Butterfly and Flame - Alina and Evan

Watcher in the Woods

Christian strode into his room with a crying Miranda in his arms. Her body was chilled from not having dried off and along with the injury to her foot, she was shaking uncontrollably. Christian quickly moved through his living areas and kicked open the door to his bedroom. Hurriedly he walked to the bed and set Miranda down on it instructing her to sit still and not to move. His authoritative non nonsense voice kicked in and she couldn't find the words or strength to contradict him. He brought towels from his bathroom that sat in a warmer and covered her up. Looking into her tear stained face he said "I'm going down the hall to the main pantry. We have some medical supplies there and a bigger first aid kit. Don't move and I'll be right back". He leaned down to kiss her forehead and then ran out of the room. Miranda stared after him as her foot ached where she had stepped on the glass. All she could think about was that she might have injured some important muscles in her foot that would cause her to stop dancing. If that was true she wouldn't be able to deal with it. She hugged herself tighter and began to cry silently.

Alina wrapped the towel tightly around her as she stepped out of the tub. She had the oddest sensation that she wasn't alone. As she stepped out of the bathroom she quietly walked through the room without turning on the light and looked out her windows at the grounds below her and the woods behind the home. She saw nothing other than the security guards who patrolled the property and could not confirm the uneasy feeling that had come over her. She changed put on her nightgown got under the covers before realizing that she hadn't put in Evan's sweatshirt. The wine and the hot bath and then her pills had made her so tired that she fell asleep before she could get up and put it on. She never turned the ringer on her phone back on and missed a number of Evans calls and messages.

Evan hung up the phone wondering why she hadn't answered. It was late and perhaps they had gone to a movie, but she would have texted him not to wait up for her. Something wasn't right and he wasn't about to ignore his gut feeling. He placed a call to a Christian and immediately he picked up. "Hey", before he could say anything else Christian told him that he was taking Miranda to the ER. The girls had been in the hot tub earlier. Alina has gone up to her room while Miranda and he chatted. She had knocked over a wine glass and stepped on a broken shard. She was in a lot of pain and fearful that the injury if not well looked after could cause her nerve damage and ruin her dancing future. " Oh man, yeah I won't keep you". Christian understood that his brother must have called him for a specific reason so he said "is something up Evan?" Evan told him he hadn't been able to reach Alina and had gotten a little worried. Christian explained that they had had a long workout at the new ballet bar he had installed and then the  hot tub and wine. She might have just been exhausted and fallen asleep. She had not left the house as the guards were instructed to clear every exit and entry to the property with him first. "Thanks Chrissy, I won't keep you. Take care of Miranda and I'll talk with you tomorrow. I'll be wrapping up and I'll be headed home tomorrow night." They both hung up but Evan still couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. He checked the airlines and saw that there was an earlier flight out at 2:00 am than the 10:00 am flight he had already booked. But even if he got his gear ready now and drove the 100 miles to the airport he still wouldn't make it. For once in a very long time he made a call that he had thought he would never make. "Hello, grand....I hope I didn't wake you?"

Ashley listened to her grandson and without hesitation she told him that she would call him in fifteen minutes with the information he needed. She had been young once and she had loved fiercely. Had she but listened to her own heart the way that Evan was, perhaps much of her life would have turned out differently. She went to her office and looked through her rolodex. She was very familiar and handy with technology but she preferred the old way of doing things and this required a bit of digging and recollection. Upon finding what she was looking for she picked up her phone and made a call. After a few rings the call was answered "hello, Sharon?. It's Ashley. I'm sorry for the lateness of the hour but I have an immense favor to ask of you". The two women spoke for a bit and then Ashley hung up. She called Evan and he picked up on the first ring. "Evan, it's all arranged. You will be meeting with Sharon and Tom Daniels. They have a cattle ranch about 40 miles from where your at. They will have everything ready once you get there. I'll give you the address now." After hanging up the phone with his grandmother Evan was impressed but not surprised that his grandmother would know someone in Montana, and that the someone she knew was one of the largest cattle ranchers in the United States. They were also art collectors and great patrons of one of her charities for child literacy. The couple had a leer jet and he was welcome to use it. He could have had his grandmother send their jet out to get him but that would have wasted time and only gotten him back into the city at nearly the same time as his domestic flight. This way he would be back home in as little as five hours. He was already packed anticipating his grandmothers abilities to get him what he needed. Her resources and connections had proved invaluable to him today and he had to admit he was grateful for them.