Skye bounded into Jeremiah's room at five thirty in the morning. She had on black yoga leggings, a yellow shirt, and a light blue zip up hoodie. She had her socks, but no shoes yet. She saw that Jeremiah was still lying face down, sleeping soundly like a little baby. She carefully climbed on the side of the bed that he didn't occupy and started jumping up and down.
"Jeremiah Adams! Wake up!!! Wakey wakey, artichokey!" she said with a giggle.
Jeremiah groaned and turned his head to face the other way. That move only made Skye jump up and down more vigorously. Jeremiah turned his head to face in her direction again and with eyes still closed, tried to catch one of her ankles. She playfully jumped just out of his reach, laughing louder this time, and watched as he opened one eye.
"S, stop!" he said with a husky voice.
"No! You promised me a hike, now come on! Get a move on, buster!"
"What time is it?"
"5:35. I've been jumping for five minutes already! Now come on! Chop chop!"
She playfully kicked him on the side with her foot, her big toe hitting a particularly tickling spot. She moved her foot up under his armpit and tickled him there. He flinched at her actions; he hated getting tickled. He pulled her ankle lightly, making sure not to pull her too hard, and she fell on the bed. He grabbed her waist and began tickling her with his fingers, knowing her ticklish spots, because they were the same as his.
"Jer!" she whined. "Mercy!" she begged him.
"You showed me no mercy earlier," he continued tickling her.
"Mercy!" she begged again. She hated getting tickled as much as he did.
He stopped and even in the dim lighting, the only source of light coming from through the door from the hallway light, their eyes met and held. He moved his hands from her waist to her hair, tucking the strands that came loose from her pony tail, and rubbing her cheek with the pad of his thumb.
"S, you're the only person I know who would go to sleep at 2 in the morning and have the energy to be up three hours later."
Skye smiled at him and used her index finger to wipe some sleep from the inner corner of his eye.
"Jer?"
"Hmmm?"
"Go brush your teeth."
She giggled and wiggled free from his hold and ran to the kitchen. She decided to make a pot of coffee for the two of them while he freshened up and got changed into his work out clothes. He came out ten minutes later, wearing sweat pants and a matching hoodie. He marched right up to her and exhaled right into her face, showing her how his breath now minty and fresh. She smacked his shoulder lightly and laughed. She handed him a mug of coffee with no added cream or sugar; Jeremiah liked his coffee black.
After they finished their coffees, Jeremiah drove them to Runyon Canyon through the Mulholland Drive entrance. Skye followed Jeremiah's lead and stretched her limbs before going on the hike. Jeremiah led her down the easy trail, he didn't want her body to go into shock that much. He walked at her pace, making sure she was alright. Whenever he felt her slowing down considerably, he would wait for her to catch her breath and gave her some water. It was a cold morning and the sun had just risen.
"S, you better get a move on. You know in the early morning light, coyotes are known to prowl around here."
"What?!" she said loudly and then jogged up to catch up to him. She grabbed onto his forearm and he smiled. She looked around the area for ang stray coyotes.
"Yeah, didn't you know? Early morning and dusk are their prowling times."
"Jer! Don't joke around like that. It's not funny!"
"Do I look like I'm joking around?"
"Let's go now, please?!" she began tugging on his sleeve. She began jogging as she still had a hold on his sleeve.
Jeremiah chuckled at Skye. "Be careful...we're going down hill."
"Come on! I don't want to get eaten alive by coyotes up here," she was clearly in a panic.
"Skye, slow down..."
She pulled his hand and kept running down hill at a fast pace and did not see the little pebble that caught the bottom of her shoe. She tripped before he could even react and it was much too late to catch her. She tried to stop her fall with her forearms and landed with a thud.
"Ow!" She whined.
"Skye, are you okay?" Jeremiah said, worry filled his voice.
"No..." she rolled over onto her back and examined her arms. She had scrapes on both arms, her jacket not providing enough cushion to soften the blow.
"Where does it hurt?"
"Everywhere."
"Let me see."
He opened up his bottle of water and washed her scrapes as best as he could. He also noticed she tore her leggings and her left knee was a bleeding mess. He rinsed her knee and examined the cut. It wasn't very deep, thankfully. He helped her up, but she winced and fell back down when she tried to put weight on her right ankle.
"S?"
"I think I rolled my ankle, Jer," she looked up at him in pain.
"Here, let me see."
Jeremiah carefully lifted up her leggings and gingerly took her socks and shoes off. He checked for any broken bones, and didn't feel any, although her ankle was already turning black and blue and beginning to swell up. He kneeled in front of her and pulled her arms over his shoulders.
"Hop on."
"Huh?"
"Hop on. You can't walk, babe. Hop on."
She looked at him incredulously at his term of endearment outburst, but she was in a lot of pain and couldn't stand up. She took him up on his offer, holding her socks and shoe in one hand. Jeremiah gripped the backs of her knees tightly, not wanting to drop her and cause her body more trauma than it already had. Skye held on tightly for dear life, her chin resting on his shoulder. He hoisted her up even further up his back as he slowly made his way down the trail.
"Jer, sorry if I'm so heavy."
"S, you're not. I told you to slow down."
"It was your fault! You scared me with coyotes. You know I'm not one for nature or wild animals," she pouted. Even though he couldn't see her, he could imagine her face, and because of that thought, he chuckled.
"I was only telling the truth."
"Well, the truth hurts. Literally," she giggled. "Good thing I made a fool of myself in front of you and not Dylan."
Jeremiah's jaw set at what he heard. Right. The reason for the hike. Dylan.
"Okay, well, before we go, I want you to see something."
"Oh my gosh!" Skye gasped.
They were on top of a clearing called Inspiration Point. It was completely bright now and they had a panoramic view of downtown Los Angeles. The mesmerizing view was completely breathtaking and made the hike worth the trouble. She relaxed her hold around Jeremiah's shoulders and wiggled so he can let her down. He did, but kept an arm around her waist so as to support her weight. She leaned her head on his shoulder and just continued to admire the view.
"Wow," she breathed out, eyes continued to stare out into the horizon.
"Beautiful," he said while looking down at her and kissed the top of her head.
"Thank you for taking me here, Jer. This is absolutely stunning."
"I'm glad you like it. Was it worth the fall?"
"Oh absolutely."
***
It took a couple of days for Skye's foot to heal completely. Her doctor confirmed that she did indeed sprain her ankle, caused by a ligament being stretched far beyond it's capacity. Her doctor just told her to do the RICE treatment, which is a mnemonic for the treatment of soft tissue injuries, an acronym that stood for rest, ice, compression, and elevation. She had a bandage wrapped around the injured ankle and use crutches to get around their apartment.
Jeremiah came home from work one evening bearing burgers, fries, and milkshakes from their favorite fast food restaurant. He found Skye parked on the couch in front of the television, but she wasn't paying attention to whatever show was on; she sounded like she was on the phone.
"Well, hello, stranger! I haven't heard from you in a while..."
Jeremiah put the food on the coffee table and sat next to Skye. She had the biggest smile on her face. He knew he shouldn't have, but he decided to listen in on her conversation. He already knew who she was speaking to without asking. The smile on her face said it all.
"When do you get back?"
"This Saturday as planned."
"That's great! Haven't you missed the Los Angeles smog?" she teased.
"No...I've been enjoying Seattle's rainy weather too much."
"Aww, I hope you brought an umbrella."
"That's no good here. The rain comes at you from any which direction."
She chortled. "Eat anything interesting?"
"Not really. But that's not to say I didn't eat anything good."
"Oh, I bet."
"I can't wait to see you when I get back."
"Oh really?" she beamed. She was absolutely on cloud nine, he surmised.
"Yes, really."
"Well, that's great, because there's this new restaurant I went to recently and I want you to try it out. I really think you'd like it."
"What's it called?"
"J and Fifth. Really amazing eats."
Jeremiah cussed in his head.
"Okay, well, is it your treat?"
"Of course not! It's yours!" she giggled.
Jeremiah suppresed the urge to grab her phone out of her hand and chuck it across the room.
"Okay, well, I'll hold you to that date then."
"Okay. It's a date. See you soon!"
"Bye."
Skye squealed as she hung up the phone. She reached over to the coffee table and grabbed a few French fries and popped them into her mouth. She still had that dreamy faraway look on her face, like she had just scored a jackpot or something.
"S. Hey. You okay?" he nudged her with his elbow.
"Huh? What? Yeah, I'm fine," she reached over for some more fries again.
"You look happy," he stated the obvious.
"Oh, I am."
"Why?" he already knew why, he just wanted her to confirm it.
"Because of my gentleman caller."
"Let me guess...that was Mr. Wonderful," he said with a slight lilt of annoyance in his voice. Skye didn't detect it though, she was too busy living in dream land.
"Yes. Yes it was. That was Dylan. And he's on his way home."
Jeremiah took a long gulp of his milkshake as he watched Skye happily nibbling on the tasty deep fried potato, wishing there was something stronger in his drink to dull the ache he felt in the pit of his stomach.
This was it. The beginning of the end was drawing near.