Moving On

Chapter 10 - Part 4

The next morning, Tyler opened his eyes and became conscious of the hand he was still holding on to. He jerked upright, pulling Kate's hand along and jolting her awake.

He released her hand as she gasped and ran her hand through her hair, seemingly disoriented.

When she turned and saw him, she immediately sighed.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "I fell asleep." Leaning her elbow against the bed, Kate tried to push herself up from the floor.

She couldn't get herself up. She dropped back onto the floor and buried her face in the bed. "I can't feel my legs."

He got off the bed and scooped her up in his arms, gently placing her onto his bed. "You slept on the floor for the whole night?" he said as he started kneading her calves.

He couldn't believe he'd stupidly held on to her hand, causing her to sleep on the floor.

"Not technically. I'm not sure what time I woke up," she said before closing her eyes.

At first, she didn't have any reaction as Tyler kneaded up and down her calves. Then she suddenly flung her hands out, grabbed his arm, and screamed for him to stop.

The pins and needles must have started.

He immediately let go, but her fingers dug into his arm.

Her eyes squeezed shut, and she bit down on her lower lip, seemingly trying to stop herself from screaming any more. "Gosh," she said through clenched teeth and leaned back on the bed, using the pillow to cover her face.

He ran his hand through his hair while he kicked himself for being the cause of her pain.

Kate continued to writhe in agony for a few minutes as she wriggled her toes.

Once the pins and needles subsided, she sat up and smiled sheepishly at him. "Sorry for that ... um ... sorry. I tried waking you up. But you didn't, and I fell asleep."

"Kate, please. Please stop saying you're sorry. I should be the one apologizing. I'm such an idiot. I—"

Kate scowled at him. "What idiot? You were sleeping; you didn't know." Then lowering her voice, she asked, "Do you get nightmares often?"

"Every now and then," he said. "I'm sorry I woke you."

She lay back on the bed. "It isn't your fault, but you can make it up to me by letting me sleep now." She flashed a toothy grin.

He laughed; it was always easy to laugh around her. "Go ahead. I'll get breakfast."

Kate nodded, her eyes already closed. "Goodnight."

He closed the curtains before leaving the room.

Once he was out of the room, Tyler called Marianne to inform her that they would be extending the trip for another day. She hated it whenever he disappeared without first informing her.

"Kate's work not going well?" Marianne asked.

"We'll head back tomorrow," he said.

"All right."

When he got back to the hotel room, he was surprised to find Kate awake. Her bag lay neatly by the door, and she was replying to emails on her laptop.

"I thought you wanted to sleep."

"I tried, but I couldn't get back to sleep. Don't worry, I'm wide awake. I can drive us back to the airport if you want."

"We're leaving today? I thought we could do more exploring. We can go hiking at the national park."