amelia paused as she laid our clothes. “I’m never wearing this dress again.”
“Why?”
“It’s all such a blur,” she said, “but I remember being all tangled in it, thinking it was going to be the reason I drowned.”
I was a little sad about it–she’d looked amazing in that dress–but it was definitely for the better.
Her breathing sounded more ragged and shorter, and her movements slow and sluggish. She needed the hospital. Some fluids and a proper vitals check.
But she was alive, and there was a time out there when we were on the water when I didn’t think she was. Even now, the thought made my breath lock up in my lungs. A world without Amelia wasn’t one I could contemplate. Whether she loved meor not, whether she never wanted to see me again after this or not, I was relieved in my soul that she was alive to make those decisions.
“I can finish,” I said to her. I tried to hide my wince as I jostled my shoulder to stand. I didn’t know if it was dislocated or if something had torn, but every time I moved it, white-hot pain made me feel lightheaded.
Amelia placed a hand on my knee, and I paused. “Let me do it, Hudson. Please.” Worry lined her expression, and I figured I must have looked even worse than I felt.
She moved slower and slower as she tried to lay out my pants just right. It didn’t matter. I didn’t see myself even having the energy to put them on any time soon, even if they were dry.
“Is there any water here?”
“No.” There were some rusty old cans catching water that dripped in through the holes in the ceiling, but the water looked sludgy and unsafe. Giardia would only increase our dehydration. “There’ll be water at the other cabin we can get in the morning.”
“If I have the energy to get there.” She let out a discouraged sigh as she sat close enough to me for our arms to touch.
“I’ll carry you again if I have to.”
“You can barely stand yourself,” she said as she stared into the flames. When she spoke again, her voice was quieter, “And yet, I believe you’d manage it anyway.”
I motioned for her to let me see her foot, and she placed it gently on the floor in front of me. The cut was about five centimeters long, right on her heel, and needed stitches. It was still bleeding, but there was little I could do out here with minimal resources and energy. The most important thing was to keep her lungs clear.
“Will I live?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” I tugged on her toes playfully and then gently set her foot down. I took her other foot next to make sure itdidn’t have any cuts she’d neglected to tell me about, but it was soft and smooth. “So far, you’ve been charged by a moose and thrown overboard in the ocean. Did you do something to Winterhaven? Because it has a vendetta against you.”
“I did ask Dylan why they didn’t get married on a tropical island instead.”
I winced. “Oof. It all makes sense then.”
“My mom used to say these things come in threes.”
“I hope not.” I’d heard that saying before too, but two close calls were quite enough, thank you. “Did your mom have any advice on how to turn bad luck around?”
“She did. She said it was all about perspective. If you thought you were having bad luck, then you were right. But if you thought you were having good luck …”
“You were right,” I finished. “Let’s take her advice.”
“We’re really lucky this cabin is here,” Amelia said, “otherwise we’d be outside in the rain.”
“I’m lucky there was firewood already cut, so I could make a fire.”
“I’m lucky you’re with me, because I know you won’t let anything bad happen to me.”
