Don't Be The Hero

Twenty Five

Nina pov

Third and last day in this forest. Tomorrow Victor would come and drive us to the nearest town, and all of this would be a fuzzy memory. Jack had me strictly confined to camp as he went around doing everything. Cooking food, refilling water, finding more fire wood, he was doing it all, as I sat by the fire. Normal girls probably enjoy their guys doing everything for them, as they sit back and watch. As you have probably noticed, I am still not normal, don't get me wrong I enjoy it once in a while, but I like to do things myself and it felt like that mediaeval punishment thing. The one where they stretch your body until it rips you in half. That's the one.
I offered to cook, Jack said no. I offer to get water, Jack says no. I offer to sit down and be quiet, he almost said no but caught himself. It's like I was radioactive. Can't touch this, can't do this, I can't even breath without Jack telling me not to. Not really, but that's what it feels like sitting around, by the fire, breathing.

So I had a brilliant idea when Jack said he would be right back to get more water. I would have to be fast and quiet. When he was out of sight, I ran to the nearest tree that would support my weight, and very tall. I think it was a type of cedar. I climbed half way up, maybe thirty feet up? I can't be sure, it could've been higher. When Jack came back I almost blew my cover by laughing. He looked frantically around, like one would look for an escaped puppy. The next thing I did was uncalled for, but it sure did make me feel better. I yanked a cone off the tree and chucked it at Jack. Nailed him. He looked up rubbing his head. "Why are you up there? Get down before you hurt yourself!" He yelled up. The absence of most lower limbs made it harder for him to climb, so he didn't attempt. "I got bored." Can't blame me for that. "Get Down here, before you break something." I threw another cone at him and it hit him in the shoulder. "I am never coming down!" I yelled down at him, excited to be having a bit of fun for once. He made no further attempt to get me down. I sat up there the whole day. I sat there, my stomach rumbling like thunder. 'I don't need food. I am not hungry.' I kept telling myself. Just before the sun set, it started raining. Full on downpour out of no where. Jack was back down there yelling up at me to get down. I couldn't here him clearly, but soon he sat under my tree, sitting in the mud as water cascaded down from above. There was a clap of thunder, and a few miles away a bolt of lightning came down. It scared the crap out of me and almost sent me tumbling down. Thankfully, no fire started, and I was still hanging onto my branch by my legs. I wasn't wearing a jacket or shoes, which meant that soon I couldn't feel my toes, and then my fingers, they both felt frozen over and numb. That's when I decided to climb down. My bare feet sliding on the wet branches, or my face getting slammed with them, was not fun. I was on one of the lowest branches, ten to fifteen feet up, when I slipped. I failed to catch myself, but on the bright side, I landed like I jumped, which was good and didn't make me dislocate a shoulder. Jack was at my side in seconds helping me off the wet ground.

It wasn't muddy like I thought. It was almost sponge like and absorbed the water. It squished under my feet. "You ok? Nothing hurt?" He was examining my arms, my face, to make sure I wasn't hurt. All the scratches had faded but my feet were still freezing. "I'm fine. Just a bit cold." He dragged me into the hut, which was water proof by the way, and sat me down. He shrugged off his jacket. I thought he was going to offer it to me, but instead he hung it up in front of the door frame keeping most of the rain out. Our clothes were soaked through, but my jacket and boots were still in the corner and dry. A few things Annie once told me popped into my head. I untied Jack's boots and yanked them off his huge feet and set them in the corner, followed by his socks. I started to take off his shirt. "What are you doing?" He asked. His voice had a bit of surprise in it. I spouted wise words from a first aid handbook. "The best way to avoid hypothermia is to remove all the wet clothes you can." I got his shirt off and then pulled off my own, followed by my pants. I dragged myself over to my boots and reached inside my left shoe, finding my two pairs of socks. What? I don't like it when the slid around on my feet. I put one pair on my freezing feet. I held the other out to Jack. He refused. "You can wear those too. I'll be fine." I threw them at him. "Put them on your dang feet." He did.