After minutes of sitting in front of the fire, lost in my thoughts about the day that I had, my senses were slowly coming back. With them, the adrenaline of the whole situation wore off and pain erupted throughout my side again, causing a groan to slip through my lips, long and drawn out. The man was standing back facing away from me when he must have heard my groan of pain, and he was close to me faster than I would have expected.
"What happened? Are you okay?"
I shook my head and gritted my teeth against another wave of pain that erupted, causing me to jerk. I felt a couple tears slip out of my eyes, without my permission. His eyes tracked the movement of one of the tears and his hand twitched where it rested against his thigh. "My ribs. Think the seatbelt bruised them pretty badly."
"Alright. Shit. Do you want some pain meds? I have Tylenol and Ibuprofen."
"As many ibuprofen as I am allowed to take, please." His eyes lingered on me only a second longer before he pulled himself upright (God, he was fucking humongous) and stalked off towards a different area of the cabin that I couldn't see from my spot on the couch. He was offering me everything I needed for no reason. I had never expected something like this from a complete stranger, but something about him was warm and gentle under the big lumberjack persona. Lumberjacks are hot, though. No. I do know this random man, I will not start having dirty, objectifying thoughts about him.
When he was in my line of sight again, he was carrying four tablets, a glass of water and a small first aid kit. He handed me the pills and water and I swallowed them quickly, along with the water bottle. Whenever that was done, he sat crouched beside the sofa, his eyes slowly moving down my body, and if I wasn't just in a car wreck, I would think he was checking me out. But he had been searching and mentally cataloguing any visible injuries.
"You got a cut on your collar bone there, you mind?" He held up the first aid kit and pointed to my chest. I looked down and noticed that there was dried blood, my blue coat was soaked through.
"Yeah, um. Let me take off my jacket." My voice sounded so small and fragile, unfamiliar to my own ears.
He nodded and helped me into a sitting position. I winced as I moved the jacket slowly off my shoulders. He took it from my hands and set it on the floor beside him, then set to work on cleaning my injuries. I took a moment to study him as he worked to maybe distract myself from his hands on my body. I was no virgin, for sure, but I had been on the road for so long that I hadn't wanted to be with a man. It had been months, and my body was responding the way you would expect it to, involuntarily, of course.
His face was close to mine, I could see all of the perfect imperfections. His eyes were blue, mesmerizing, and the first thing that came to my mind was spongebob singing, 'Down here in the deep blue sea!" I would guess that he was somewhere around 28, his face still young but looking more rugged and gruff under his beard. His beard was thick, dark, but had small lighter brown and red hairs spread throughout it, and I knew his jaw would be sharp and defined underneath. His shoulders were massive, even under the coat he was still wearing I could tell her had muscles, there was no missing them. He was beautiful. I had to stop myself from reaching out and running my fingers through his long hair.
As he was finishing up, he started talking, pulling me out of my daydream. "Do you want to call someone? Should probably report the accident."
I nodded. "I don't need to call anyone. I'll talk to the cops, I guess."
"Are you sure? The storms are gonna hit pretty bad tomorrow, and we might not have power after a while."
I looked away from him and stared into the fire, willing the tears back and away from my eyes. "I don't have anyone to call," I repeated.
He slowly shook his head now, seeming to understand. "Okay." I avoided looking at him, but didn't have to for long.
He hoisted himself up and grabbed the home phone, before dilating 911 and putting it up to his ear. "Hi, I wanted to report an accident. No serious injuries, we don't think, but the cars still on the side of the road, probably totaled."
He answered a few more questions before turning to me and handing me the phone.
"Hello?"
"Ma'am, are you the owner of the vehicle?"
"Yes."
"What is your name?"
"Violet Schultz. S-C-H-U-L-T-Z. The license plate is WYL-573."
"Okay, thank you. We will have someone down there as soon as possible to get your car out, then it is going to be taken to the nearest mechanic in Waterbury, where they will assess it and determine if it can be fixed or not."
I found myself nodding along, even though she couldn't hear me. I didn't care about my car, right now. Some part of me knew that I should, since I have practically lived in for the past few months. All of my personal belongings were spread across the back seat and trunk."Okay, thanks."
"And Mr. Miller said you don't have serious injuries, is that correct? You don't need an ambulance?"
"No, no, I'll be okay." I looked up at Mr. Miller, he was taking off his shoes and coat by the door. I noticed a big, light brown bull dog that wasn't around before following behind his every step. The dog looked at me and tilted it's head to the side before it trotted over in my direction.
"Okay, thank you Ms. Shultz. Stay safe."
I mumbled a "you, too" before setting the phone down on the couch beside me. Mr. Miller was still standing by the door, watching me almost the same way I was watching him. The pit bull nudged me with his nose and I held out my hand for it to sniff before tentatively petting its head.
"Your name is Mr. Miller?"
He shook his head from side to side. "Kincaid. Caid, if you like."
"Okay, Caid. I'm Violet. And I cannot thank you enough for helping me. Seriously, I owe you everything."
"No problem. And you don't owe me anything."
"Just my life," I replied. He saved my life, I'm convinced. Barely anyone lives in Waterbury, it's past 11 at night, it was a miracle that he found me when he did. Whether he wanted to accept that or not, I was going to see it that way.
He shook his head and walked towards a different part of the house, before stopping and turning back to me. "Are you thirsty?"
I nodded my head, and he turned back towards the kitchen, opened the fridge and brought me a water bottle.
I took it gratefully and downed half the bottle. I didn't realize how thirsty I was. Caid didn't say anything, and the silence that enveloped us soon became awkward. "What's your dog's name?" I questioned, doing my best to ease the tension in the room.
"Her name is Magnolia," he answered. After hearing her name, Magnolia stood up from her spot on the floor and came over to Caid.
"She seems really sweet."
"Yeah, she is. My best friend out here."
His answer made me wonder if he was lonely out here by himself, or if he just visited from time to time.
"Do you live out here, just visiting..." I trailed off and waited for him to finish.
"I live out here. Been working out here since I was a kid with my dad. I like it."
"It doesn't get lonely? I've been in Vermont for a couple of days and am already craving human contact."
He shrugged and turned his head to look into my eyes as he spoke. "No, not really. I've never been good with people, and this gives me peace and quiet."
"Well I don't think you're doing too bad. Saved my life, that makes you at least semi-good with people."
He shook his head again and looked down, almost like he couldn't believe that I was saying and thanking him for it. The man deserved to be thanked. He was providing me with warmth and shelter whenever I thought I wasn't going to be able to get any, and that was the best thing I could've asked for from another human being. "You're not gonna let that go, are you, Violet?"
"Not anytime soon." I smiled.