Chapter 12: Nightmares
July 7, 1991 - Sunday
He fell on the jagged rocks with a thud, landing on his good side, if that was possible. Every part of his body was in agony as he tried with all his might, to sit up again. Somewhere very close by, he could hear water trickling down. He hadn't had a drop of water in a day and he was very interested in knowing where the sound originated from. He stretched his neck around to see what was ahead of him, in the darkness. The crutch he had made had disappeared as he collapsed. He would have used that to stand up, but he had no idea where it had went.
He crawled blindly toward the sound of water. The path to the pleasing sound was a rocky one, though. He navigated as careful as he could manage, but some of the rocks were pretty sharp and steep. After several minutes, and to his pleasant surprise, his right hand came into contact with the cold water. Quickly finding the source, he placed his mouth under the flowing water, as it was playfully falling down through the rocks in the cliff side. He guessed that he was pretty far up the side of the cliff by now, but he didn't care at the moment.
The tiny trickles of water were clean and brisk. They were cold and refreshing. As he drank, he could actually feel the water traveling through his beaten and tired body, recharging him. Just then, the rock that his left hand was leaning on gave away, causing him to slide forward and down head first. He tumbled and tumbled, screaming in pain. Very abruptly, his forward movement came to an end, as he was slammed into another rock.
Trying to regain his senses, he looked all around. Nothing but blackness. The sound of water falling on the rocks was gone now. In fact, he could hear nothing but the sound of his own heart beating heavily in his chest. He attempted to move his right leg. That wasn't a good idea. The pain was too intense. He tried to sit up instead. He was fairly successful. As he was getting up, sudden claps of thunder echoed in his head, while a drizzle of rain fell from the dark sky. Another damned storm. He was growing tired of the constant annoyance from mother nature.
Still trying to sit up, he moved his body sideways, stretching as far as he could. Lightning lit up the surrounding area and that's when he caught a glimpse of his immediate area. It was quite frightening, as the lightning quickly lit it up again, and then quickly disappeared, leaving him in blackness once again. The images pressed into his mind involved a very steep cliff just beyond where he was. He was leaning on a medium sized rock, protruding from the ledge to his left. That one lonely rock was the only thing between himself and that very, very long descent, downward into oblivion.
As if it were happening in slow motion, that medium sized rock began to move from under his back. He tried to move his body away from the rock, but it was already too late. The rock was ready for its plummet to the earth far below. And Alan was going with it. He felt himself gently fall backwards, as the rock went searching for a new place to call home.
His stomach felt like it was about to betray him, as he fell into the abyss. This was it. This was how he would die. This would be his last memory on earth . . . the sickening drop, increasing in speed, as the ground below grew closer to his frail body. A swosh of fear swept across his body, as he continued to free-fall, waiting for the inevitable clash with the hard ground. He couldn't see anything. Total blackness surrounded him. It was taking forever to make contact. He began to think that this feeling of falling would last for eternity. He couldn't take the waiting any longer. He wanted to get it over with already. Suddenly, with another flash of lightning, the ground was seen. It was very close. Too close. He braced his body for impact and then . . .
Ellie was startled awake, as Alan rose out of bed quickly. It was still dark, but she could see his silhouette sitting up in the bed. She jumped up, turned on the light on the night stand, and put a hand on his bare shoulder.
"You okay?" she whispered.
There was sweat beading on his forehead and he was almost gasping for air, as he held himself up with his arms. The increasing pain in his ribs and leg from the quick movement, was almost enough to make him cry. Just seconds ago, he was in the pitch blackness, free falling to his certain death. The nightmare was all too real and he was having a hard time getting the feeling to go away. Staring at Ellie was helping, though. He finally managed a faint smile.
"Yeah. Just a nightmare. I'm okay," he whispered.
"You should really lay back down," she advised.
He nodded and allowed Ellie to take over. She gently helped him find his way back to the pillow, trying to be careful not to hurt him. It was no use, though, as he continued to groan and wince at the quick and steady shots of pain flowing throughout his body. Ellie got out of the bed, grabbed the water glass from the night stand, and left the room. A few moments later, she returned with fresh water and two more pain pills.
"Here, take these."
She helped him sit up, long enough to take the pills, and then he began mumbling.
"Lay down, sit up, lay down. Make up your mind, woman," he teased.
Ellie laughed at him and set the glass down on the night stand again. Then, she became serious again as she saw that he was shivering now. She covered up his bare arms, and got an instant positive reaction, as he began to relax more. She reached over and turned the light off and carefully got back into bed.
"You sure you're okay?" she whispered again.
He answered by grasping her hand and holding it close to him, kissing it softly.
"I'll be fine as long as you're here," he said.
She moved really close to him, trying to keep him warm. She wasn't sure when he actually fell asleep because she drifted off first.
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Ellie slowly opened her eyes, as the sun was shining into the room. She glanced over to the clock. It was 6:45am. Her first thought was that she would be late for work, but then she remembered it was Sunday.
"You're going to be late for work," Alan said.
His voice was unexpected, to say the least.
"What are you doing awake?" she asked, as she rose up out of bed to look at him.
He was laying there, with his arms up and behind his head, slightly smiling. The pain pills must have been helping.
"Couldn't sleep," he answered.
She nodded and continued to look at him.
"It's Sunday. I don't have to work today," she finally said, returning his smile.
Alan laughed.
"I have my days a little mixed up, I guess," he said, as he slowly and painfully brought his arms back to his side.
"That's okay. I still love you."
He looked at her in a very caring way. All of the things that they had said to one another last night, still held true today. He was in agony, but he was also very happy at the same time.
"I love you, too," he said.
Ellie smiled, but she was worried about him. She wanted to help him any way that she could.
"Want to tell me what you were dreaming about last night?"
"Not really."
He had been having the same nightmare, each night, since he had been rescued. He would jump awake in the hospital, trying to grasp the concept of it being a dream and nothing more.
"It might help," she added.
"I don't think so."
"What happened to you out there, Alan?"
He wasn't sure he wanted to relive that four-day event just yet, but he could see that Ellie needed to know.
"I got lost while it was raining. The truck slipped and careened down a cliff . . ."
She sat on the side of the bed, listening intently. There was a very serious look on her face, as he described what had happened. Starting to feel as if the mood was way too serious, he decided to lighten it up.
"I think that's what happened, anyway. I wasn't fully conscience, you know. I was a bit out of it."
A smile was beginning to form upon her face, replacing her frown. She reached over and touched the side of his face.
"I am so happy that you came back to me."
"Me, too," he whispered, as he grasped her hand, and then he added, "And I wouldn't miss all of this attention for the world."
Her frown had totally disappeared now.
"It's my very special pleasure to baby you," she said, smiling.
"Awww. Thanks."
Ellie looked at him for a few moments, and then clapped her hands together.
"Okay, the babying part is over. Time to get up and have breakfast. You hungry?"
"Yeah, I guess I might be."
"Good. Come on. I'll help you."
She got up and picked up the crutches. He did his best to sit up, as she was coming back to the bed. She rested the crutches on the side of the bed.
"Don't go hurting yourself. I'm here to help, you know," she said, as she helped him swing his broken leg over the bed.
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After getting breakfast on the table, Ellie called out to Alan. She had helped him get to the bathroom and then had left him on his own. She heard the bathroom door open. After he swore several times, he appeared in the kitchen doorway. She watched his mood go from mad and annoyed about something in the hallway, to happy, as he looked in her direction.
"Good morning, sunshine," he said, smiling.
She laughed. That phrase had become a regular occurrence in the mornings. She still thought it sounded corny, but sweet at the same time.
"You okay? Want some help?" she asked, as she watched him maneuver into the kitchen.
"No. I got it."
He hobbled to the nearest chair, trying his best to manage with the crutches. He was in a very independent sort of mood, so Ellie stood by watching him get awfully close to falling to the floor. When he was situated, she relaxed some. She moved a chair close to him and picked up his broken leg, to support it on the chair. He winced some, but otherwise he didn't complain. She decided to get right into the questions that had been lurking in the back of her mind since yesterday.
"So, why is that master bedroom under construction?"
"We're going for the direct approach, this morning, aren't we?" he answered, as he ate some breakfast.
She handed him two pain pills and smiled.
"I figured while you're drugged up, I could get some easy answers," she joked.
He was staring at her in that strange way that he would look sometimes. She had grown accustomed to his different mannerisms, and this particular look drove her crazy.
"Stop looking at me like that. It's a good, honest and fair question."
He smiled.
"Okay, okay. Here's the scoop," he said, leaning closer to her, "There's a ghost in there . . . Boo!."
Ellie looked at him in a funny way, and then playfully hit him in the arm.
"If you don't want to tell me, then don't tell me."
She stood up, to get another cup of coffee, and that's when Alan told her the truth.
"When Kathryn got sick, we were in the middle of remodeling that room. Rob was helping. When she passed away, I just never got back to working on it. That's all."
Now that he was in the mood to talk, Ellie continued her questions.
"Why didn't you tell me you had such a beautiful house?"
"I don't know."
"Why not rent it out or something, if you weren't going to live in it?"
"I don't know."
"Is it paid for?"
"Mostly."
"Mostly?"
"Yeah."
Ellie leaned back in her chair.
"Okay. I won't ask any more questions. I'm just happy that you're okay."
"Thank you. And I'm glad that I'm okay, too."
They sat quietly, eating breakfast on that beautiful Sunday morning.