To calm myself, I tried to concentrate on my hurt ankle. He was still holding my leg in his hands trying to keep it level and still. I looked at him and took a deep breath, “Can you just let me rest my leg on the ground, you don’t need to hold it.” He looked at me and slowly lowered it the 6 inches to the ground and let go. I gasped as the small amount of movement caused a sharp pain in the ankle. He spoke, “I don’t think it’s broken, but it is probably strained.” We need to get some ice on it and get it elevated. “Are you a doctor?” I asked. “No, but I do have some training in emergency situations,” he replied. Well, at least my ankle gave me something to think about other than being raped and murdered, I thought. But now that things have calmed down some, he wasn’t acting aggressive or inappropriate in that way, although I did still get that sense of a predatory animal coming from him.
He watched me as I sat there, waiting for me to speak. I didn’t want to talk with him, something in my throat made it almost impossible to speak. Okay, maybe I was still scared. I finally squeaked out a question, “Who are you?” “Derik,” he replied as he continued to stare at me. “Are you out here by yourself?” he asked. Why did he want to know that, to see if anyone would miss me? “No, I’m not,” I lied. “I just got separated from my friends they should be right behind me on the trail.” He watched me, and I didn’t think he believed my lie. “Well, we need to get some ice on that ankle or it is going to swell up. My place is not far from here, I can carry you there.” “No, I think I’ll just wait here for my friends. But thank you. I’ll be alright, you can go now.” He squatted down beside me and continued as if I hadn’t spoken, reaching out his arms to pick me up. “What are you doing? I told you I was fine. Just leave me alone.”
He stopped and leaned back on his heals and looked at me. “Look, I know that your friends are not anywhere near here, you are hurt, and you can’t be left here alone.” He didn’t reach for me again, but just looked at me. “I’m fine, I just need to catch my breath, and I’ll be on my way.” I lifted my foot to stand up, but the pain in my ankle made me suck in my breath. He looked at me with one eyebrow raised, but didn’t say anything.
I wasn’t going anywhere on that foot. Damn, why now. I can’t run, my cell phone is in my back pack back where I dropped it. I looked around and no other options came to mind. “Are you ready?” he quietly asked. With no other alternative at hand now, I shook my head yes. “But, can you grab my backpack?” He went over and picked it up and placed it in my lap, then quickly lifted me in his arms. The pain in my ankle made be grunt and suck in my breath. “I’m sorry,” he said softly and started walking towards the water.
He followed the edge of the water going west away from the direction that I had been heading. I tried to keep my leg from bouncing with his steps, while also trying not to lean into his chest. I could see that my ankle was already swelling; each step was like someone was beating it with a sledge hammer. He looked down at me, “Relax, it will hurt less.” I didn’t relax, but tried to take my mind away from the pain. “Where are you taking me? Is it far? Do you have a phone?” “My home. No. And, no,” was his response. A man of few words I thought. “How does anyone not have a phone?” He just looked at me with no response and kept walking.
I finally gave up holding my body away from him and let myself lean onto his bare chest. I tried to look at him without being obvious, I may need to identify my attacker later if I got myself out of this situation. He was over six feet tall, with dark brown-almost black, shoulder length hair. His chest was smooth with no hair, with developed pecs and what looked like a six pack. Oh great I thought, I’m being kidnapped by Fabio. He was certainly a man women probably chased, so why was he after me? There was too much shade to see his eye color, but he had full lips and a five o’clock shadow on his face. He was wearing a pair of brown hiking pants that hung low on his hips and leather hiking boots. So what kind of man walked around in the woods with no shirt?
Why didn’t I wait for someone else to come with me? Why do I always have to be so pig-headed? How am I going to get out of this, and I will get out of this. I could see my description of him to the police later…”Yes officer, Fabio kidnapped me. I don’t know what he was doing in the woods. Yes, I know it was stupid to be hiking in the woods by myself.” Shit.
We had been walking about thirty minutes when he stepped into a small clearing that had a cabin under some oak trees. The cabin had a front porch with two chairs on it and looked out towards the lake. He walked to the front door and opened it with the hand under my legs. It was dark inside and took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust to see what was inside. I had a glimpse of an open room that had a large fireplace and a kitchen on one side. He kept walking and into a bedroom. He placed me on the bed and stepped back, “I’ll get some ice, you stay there.” He grabbed up the backpack that I was holding before I could stop him. “What are you doing, that is mine!” “It’s not going anywhere,” he responded and placed it on the chest of drawers by the door.
I looked at my ankle and it was swollen about the size of a baseball and was already red. I moved it a little and gasped at the pain. Looking around the room, it was small with no clutter and a window that looked out on the lake. Other than the chest of drawers, there was only a chair in the corner of the room.
Derik walked back in the room with a towel wrapped around a plastic bag with ice in it. He sat it on the bed and reached for my foot, “I’m going to remove your boot and sock.” “I can do that myself,” reaching down to untie my laces, I got lightheaded and swayed. Derik caught me, “You just lay back and I’ll take your boots off.” Lifting my leg gently, he got my boot and sock off while I gritted my teeth and tried not to cry. He placed a bed pillow under my leg and foot and then placed the ice on my ankle. I took a deep breath trying to maintain my “not crying” status. “Now lay back and I’ll get you something for the pain and something to drink.”
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