Mythe: A Fairy Tale (33 page)

Impossibly soon Richard reached the car. The motor was already running. He shifted her weight around enough to allow him to open the passenger door and then deposited her gently onto the leather seat. The seat warmer was on and heat soaked into her cold body. He tapped the electric controls to tip the seat back into a semi-reclining position, and then shut the door and circled the car quickly to climb into the driver’s seat.

The heater was blowing on high and the warm rush of air around Manda was like fire on her numb limbs. Needles of pain shot through her body as circulation returned to her extremities, and the pain of her injuries intensified. She groaned miserably.

“Sweetie, look at me.”

Manda rolled her head in Richard’s direction, struggling to keep her eyes open in the welcome warmth of the car. He placed his hands gently on each side of her head and peered into her eyes, first one and then the other.

“What’s your name?” he asked her.

She frowned. “You know my name.”

“Of course I know it. I want to know if you know it.”

“It’s Am-manda, and you’re Rich-chard,” she stammered through chattering teeth.

When he was satisfied with what he saw in her eyes, he very gently probed the tender area above her left ear. She gasped through gritted teeth and he grimaced.

“Sorry, sweetie.” He probed further and then stroked the right side of her head gently. “I don’t think there’s a fracture but we’ll have to get that checked out. Until then, I don’t want you going to sleep. You need to stay awake for me, sweetie.”

Manda sighed. “I’ll try.”

“Where else are you hurt?” he continued anxiously.

“M-my arm and my ankle are the w-worst, I th-think,” Manda reported weakly. Both throbbed painfully and blood soaked her coat sleeve.

“Let me see.” Richard unwrapped the blanket to expose Manda’s arm. He winced when he saw the deep, parallel gashes that the lion’s claws had sliced into her forearm. Blood still flowed from the wound. “We’ll need to get the bleeding stopped.” He grabbed what looked like a t-shirt from the back seat and pressed it firmly over the injury. “Hold that there really tightly. I’ll have to bandage it, but I want to check out that ankle first.” He leaned over the console between the car seats and examined her injured ankle. She flinched as he handled it, and he murmured an apology.

“I can’t tell if it’s broken or not. You’ll have to have an x-ray to be sure. It’s pretty swollen already.” Richard sighed heavily and gently set her foot back onto the floorboard of the car. “I was worried about the cold. You lost most of your snow gear. How are your fingers and toes?”

“Th-thawing out,” Manda winced. She hadn’t even noticed her missing articles of clothing. Her hat, scarf, one boot, and gloves were all missing. “I can’t stop sh-shivering though.”

“Between the cold and shock, that’s not surprising. I don’t think you’ve suffered any lasting injury from the cold though. You weren’t out there, exposed for that long. Now let’s take care of that arm.” Richard rummaged around in the back seat. A duffle bag was turned over on the seat with its contents strewn about in disarray. He searched until he found a white first aid kit, then opened it and sat it on Manda’s lap. Very carefully he ripped her coat and
shirtsleeve farther up her arm until he could attend to her injury unhindered. His hands were gentle as he cleaned the wound.

Manda’s mind was beginning to clear, the dizziness fading a bit, though a heavy fatigue was settling over her in its place. Questions floated to the surface, but none of them were completely coherent.

“Wh-wh-what happened? Where did you g-go? You were right there and th-then you were gone. And your c-clothes, what happened to your clothes? You’re wearing different ones now. Are y-you hurt?” The questions flooded out.

Richard’s hands paused momentarily as she questioned him, but quickly resumed their work, wrapping a thick bandage around her arm.

“I didn’t go far, sweetie. I was just trying to take care of you,” he answered quietly. Then, in an undertone, he added, “I didn’t do a very good job.”

“But what h-happened to your clothes?” Manda persisted, trying to make sense of the recent events. “Are you hurt?”

“No, sweetie. I’m not hurt. There’s not a mark on
me
.” He sounded almost bitter about this. “We’ll need to talk about the rest later, but first I want to get you to the hospital and make sure your okay. I do need to go get my clothes though, and your camera. I
can’t
leave them there for somebody to find. Will you be okay for just a few minutes? I promise I’ll be right back.” Richard studied her face with concern.

“I’ll be fine. I’m s-starting to warm up now,” Manda assured him, not sure why he wanted to retrieve the rags that remained of his clothes. “And I don’t care about my camera,” she assured him.

“I need to find it though. We can’t leave it here.” He slid out of the car quickly, trying not to allow too much of the heat to escape, and raced into the trees. Manda gasped and stared after him in disbelief. She recalled how quickly they’d reached the car a few minutes ago. She’d thought she was imagining it. Had she hit her head that hard? She relaxed back into the warm seat and tried not to think. Nothing was making any sense and her head hurt. She hoped Richard would hurry. She was beginning to think the hospital was a very good idea.

Chapter 24

M
anda was jostled awake by Richard’s hands on her shoulders.

“Manda? Manda wake up!” he commanded urgently. Her eyelids fluttered open and she found herself staring into Richard’s frantic eyes. “I told you not to go to sleep. Are you alright?”

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “I’m okay.”

“I found everything except my wallet. You had that before. I saw you take it out of my pocket. Where is it? I can’t leave that here.” His words were quick and urgent, but his face was tight with his worry for her.

Manda shook her head to try and clear it, and immediately regretted it as pain stabbed through her skull. She moaned and pressed her hand to her temple. Richard growled.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m getting you to the hospital.” He reached across her and fastened her seatbelt securely, then fastened his own and put the car in gear.

“I have your wallet. It’s right here in my pocket,” Manda suddenly remembered. Her mind kept trying to wander. She wanted to go to sleep, but fought against it. Richard said she shouldn’t. She wasn’t sure why.

“Good,” Richard breathed. He was speeding down the road now, driving fast enough through the tight switchbacks to make Manda slightly nervous. “We don’t have time for me to explain everything to you before we get to the hospital, so you’re going to have to trust me and do what I ask. I’ll explain it all later, okay?” He glanced over at her, waiting for her agreement.

“Of course,” she responded immediately. She trusted Richard completely.

“Okay. First of all, you can’t mention the mountain lion at all. Just say you slipped and fell, just like what really happened, but without the lion. You slipped and fell and then I found you and carried you back to the car. Do you understand?”

“Okay,” Manda agreed, uncertainly, “if you say so, but why?”

“You’ll just have to trust me for a little while. We don’t really have time for me to explain it all, but if they know about the lion they’ll come looking for it and I really can’t have them snooping around back there. It would raise way too many questions. I tried to hide all the tracks I could, but I didn’t have time to get very many.”

Richard’s explanation didn’t make much sense to Manda, but one part of it did concern her.

“But doesn’t someone
need
to come looking for them? If they attacked me they could attack someone else. Someone could get killed.”

“The first one is already dead. I made sure of that, but I can’t very well tell the authorities.” Richard’s voice was gentle and reassuring. “Don’t worry. He won’t hurt anyone else. And the second one is no threat. Trust me.” He’d been driving quickly and Manda could already see the edge of town in the valley below them.

“Of course I trust you,” Manda assured him. “I just don’t understand what’s going on.”

“I know, and I’m very sorry. I wish I could explain everything right now, but my first concern is getting you the medical attention you need. If anything were to happen to you, I don’t know what I’d do, Manda.” He reached over and caressed her cheek tenderly, then picked up her left hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. They drove in silence the rest of the way, with Richard holding her small, cold hand in his large, warm one. Manda still had a million questions. She hated not knowing what was happening—she felt helpless and out of control—but she trusted Richard. She would do what he asked for now. Later though, she promised herself, she would get answers.

******

Hours later, Richard lifted Manda from the hospital wheelchair and placed her into the passenger seat of his car. After a seemingly endless series of exams, tests, x-rays, and scans, the doctors had finally decided it was safe for her to go. The wound on her arm had required multiple stitches. She’d denied all memory of receiving the injury, unsure how to explain it. It hadn’t been much of a stretch to claim disorientation and head injury as the reason for her spotty memory. The x-rays of her ankle had shown no fractures, but it was badly sprained and she would have to keep off of it completely for several days. Though the cut on her head had bled profusely, it was minor and hadn’t
required any stitches. She also turned out to have two bruised ribs, caused, she assumed, by her impact with the tree. She hadn’t even noticed that particular pain amidst her other injuries. Assorted cuts, scrapes, and bruises rounded out her list of injuries.

Richard had demanded extreme thoroughness in all of her care, though Manda guessed that his insistence hadn’t been necessary. Judging by the uproar caused when Richard Raines strode into the emergency room carrying a battered and blood-soaked woman in his arms, she was willing to bet they would have been just as meticulous without his constant vigilance. Regardless, the painstaking thoroughness was wearing, and Manda was well ready to leave the hospital by the time they released her.

“So, do I get my explanation now?” Manda demanded as soon as Richard slid into the driver’s seat. Her questions had multiplied during her time in the hospital and she was impatient to have them answered. She wasn’t sure how much had been real and how much had just been her mind playing tricks on her.

Richard smiled reassuringly and started the car. “Soon. I don’t want to be interrupted and David, Stacey, and Josh are waiting for us at the hotel. I called Josh when you were having the CAT scan and filled him in.”

“Can I assume that they aren’t going to be in on this explanation then?”

“Josh will be. I’m hoping he’ll help me explain it to you, actually. David and Stacey can’t know anything though.” Richard turned toward her with a grim expression. “You have to understand that up front. No one else can know any of this. Understood? No one. Not David. Not your family. No one.”

“Um...okay,” Manda agreed, wide-eyed. She felt some of her confusion trying to sneak back. This morning everything had made sense. Now she felt like Alice in Wonderland. The more she thought about the day’s events, the farther down the rabbit hole she fell. 

“It’ll be okay,” Richard assured her, squeezing her hand comfortingly.

It was a short drive to the hotel. Richard pulled up in front and then walked around to collect Manda, leaving the car for the valet to park. He lifted her gently from the seat and carried her into the hotel lobby. She was wearing one of Richard’s spare shirts, which he’d gotten from his car, as hers had been a bloody ruin. Her coat had been a loss as well, and shortly before they left the hospital, Richard had produced warm coats for both Manda and himself from who-knows-where. “I’m nothing if not resourceful,” had been his only explanation when she asked where they had come from.

“You know, you can’t just carry me everywhere all the time,” Manda complained as Richard carried her past the hotel desk. The clerk watched with raised eyebrows, but said nothing.

“Why not,” he challenged. “You can’t very well manage crutches with your arm in that condition. Besides, I enjoy it.” To punctuate his point he bent his head down and kissed her.

Manda smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder.

“Yeah, I suppose I can see the appeal,” she sighed. “But won’t you get tired?”

“No,” he said wryly, and carried her onto an elevator from which a young family had just exited. “Do you mind?” he prompted Manda, nodding toward the buttons. She grinned and reached out to push the button for their floor. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like you to move into our suite tonight,” he suggested as the elevator rose. “You can take Josh’s room and he can move down the hall into yours. That way I can be close by if you need me. You won’t really be able to get around very well on your own.” The elevator door opened before Manda could answer, and Richard continued with a slight frown furrowing his brow. “I may be getting ahead of myself though. You don’t have to decide on that until after the explanations.” He sounded suddenly uncertain and tightened his arms around her slightly as he strode down the hall to his suite. He wasn’t able to reach his keycard while holding Manda, but rather than putting her down to retrieve it, he tapped on the bottom of the door several times with his foot.