Love... or something like it

Part 17

Nell was convinced that she had somehow become a cartoon. She walked in front of Wile E Cyote's elaborite traps. You know like where he winds a giant boot up on a spring or a coil and then when the road runner steps on the X it is supposed to lauch sending him into the desert canyon. She was the road runner and the trap was a success for the first time ever. 

She was cold, colder than she ever remembered being. She was damp and uncomfortable. She hurt in evrey non discript way she could think of. She was scared to move. She was also scared not to. She forced her mind to concentrate. Start at the top and work your way down, Nell thought trying to remember tenth grade first aid. 

Head: dizzy, painful throbbing, foggy, 

Face: cold, numb, sore, moves well, 

Neck: Seems ok, sore, Achs into shoulders

Shoulders: Achey uncomforatable. One shoulder seems to be injured.

Arms: throbbing, numb, aches

Hands: Numb 

Chest: Painful. Aches, cold, heart is thumping hard and painfully. Breathing hurt. Chest hurt.

Hips: pain, lots of pain 

legs: numb but working, knee swollen and painful, calf painful, ankle painful. 

She knew she was in rough shape. She lifted her head to look around the world lost it's axis and spun uncontrolably in a weird butterfly figure eight swooping motion. She had a hard time righting her head, it felt heavy and huge. She had a hard time supporting her head because it wouldn't stay still and 'up' was a fluid concept. 

She collapsed back into the blissful nothing. 

The air hurt. Why did the air hurt? The bed was terribly uncomfortable and weird smelling. Like musty wet leaves and dirt. Nell reached for her blanket but came up empty. It hurt to move so she decided against it. Sounds faded in and out in a throbbing rhythm making her head hurt. Why was it so cold? She tried to roll over and pain shot through her body sending white hot rods through her nerves, Her vision went white then red and finally back to black. 

It was dark and weird sounds surrounded her. The musty smell felt like it was coming from inside her own nose. She hurt all over but she was also numb. She lifted her head and waited for the rippling waves of nausea to fade. She looked around as best she could ignoring the pain. She couldn't figure out where she was or how she had gotten there. She was surrounded by trees and the ground was cold and wet. She couldn't remember much of anything, but she knew that she couldn't be in a good situation. There was a steep cliff type hill behind her and trees all around. She could hear water off in the distance and a whirring noise from above. She looked around and saw nothing of value. The rocks, leaves and sticks were wet or rotting on the forrest floor. Nell tried to stit up a seering pain filled her taking her breath away. She tried to hold onto reality but the white hot pain flashed before her eyes slipping her out of reality again. She grasped for it and lost as she fell back and the darkness claimed her again. 

It was either still dark, or possibly dark again, when Nell woke up. She felt somewhat better. Her body was completely numb. The pain was no longer white hot, it was more of an uncomfortable feeling behind the very real, extremely awful feeling of being cold and wet. She tried to pull herself up and realized she had been leaning back onto the hill making her head less prone to the crazy spinns as she tried to sit. As she adjusted her weight the sharp reminder of pain shot through her. Sitting directly on her bum was not an option. She looked around again feeling clearer than she had before. She was at the bottom of a cliff, she was in the woods, she was near water but couldn't see it and she was injured.