A Thorn In The Ice

Chapter 12: White Nights*

Dedicated to: dent1990

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"You know what truly aches? Having so much inside you and not having the slightest clue of how to pour it out."

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Karen Quan

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"Simon!"
A frantic voice called to him through the thick, groggy hold of his unconsciousness.

"Simon, you have to wake up!"
Simon opened his eyes; their unusuak heaviness making that a more difficult task than usual. It was Delilah, and unknown to him she had trudged through the night beside Pompeii to help him pull the empty wagon back up the mountain in the icy storm, only to return exhausted to her home and find her charge knocked out cold at the foot of her porch.

"Oh thank goodness!" She cried with relief at his return to consciousness.
Simon blinked as the focus slowly returned to his eyes. His head felt strange, though there was no pain, his mind felt as cloudy as the stormy sky above. Icy snow struck him in the face, stinging his skin, and he raised a hand to shield himself from it.

"Delilah, what happened?"
He asked groggily, though he was not sure she could hear him over the howling symphonies of the ill weather.
"I dont know. You tell me."
She laughed in relief, shaking her head.
"Come on, let's get you back inside."
Delilah helped him to lift himself up, pulling him up and off of the ground with an ease that was nothing less than astounding. With her help, they made it back into the cabin.

The warmth from the hearth that heated the whole room greeted Simon like a hug from an old friend, and it wasn't till the door was shut behind them, and they were safely sealed away from the cold night air that he realized he was soaked to the bone, and that his clothing had even began to solidify from the snow.

"What were you doing out there?"
She asked as she deposited it by the fire,
"Well, when you didn't return by dusk I began to grow concerned."
He explained as she began to gather some dry clothes for him from a nearby chest.
"When the storm struck, I guess I just panicked. I left this cabin with the full intentions of finding and or rescuing you when I slipped on your porch steps."

"Well," she began slowly, "thank you for your heroic intents, but as you can see, I am fine. You on the other hand, are lucky you didn't re-break any of those precious bones that I have worked so hard to heal." She scolded him like a schoolboy before placing the bundle of fresh and dry clothes in his hands.
"Now turn around and change, and I shall do the same. We shouldn't spend another second in these wet clothes."

He did as she asked, turning around to peel the sopping wet fabrics from his body.
"What took you so long? Did something happen? Or better yet, why did you not stay in village? I'm sure a storm like this was showing signs hours before it struck."
Now it was his turn to chide her.
"The cart got badly stuck about 2 hours ride from here, and it took me a while to gather enough pebbles and stones to give it traction." She said coolly, making it sound like less of the ordeal that it was. It really had been quite exhausting, she had unhitched and rehitched Pompeii several times before that, hoping to pull the cart free from different angles, but when that had failed, she went searching for traction, and her fingers still felt a numbness from digging into the frozen earth.

"I am sorry, I did see the signs for the storm in plenty of time before it struck. I should have stayed in the village, but I didn't. I was just worried about you being up here all alone."
She apologized after a few silent moments had passed.
"And I am sorry, I should have stayed in the cabin. It seems we both have issues with not wanting the other to be alone."
He smiled even though she could not see it.