My Alaskan mountain man

Lip balm

“Ahhhh” a loud high pitched scream, makes me wake with a jerk. I bump my head on the wooden armrest and topple off from my perched position on the uncomfortable two seater. Dazed and confused at first, still in that sleep slumber, “ow, damn”, I rub the back of my head where I just knocked it.

Suddenly I realise where the scream came from and I stumble-run straight for the bedroom. I fall into the room with a crash. Doc turns in her chair with a “shhh”, she’s holding the girls hand and humming a song, while stroking her arm gently.

Doc to me, “it was a nightmare”, she says as if it was of no concern.

The girl opens her eyes when she realises Doc is speaking to someone other then her. At first she has surprise on her expression. The Sheriff comes in looking just as surprised, “what’s all the commotion about?”.

We all look at the girl, she in turn is looking at us. She looks to me and says in a weak voice, “you...put lip balm...on my lips?”

I give her a gentle nod and she replies, “thank...you!”

The Sheriff then pipes in, “that young man did more then put lip salve on your chapped lips my girl. He carried you down the side of a mountain with an arrow sticking through you.”

Sheriff points to me, “he saved your life child!”

The girl smiles and again says, “thank..you”, then lays her head back and closes her eyes with a deep, slow breath.

That night, Robin took the patient watch and managed to get some better sleep knowing that the girl had been awake and had spoken today. Doc had made sure she had, had something to eat too. Now that she had spoken, Robin couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to her, he was also curious to know what her name is and where she had come from. These are all things he hopes to ask her the next time she’s awake.

Robin is glad she wasn’t afraid of him. It did cross his mind that because he was a man, that she could associate him with the terrible things that had happened to her.

But, when she thanked him for the lip balm, Robin knew straight away that she knew he was a good guy.

This brought a comfort over him and he was able to relax into his chair which is sat next to her bed as she slept. He sat watching her face, what a gentle, sweet, pretty face she has. It’s unbearable to think of why or how someone could do what they had done to her, the girl with the sweet, gently pretty face. He chooses to put these awful thoughts out of his mind and focuses instead on his girls sweet slumber. Yes, she is his, as long as she has no name, she will be known to him as his girl, because he saved her, and he will protect her no matter what. No one will ever hurt her again if he has anything to do with it.

It wasn’t long before he was also asleep and managed to get some much needed quality sleep. This was the first night since it all happened that everyone was able to get a full nights sleep.

The next morning, everyone was in better spirits. The snow had let up and although we were snowed in to shoulder height, the weather looked promising.

The girl was more awake then she was the day before, she was also gaining some colour back to her cheeks and all in all she seemed to be a little stronger then the day before.

Doc came to the bedroom first thing in the morning to check on my girl. She had two mugs of steaming coffee.

“Good morning you two”, she beamed at us with an attractive smile. Still an attractive woman, Willow Penser must have been quite the looker in her earlier years. Her smile was a practiced one from working as a GP for so many years, she has a smile that evokes feelings of happiness and healing. The practiced art of helping very ill patients feel like things aren’t so bad after all.

“How are you feeling my dear?”, she enquires.

“I feel like I have a little more strength today and I don’t feel as tired”.

“I thought you might”, Doc reassures her.

“I think we should try and get you moving a little today.”

Feeling a bit possessive over her and wanting to ensure she isn’t pushed too hard too soon, I give Doc a stern look of disbelief. Doc then corrects herself and again reassures the both of us by saying, “now, I don’t mean for you to do too much, but it is important that you do little bits here and there to help build up your strength. We will be starting with sitting up for a few hours at a time, and over a few days, we will get you up and walking a few steps here and there.”

Doc looks to me, “it’s imperative for her health and well being, the sooner we can get her up and about the better it is for her over all healing process”.

I sip my coffee as I watch Doc help prop the girl up so she can have her hot drink.

Sheriff comes into the room as well and we all sit and stare at my... I look around the room and realise, Doc and Sheriff are here for her too, she’s ‘our’ girl, waiting in anticipation. Sheriff finally speaks, “what is your name dear girl?”

Looking a bit like a dear in the headlights, she looks from Sheriff to me and finally to Doc. Doc gives her a little nod and her kindest smile.

“Cammie!”, she blurts out.