Can't Love Christmas

Nineteen

"Shit. It must be eleven thirty." Ash was disoriented in the darkness. 

"Do you have a flashlight or anything?"

"I have my phone." She pulled it out of her bag. "Oh. Double shit."

"What?"

"My battery is basically dead. I only have two percent left. How about you?"

"Mine is in the car." Rowan stepped right next to her side. "Okay. Well, our eyes should adjust soon. Let's just stay here for a moment until that happens, and then we will find our way back. It's always brighter outside when it's snowy."

They waited a few minutes with little change. Clouds had rolled in and obscured the sliver of moon, so barely any light remained. "I don't think it's getting better, Rowan."

He sighed. "Well, good news for you then, I've spent most of my life visiting this park, and I can kind of get us back to the boardwalk from here. Stay close to me, and we'll take it slow, hopefully we won't walk into any trees. If I can find the path under the snow we will be alright."

He reached down and wrapped her hand in his. "What's that saying? Other senses are heightened when you lose one?" Ash could confirm the sense of his hand around hers was heightened. She could feel his warmth through both of their gloves.

Their steps were cautious and halting. Rowan was reaching his hand out in front of him to be aware of trees and branches, Ash clutched herself as close to him as she could. Progress was slow; Ash figured they were barely halfway back to the boardwalk after ten minutes. Lost in her thoughts, the toe of her boot caught a tree root and she tumbled to the ground.

Rowan still clutched one of her hands in his, and she felt the pull through her arm during her fall.

"Cinders, are you alright?"

Tears sprang into her eyes, and she tried to compose herself before responding. "I don't know." Her knee crashed onto something very hard, she couldn't tell if it was a root or a rock, but she was in agony.

"What hurts?" Ash felt Rowan kneel down beside her, and she let go of his hand.

"My knee. I really smashed it."

He reached towards her once more. "Okay, let's try to stand and see if you can walk on it. Three, two, one, up." One hand in hers and the other on her waist, he pulled her up onto her feet, still supporting most of her weight while she tested out her knee for serious injury.

"How is it?"

She gingerly set it down and leaned more of her weight on it. "Sore, but I'll be okay. Let's keep going." Wrapping his arm more securely around her waist, they continued forward. The sharp pain of the initial trauma dulled to a constant ache, as she limped through the dark with Rowan.

Finally, the trees opened up and they could see the streetlights and lights on nearby houses. "Oh thank god we made it." Ash cried as they stepped back onto the boardwalk. The light tunnel was nothing more than a wire skeleton with thousands of tiny bulbs on it. It felt eerie in the dark.

Rowan stopped walking, and shimmied himself in front of her, bending down slightly. "Here, we can do this now."

Confused, Ash asked, "do what?"

"I'm going to carry you."

"Wait, what?"

He huffed and stood up straight again, turning his head to look at her. "Cinders. You're still in pain and limping. We have enough light to see the path, and we know it's clear. So, I'm going to give you a piggyback ride to make it easier on you, and get you to a place where we can actually look at it. I'd like to know sooner rather than later if I'm going to take you to the emergency room tonight for a broken knee."