Mountain Love

Chapter 2 - Sunday

The drive from the doctors passed in silence. Qualeb looked tense as I could see his finger tightened on the steering wheel. He had put on some random station on the radio. I was listening to the music until we arrived at his place. He stopped the car and came over to my side of the car. The doctor said that they didn't have any crutches at the surgery and the earliest we would be able to get some would be next week, as we wouldn't be able to go to the hospital until the snowstorm passes. Hence why I tried to get up myself but Qualeb rushed over reached my side before I even had chance to put my feet outside the door to get out. He lifted me up swiftly with such an ease that it made it look as if I weighted nothing. I started to protest but he just ignored me. I fell silent when I saw the house. I guess the better term would have been cottage. It was the most beautiful and serene little cottage I had ever seen. It looked like a poster or post card photo. The cottage itself was painted in a dark shade of brown with the red roof peeking under the snow. There was a small garden leading to the door. A black steel fence and a small gate surrounded the garden. Qualeb opened the gate with his foot and walked along the path to his house. I could see that the garden on one side was grown with vegetables and on the other side with flowers. A huge dog ran in front of us and went waiting at the door. To be honest, I am not a big fan of dogs but this huge dog was kinda cute with its beautiful blue eyes and soft fur. Qualeb told me that his name was Max. Whilst making me stand on one leg, Qualeb opened the door, supporting me with one hand and then lifted me up again. He then asked me: "Do you want to go to sleep or do you want to eat something?"

As if on cue, my stomach started to rumble. He chuckled and took me to the kitchen. The kitchen was set up in an old fashion manner with a wooden oval table in the middle and a stone oven. At the same time, it also had all modern equipment, such as an electric kettle and a microwave. Qualeb placed me on a chair and went to the fridge. He took some eggs and started to make an omelette. All the while, he didn't say anything. I saw that he had taken his jacket off but not his ski mask. So I asked him: "Don't you want to take your ski mask off? I noticed that you didn't even take it off at the hospital either."

He stopped beating the egg and looked at me. He replied in a low voice: "I rather not take my mask off. I...I was in an accident and so I have a bandage that covers most of my face."

I turned my head sideways and looked at him.

"Well, since you have the bandage covering your face, why are you also wearing the mask then? I reckon it would be alright to just take the mask off."

I didn't say anything else because I realised that the attacker also had a ski mask on. The minute I thought of the attacker, I thought of the image that was burned into my mind. It was of the evil man holding the knife between his teeth with his haunting evil eyes. I shuttered at the thought. Qualeb went out of the room and came back with a blanket and put it around me. He took my hair out of the blanket and that's when I looked him into his eyes and told him in a whisper:
"To be honest with you, when I see the mask, it ...it reminds me off the attacker. He also had a mask and ..."

I paused and looked away. Qualeb moved away back to the stove. He continued to beat the eggs and to make the omelette. I just stared at his back.
He was quite tall, with a slim but muscular built. At the back of his neck, under his mask, I could make out some long dark brown hair. As I was analysing him, he turned and bought a plate with food over. I quickly looked away. He didn't seem to notice that I had been staring and he then went back and got me a cup of milk. I noticed that he only made food for one person. That's when the thought stuck me that he might not have enough food for both of us, so I offered:
"You haven't made anything for yourself. Would you like to have some from this?"

He looked startled at me, as if he didn't think that I would have noticed. He just shook his head. So, I silently ate everything.  Once I was finished, Qualeb took my plate and came to pick me up again with the blanket still around me. He still hadn't looked at me. He took me up some stairs and into a bedroom. He placed me on the bed.     

The bedroom wasn't very big but looked very cosy. The walls were painted a dark green shade and the furniture were all a light shade of brown. Qualeb moved away from the bed and went to the cupboard as he said to me: "I can let you borrow my clothes until we can go down to town. Should I run a bath for you or would you like to go to sleep?"

It amazed me how considerate he was to my wellbeing. It was a new feeling for me, to feel so looked after and even...should I dare say cherished? Anyway, I looked at down at myself and told Qualeb:
"A bath would be great, if it's not too much trouble. Thank you so much Qualeb. Thank you for everything that you have done for me."

He smiled at me and replied:
"That's fine. Feel free to let me know if you need anything. Let me get the bath ready for you."

I had to say, from the short time that I had spent with Qualeb, I had learnt a great deal about him already. Not only was he very considerate but also he was a guy who likes to work fast and really does think about everything. He made me a bath and covered my cast in a plastic bag and put a radio in the bathroom before he went out. When I finished he had put a range of clothes out for me to choose from. I chose some jogging bottoms and a t-shirt before I went to attempt to go down. I didn't even get as far as the stairs when I saw that he came out of the room opposite of mine. I stopped at the stairs and looked at him. While I had my bath, Qualeb has had a shower as well because his hair was still damp. He has taken his ski mask off. Like he had said, most of his face was covered in bandage. All I could were his eyes and his chin, the rest of his face was covered. His long brown hair was damp and covered the rest of his face. I could tell from his eyes that he was trying to figure out my reaction.