and immediately crumbled to the ground. So much for limping back to the inn. I couldn’t move a few inches without excruciating pain.
I don’t know how long I sat there trying to decide what to do. Normally, I have my cell phone with me, but as luck would have it, I hadn’t brought it this morning. If that wasn’t bad enough, it started to rain in earnest. Within moments I was drenched to the skin.
Elvis stayed by my side.
“Hi buddy,” I said, and bit into my lower lip. “I’ve gotten myself into quite a predicament, haven’t I?” Although it hurt like crazy, I managed to scoot so that I was able to lean my back against the thick trunk of an apple tree. It helped to keep the deluge from raining down on me directly, but I still got plenty wet.
As if he knew how cold I was, Elvis settled down next to me, aligning himself next to my legs. His warmth felt heavenly.
“I’m going to need help,” I told him. I hated the thought of Nick finding me like this.
“I think I should try to stand again,” I told Elvis, hoping that if I made it out to the street perhaps someone driving by would stop. It was a risk, but one I was willing to take in order to avoid Nick.
As soon as I was upright I knew it was a lost cause. My ankle had already swollen, and the pain was bad enough to make me whimper. There was no help for it; I would need to wait for Nick, and heaven only knew how long that would take.
Using the tree as my support, I scooted back down to the ground, resisting the urge to rant at my own carelessness. If I hadn’t been so tired I would have remembered to unplug my phone from the charging unit. Of all the days to leave it behind. Could I make myself a bigger pest than I already was?
I don’t know how long I remained sitting by the tree. Long enough to start shivering with the cold. The wind and driving rain were no comfort. My teeth started to chatter. Elvis refused to leave me and I was eternally grateful.
Then I heard it. Off in the distance.
“Elvis.”
Nick calling for his dog.
Elvis raised his head but didn’t budge.
“Over here,” I shouted as loud as I could and was shocked at how weak my voice was. “I’m over here,” I tried again.
“Fine,” I heard Nick call out. “Go ahead and stay out in the rain, if that’s what you want.”
No, no, he couldn’t leave me. “Help,” I shouted. “Please, Nick, I need you.” Then I realized what I’d said. “I need your help…” I didn’t want to need anyone, especially Nick.
The echo of the door closing nearly reduced me to tears. Nick had gone back into the house. My only hope now was that Jo Marie would notice I was missing and would come looking for me. Even then that could take hours, especially when she was busy preparing and serving breakfast for her guests.
The weather in July was moderate. We’d had several warm days in the eighties and nineties, but the rain brought cooler temperatures with it, and the wind added to the chill factor. I felt like I was about to freeze to death. When I’d dressed, I’d assumed all I would need was a long-sleeved shirt. I hadn’t brought along a jacket and deeply regretted that now.
I knew enough first aid to recognize the symptoms of hypothermia. And I feared it was setting in. Despite the pain in my ankle, I felt the strongest desire to sleep. I struggled against it, but even so my eyes kept drifting shut. I managed to shake myself awake time and again, until the effort seemed too much. Eventually someone would find me. All I had to do was hold on until then. It shouldn’t take much longer, right? I was cold, so cold. My teeth didn’t chatter any longer and it felt as if the frigid air had seeped all the way through me and into my bones.
I slumped against Elvis, and he let out a howl as if to keep me awake. I prayed Nick, someone, anyone, would hear the dog and come to my rescue. It felt like hours later but was only thirty minutes when I couldn’t stay awake a minute more. I closed my eyes and prayed.
Nick’s mood was already surly. He’d spent another sleepless night and