Hopeless

Chapter 13

I blink my eyes open, my head feeling fuzzy. I look up and see Shane looking down at me. He has me cradled in his arms, like a bride on her wedding day. I lean my head against his chest.

"Thank God you're awake." He says, his voice sounding as if he'd just been crying.

"Is Carol ok?" I ask sleepily, my throat dry. He smiles.

"Baby Carol's fine. You on the other hand I'm not so sure."

"I'm fine." I say and even I didn't believe it. He raises his eye brows at me. I sigh. "How bad is it?"

"You got pretty banged up." He sighs sadly. "You should be ok in a few days as long as you take it easy." I look up at him quickly.

"How do I look?" He laughs.

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

"Aww." I smile and lean my head back against him.

"I love you Katie." He says as we walk up to our tent.

"I love you too Shane." He walks into our tent and carefully places me down on our bed. He gently slips my shoes off and sets them by the door. I lay back as he pulls the blanket over me. I wiggle, getting comfortable. He crouches down beside me and takes my hand in his. He brings it up to his mouth and places a small kiss against my knuckles.

"You get some rest now. I'll be right outside if you need me." I nod, still smiling. He zips the tent flap and I turn on my side, pulling the blanket over my shoulder. God I love him I think as I drift to sleep. When I wake up the warm afternoon sun is shining through the tent. My face aches. I sit up slowly and push the blanket away from me. I pull my shoes back on and slowly get to my feet. I sway a little, before gaining my balance and leaving the tent. I shield my eyes from the sun as I walk slowly toward the main area of camp. Shane jumps to his feet and rushes to my side when he see's me coming. He wraps his arm around waist, supporting me as I walk.

"How you feeling baby?" He asks me as we walk to the log where Shane was sitting.

"A little sore." I say, even though it hurt a lot more than I was letting show. I look down and see his right hand is bloody and bruised. I gasp. "Shane what happened?"

"Nothin'" I try to push the subject, but he takes my face in his hands, examining my bruises.

"Hey look at that, they're lookin' better already." I fake a smile. He see's right through it. "You ok?" He asks soflty. His words bring tears to my eyes. The facade I was trying to uphold crashing away. He pulls me into him, he doesn't say anything at first. He just holds me, slowly running his hand over my back. The silence is more comforting than any words could have been. "I'm so sorry." He mumbles. "I should have been there. I should have protected you."

"This wasn't your fault." I reply running my fingers threw his curly hair. He shakes his head.

"I will never let anything happen to you. I promise you that. No one will ever put their hands on you like that again." His voice cracks as he too holds back tears.

"God I love you." I whisper as I kiss him. He presses his mouth into mine, like the air we share is the only thing keeping him alive. "Ow." I mumble as he kisses me harder.

"Sorry." He whispers, both of us bursting into laughter. He gives me a soft peck on the lips then pulls away.

"I didn't tell you to stop." He smirks at me, then stands. Taking my hand as he leads me to our special spot in the woods. We found it the first month we were here. It's the one place we actually have some privacy. He pulls off my shirt as he backs me into a tree. The rough bark digging into my back as he leaves a trails of kisses down my stomach. I kiss him passionately as I pull off his shirt. He lays me down on the ground as he fiddles with the button on my jeans.