Don't Look Back

Out In The Rain

Ratliff's POV

I was out late, and it started pouring. It was too late to wait it out, I didn't have my phone on me, and I left my wallet at home, so I guess I was just going to walk in the rain. I always go on night walks, no one knows about them except for Kelly and Rydel. It was kind of nice in the rain, it was cold, but, the water felt good. I was halfway home when I saw a girl on a bench; she was lying down curled up in a ball. She could be sleeping under an overhang or something if she's homeless or at the bus stop. She was right outside of Riker's building. I felt really bad, I ran over, oh my gosh, it's Sky. I picked her up and ran her home. I knocked on the door with my foot, Kelly opened up. I said, "Sorry if I woke you up." She said, "No, I couldn't sleep, I was watching a movie, why are you two drenched?" I walked inside with Sky still in my arms. Kelly said, "Sky?" Sky's eyes remained shut, she was shaking though. Kelly said, "She sick, she's not going to wake up unless we warm her up. There's a heater in the closet go plug it in, in the bathroom. I said, "The bathroom?"  She nodded, "You heard me." She took Sky from me and walked away. I plugged in the heater, Kelly walked in with Sky, "Okay, just go in the living room, don't come back in." She laid Sky on the floor. She left and came back in with scissors. "Go." I said, "Why? What are you doing?" She said, "You wanna try to pull off her wet skinny jeans?" I said, "Do you need help?" She said, "No, take all the pillows and big blankets and put them at the door." I left and did as I was told, then I sat on the couch. Ten minutes later Kelly walked out. She said, "She should be okay, but, she's really pale, we should call a doctor tomorrow." I said, "Yeah, why do you think she was even out there?" She said, "I don't know. You need to take a shower or else you might get sick like Sky." I said, "Um, she's in there." Kelly said, "Yeah, but she won't be waking up until probably late tomorrow." I said, "But, it'll still feel awkward." Kelly grabbed my hand and walked me to the bathroom, Sky was in the bathtub, completely surrounded by blankets and towels, the heater was making the bathroom hot. "Whoa, go Dr. Kelly." Kelly said, "The steam from the shower will help her. Come on Ell, it's practically snowing out there." I said, "Fine." Kelly left the bathroom. I put a hand towel over Sky's closed eyes. I'm not taking any chances. I took a shower, then when I walked out, I got dressed, the bathroom was so hot. She was still really pale. This wasn't good. I walked out and Kelly and I went to bed. The next morning I called the Lynches and Dylan to come over. Dylan didn't answer, no one knew where he was. Then we called a doctor. Rocky brought Erin. They came into the bathroom. Ross stood in the corner. I said, "I found her sleeping on a bench. She hasn't woken up." Riker touched her cheek with the back of his hand, "She’s still cold." I said, "Kelly wrapped her up and made a sauna out of this place, but she's still freezing." Ross said, "This is all my fault." Riker said, "No, it's mine." The doctor walked in the room. "Hi, I’m Dr. Peters, I'm sorry I'm late, I'm the only doctor that can speak English. I'm actually from New York. So, what happened?" I said, "I found her curled up in a ball on a bench down the street, and it was pouring rain and freezing. So we brought her here to try to warm her up. But she's still cold." Kelly said, "I cut her out of her clothes, so she wasn't soaking in cold clothes all night." The doctor said, "Okay, and the heater was a good idea. Why was she out there?" I lied, "None of us know." Riker and Ross gave me looks. The doctor said, "Okay, can some of you go into another room, it's kind of crowded." Kelly stayed with him and the rest of us went into the living room, "What happened?" I asked Ross and Riker. Ross said, "She was running from me." Riker said, "I yelled at her." Ross said, "I thought she was staying with you because you told me she was okay and I could stay at her place." I said, “Okay, It really doesn’t matter, Ross why was she running from you?” Ross scratched the back of his neck, “She obviously wasn’t overjoyed with the fact that Alana was back.” I said, “Okay, and Riker, why did you yell at her.” Riker said, “I really shouldn’t have. It was stupid anyways.” I said, “Alright, well, let’s all just move past this and forget it.” The doctor came back out, “I gave her a shot, the medicine should get her back to health. It’ll get things moving again in her bloodstream. She should be fine. Call me if anything goes wrong.” He handed me his card. I said, “Thank you so much. How much do we owe you?” He said, “I’m just glad I could help. It’s on the house.” He left. We all sat in the living room waiting. Two hours later, we heard her voice from the bathroom, “Hello?” I said, “Ross, Riker, you two go.”

Riker’s POV

We walked into the bathroom, “Hey Sky.” She almost sat up, I slapped my hands over me and Ross’s eyes, she said, “What are you doing?” I said, “Check yourself Sky.” She said, “Whoa!” I heard the rustle of the blankets, she said, “Okay. Why am I naked?” I moved my hands back to my sides. “Well, you got hypothermia or something. And it was raining, so you got cold and stuff.” She said, “Riker, that doesn’t explain why I don’t have clothes.” I said, “I know, um, well.” Ross interrupted, “You got upset with us, so you ran away. It was about Alana. Kelly cut you out of your clothes because you were out in the rain and freezing. They warmed you up and the doctor helped you, you’re okay now. We go home tomorrow and if you never want to talk to me ever again then that’s okay. I know how upset you probably are right now.” She picked up her blankets to keep her chest covered and she sat up. “Ross, come here.” He went over to her side. She hugged him with one arm. “I would never want to do that. I just had one of my moods. Riker come here too.” I went over and joined the hug. She said, “Okay, well, what time is it?” I looked at my watch, “Two fifty-one.” She said, “Well our plane leaves in four hours, so you guys should probably get back and pack. I’ll ask Kelly if I can borrow some clothes to get back to my place, and I’ll meet you guys outside Riker’s place like we agreed.” I said, “Okay.”