Against the Current

Aftershock

{Pictured above: Nathan Arcand - I based Cole's looks on his} 

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Colton:

That did not go as well as expected.

Poor kid. Whatever lie they'd told her, she'd believed it all these years. She needed time to process the information, and maybe once she did, she'd come back. He questioned himself, since she'd run away. Was there a better way to handle it? He wasn't sure there was. If he'd wrote to her, Arthur Richmond would have intercepted the letter and if he came waltzing onto the property, then he would've been shot for certain.

He plopped down on a tree stump and took out an apple. Charlie came bounding through the brush as he cut the first piece.

"Of course you show up when I have food," Cole said to the dog. "Where were you earlier when Katie was here? I could've used your help."

The dog gave a woof and looked at him with his soulful brown eyes. Cole gave him a pat on the head and cut off a slice for Charlie. Charlie took the apple greedily and ate it before Cole could pull his fingers away.

"You almost took my fingers off, you little mutt."

Charlie barked again as Cole finished off the apple. He tossed the core to the canine and stood up. He had snares to the west of the forest. Though he was nervous going that way. Those hillbilly brothers were somewhere around that area, and he didn't feel like tangling with them again.

He looked to the east where the Richmond property sat on the hill.

One week, Katie. That's all I can give you. If you don't return to me by then, I'll come to you.

~oOo~

Katie

Julian caught up to me on Wilbur after I'd fallen. If it wasn't for my cries, it would have taken longer for him to find me. I remember the despair in his voice as he begged me to tell him what was wrong. I couldn't answer him. All I did was blubber and sob into his shirt as he held me. If it wasn't for Wilbur, we'd never have made it up the hill.

Now, here I was laying in bed with only the silence in the room to keep me company. Beside my bed, the lamp glowed a dull amber, and outside my window, the moon shone brightly. My head swam, and pain shot through my ankle every time I tried moving it.

My face was sleek and sticky with sweat, and my forehead warm. I slowly sat up and looked around the room in confusion before everything from earlier came flooding back. I leaned against the wooden headboard. Its coolness dulled, a headache pounding my skull.

The knob slowly turned, and the door was gently pushed open. Ma poked her head in and saw that I was awake. She pushed the door open further, entering with a tray of homemade tomato soup and a glass of water. The town doctor followed behind her, holding a brown glass bottle.

"I'm glad to see you're awake," Dr. Owens said.

"We all are," Ma followed.

Dr. Owens sat beside me on the bed and opened his bag. "Let's take a look." He took the stethoscope from around his neck and place it in his ears before placing the cold metal end on my chest. "Take a slow breath for me, Katie." My chest slowly rose and fell as he instructed. After a few moments, he put the stethoscope away. "Well, her breathing is normal. I don't hear anything unusual, but her heart rate is still a little fast. Do you feel dizzy at all?"

I shook my head slowly. "No, sir."

He moved to my ankle and rotated it. When I winced, he stopped.