A Bride For Us

Bare

The barn doors were open.

Lily's heart pounded with that singular sentence, thankful beyond words for it as she raced towards the barn.

If the doors were not open, she wouldn't have seen the fire until it had succeeded in burning down the entire barn and killing the animals in it. In the meantime, the fire was confined to a small portion of the barn and from her calculations, manageable.

The first thing she did as she reached the barn, was release the animals. They could afford to lose the barn, but not the animals and if she didn't hurry, she'd be too late. Unlatching every stall and throwing the doors wide open, she stepped to the side, giving room for the frightened animals to run out.

She reached up, pulling her wet hair into a tight bun above her head. Her attention moved back to the situation at hand as her eyes searched frantically for a solution. The fire seemed to be spreading, consuming every hay in its path. If she didn't hurry, the roof would cave in on her and the entire barn would be consumed. She couldn't put out the fire all by herself, she thought, but she could stop it from spreading!

Quickly, her eyes scanned the barn, coming to rest on a pitch fork that rested against the door. Releasing a sigh of relief, she hurried to it and picked it up. She began sweeping the hay that wasn't already consumed by the fire, away. The hay was acting as fuel and to stop the fire, she needed to get the hay as far away as possible.

Her face burned with heat as she got close to the fire and used the pitch fork to sweep the hay aside. To her relief, it worked. She stepped aside and watched as the fire burned in one place, unable to move further.

Throwing the pitch fork to the side, she removed the bucket from the hook and raced back outside in search of water. Thankfully, the rain had succeeded in creating a pond a little distance from the barn. She filled the bucket with muddy water, and carried it back into the barn where she was  happy to find that the fire was beginning to die down.

Three muddy buckets of water later, and she succeeded in quenching the fire. 

It seemed like nearly a decade later, before Lily was finally making her way into the house, drenched from head to toe in rain and mud. Her breathing was strained and her fingers were tired. Still, she had to drag Raymond's unconscious form through the kitchen and into the living room where she positioned him by the hearth. She raced up the stairs, her leg muscles protesting her actions as she reached the room and removed the sheets on the bed. She placed them on the chair and threw open her trunk. Digging into it, she found the blanket that had once belonged to her parents, one of the few things she hadn't gotten rid of in New York.

For a while, she knelt there, hugging the blanket against herself as if by doing so, she would be given one last chance to hold her parents in her arms. Then, remembering the urgency of the unconscious man that awaited her downstairs, she rose to her feet and hurriedly made her way to him.

His body trembled as she knelt by his side. His clothes were as dirty as hers, clinging to his body, and his skin was pale.

You have to take off his wet clothes...

She clamped down on her lower lips, her fingers trembling as the thought entered her mind. It was obvious she needed to get rid of his wet clothes or risk him dying, but she didn't think she could do it without dying of embarrassment. Couldn't she just cover his body with the sheets and hope his clothes dry out underneath? She groaned, knowing she couldn't. She needed to brave it, whether she liked it or not.

It wasn't until she had succeeded in pulling off his shirt, evoking a loud growl from his lips, did her eyes catch a glimpse of his dislocated shoulder. She gasped, placing both hands over her lips at the blue, yellowish color of his skin.

“Raymond...” She whispered, reaching forward and placing her trembling fingers on his shoulder. She needed to snap the bone back to its proper position. The thought alone frightened her, but she knew what was required of her if she didn't want the situation to get worse.

Leaning forward, she wrapped her arms around his arm. Pulling her eyelids shut, heaving a breath and clamping down on her lips, she pulled.

Raymond's loud growl rang through the entire building for what seemed like hours and then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. When she opened her eyes, he was lying still on the floor, barely breathing.

Tears now running down her face, she went about her task of undressing him and pulling the blanket over his bare body.

!!! 

Raymond's eyelids parted slowly until the image of the ceiling became clear. He tried to rise, but was immediately greeted with a crippling pain that shot up his arm muscles. He gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to yell in horror as he managed to push himself to a sitting position. Something slipped down his chest, leaving his chest exposed to the cool air. When he glanced down, he was staring at his bare chest. The sheet and blanket had fallen to his waist, doing very little to hide the fact that he was naked underneath.

Confused, he lifted his eyes up, and sitting there on a rocking chair overlooking his make shift cot on the parlor floor, was Lily.

Heat immediately burned Raymond's face at the sight of her. What happened?! His mind screamed, fearful of the thought that something had happened between them. Surely, nothing could have happened! He couldn't have consummated their marriage, could he?

It was a question Raymond couldn't answer. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't remember anything.

He turned his attention back to Lily who was slouched on the chair in an uncomfortable position. Surely, her neck would hurt by the time she wakes up and her body would be sore.

Raymond scanned her, noticing the fact that she was clothed and heaving a sigh of relief. He tried to rise to his feet, the sheets falling to the floor, leaving him standing there completely bare as pain simultaneously clouded his mind. This time, he couldn't prevent his lips from expressing the pain he felt as a loud cry escaped his lips.

Lily jumped to her feet. “Raymond?!” She rushed to his side and took hold of his arm. Gently, she tugged on his arm until he was complying to her unspoken request to lie down.

“My arm...” He murmured, his lips barely forming the words.

He felt Lily pull the sheets over his body and he immediately remembered that he had been standing naked before her only a few seconds ago. Heat burned his face as embarrassment clouded his mind.

Lily lifted his head slightly and placed something soft underneath.

“You need to rest.” She tried to rise but he grabbed her hand with his uninjured hand. It wasn't until she let out a pained gasp, did he realize he had been holding on too tightly.

“What happened?” He breathed, releasing his hold on her.

“You dislocated your shoulder and nearly burned down the barn.” She snapped, rising to her feet and straightening. “Don't try to rise or it'll get worse. I will make breakfast and ride to town in search of a doctor. Don't move until I return.” She sounded upset, furious even.

As she spoke, he suddenly remembered. He remembered falling, he remembered setting the barn on fire, and finally crawling to the house. He had been so weak, he collapsed by the back door.

Lily saved my life...

The thought filled him with remorse. He had been nothing but cruel to her, still, she was willing to help him.

He opened his mouth to thank her but for some reason, his lips remained sealed together. Pain clouded his mind, covering him like a massive blanket until he could no longer fight the darkness and in only a matter of seconds, was slipping into unconsciousness.

Copyright © 2017 Lily Orevba All rights reserved.