The feeling of falling suddenly stopped and with it your stomach dropped. Your pulse was pounding so hard that you could feel it throb through every strain of your hair. Strong muscular arms wrapped around your back and under your knees, crushing your side into the flat planes of a hard male chest. Your eyes flew open as your surroundings stopped racing down and started to gently float up. Peter Pan had caught you and was now holding you in his arms bridal style as he swiftly flew up out of the tangle of vicious tree branches and towards a small clearing. He landed gracefully upon a smooth grey stone rock. He set you down on your feet gently and he placed one hand in the middle of your back to keep you upright while he pushed your hair away from your face with his other hand. "Look at me! Are you all right?" he demanded; tense worry dripping from every syllable. Your entire body was trembling slightly as it tried to cope with its near death experience. You forced your head up to meet Peter's burning gaze. His warm brown eyes that were narrowed in concentration searched yours for the answer to his previous question.
Were you alright? You were a little unsteady on your feet, but you could still stand and although it felt like your stomach was now dangerously close to your throat you were pretty sure that as long as you stood still for awhile the nausea would pass and you wouldn't be sick. Noticing the frown lines forming on Peter's forehead as he waited for you to gather yourself you decided that yes, you were okay; a little worse for wear, but nonetheless still okay. Afraid the contents of your stomach might spill out of your mouth if you opened it you gave Peter a slight head nod in answer to his probing eyes. He let out a relieved sigh and with it the sounds of your surroundings seemed to flood back into your ears. Birds chirped from all around you and the leaves rustled from all sides as the wind swiftly blew through them. You happily welcomed back the sounds of the forest. It was so much better then the constant ringing that filled your eardrums as you were falling. Peter pushed one hand through his auburn hair making it adorably messy. His lips quirked up in an incredulous half smile as his gaze left your face and started to slowly take in your surroundings. The clearing wasn't very big, but it held a small number of flat headed large rocks all in a semi-straight line. The grass below barely reached your ankles and was covered with smatterings of clover patches. The clearing was set almost in a perfect circle surrounded on all sides by rows and rows of trees. Wild vegetation in a multitude of colors ranging from browns to greens and purples grew untamed over and in between the thick large trunks of the trees. It would have been pretty if you hadn't just been plummeting to your death in it. Peter's eyes finished their sweep of the clearing and came back to rest on you. His handsome relaxed features hardened the same instant as he sucked in a sharp intake of breath.
He suddenly grabbed your wrists in both hands and pulled them straight in front of you.
Alarmed, you quickly looked down to examine your body only to find shallow cuts on your arms where the tree branches had slashed at your bare skin as you fell. Tiny shallow pools of blood had started to push their way up and out of the surface of the wounds. As you watched the small beads of blood begin to well you felt a sharp stinging start from each gash. Funny they hadn't hurt until you looked at them. "We'll have to clean these so they don't get infected," Peter said thoughtfully as he gently traced one of the gashes with his index finger. "But first we have to stop the bleeding before I can take you to the tree house." You had no idea where that would be on the island or how far you were away from it, but you trusted Peter. You would go where he told you. He slowly released his hold on your wrists, his long fingers sliding down yours for the briefest of moments, and then he took off his shirt. You blushed at the provocative sight of his trim naked chest. Man was he cut! Then without a word he began ripping his shirt effortlessly into long narrow strips of green cloth. You watched silently fascinated as he carefully wrapped each strip around each of your wounds. Truthfully the sight of him half undressed and touching you had completely erased the pain from your mind. But your happy moment of peace was soon shattered.
