Ski Lodge

22// Behind Snowy Doors

December 31 New Years Eve

My eyes wake up before my brain does. A soft, blurry light is trickling in around the edges of the window. The yellow rays streak down across an amorphous, back-lit shape that is facing me. My skin goose-bumps as I notice warm skin pressing against my forearms. I shift. I turn my head directly forward and my eyes focus on Becker gazing across my face.

"Good morning," he whispers.

"Morning!" is my shocked reply.

"Shh shh it's ok, you just fell asleep," he soothes me.

"We didn't...?"

"You don't remember?" He asks.

I yawn and it turns into a hiccup.

"Ok, well. Here's what happened. You kissed me. And it was really, really nice, Trisha..."

"And then?"

"And then we you know shifted to a more prone position and kissed until you fell asleep on top of me. So I tucked you in, and then I fell asleep too. No funny business, I promise."

"Oh, well that's good. Thank you."

"Yes, I would never, you know. At least not with you asleep and in a hospital with people all around, and the patients from the avalanche were loud last night as they were rolled past our door."

"Really? I don't think I heard that."

"You fell asleep in the middle of kissing me. I'm sure you were exhausted," Emmett laughed.

"I fell asleep mid-kiss?" I ask him shocked.

"Yeah, you know I didn't think that I was that bad!" he replies as he tucks a lock of hair behind my ear and props himself up on one elbow.

I lean in and give him a soft kiss. "Not bad at all," I smile into his lips. It feels so natural lying here across from him that I wonder why I ever disliked him.

He pulls me closer, his dark eyes glittering in the light reflecting off of multiple feet of snow behind the window. "You have really bad morning breath," he laughs.

"Oh my gosh! It's because I forgot to brush my teeth last night!" I jump up and run to the bathroom, "my dentist is going to kill me!"

I hear Emmett laughing in the other room. I pull out my toothbrush and swipe a layer of toothpaste on it and look up into the mirror. My hair is frizzy and my eyes have goop in the inner corners. It's totally unfair that Emmett Becker gets to wake up looking like he is Apollo blessed by the Sun itself, and I have to wake up looking like I haven't slept in four days. I wash my face and pull my hair back.  Checking my now very minty breath, I walk back into the room. Emmett has flattened his hair against his head and is sitting propped up on his bed when I walk in.

He glances at me when I re-enter and says, "good, my turn," before bouncing up and walking past me, giving me a little peck on the cheek as he walks by.

My face turns bright red and the spot on my cheek where he kissed feels warm. I return to my bed.

There is a rap on the door and Gloria enters the room.

"How are you feeling this morning?" She asks.

"I'm good. No heart issues or anxiety or anything."

"Good, good." Gloria looks exhausted.

"Did you sleep?" I ask her.

"Oh don't worry about me," she replies seeming much less pugnacious than yesterday. "You two should be able to leave once the snow melts today. We have a vehicle that can take you back to the lodge. Oh! And Happy New Year's Eve!"