Curious Meet Up

*Author’s note: This story is a sequel to Curious Rescue.

When Carter laid his eyes on her this time, she was very much alive and unbroken. 

Her body radiated warmth and color had returned to her face; it was no longer bloody or swollen either. 

“You know, I had myself convinced that you were a fabrication.” She said. 

“Is that so?”

“Yes, I mean it was you, right?”

“It was me that did what?” He furrowed his brows and titled his head. 

“On the mountain…You saved me…”

“Right time, right place is all.” 

“No.” She hastily wiped her eyes with her hand. 

He hadn’t meant to upset her. 

“I don’t believe that. My memory is fragmented, but I…saw…your face…appear in front of me. You were like an angel.”

Having just taken a sip, Carter almost spit out his coffee. “I’m far from angelic.”

“Well, it was the sun, I suppose. It cast you in a glow. Angel, hero, potato, patato. You rescued me, so you can’t stop me from thinking highly of you.” 

“Challenge accepted.” He said. 

“That’s cute. You won’t be changing my mind. Try if you must. I may not remember much, but I…felt you…

Carter’s lips parted slightly, but he remained silent.

“Your hands were…warm… I know that sounds silly because it was cold outside.” 

“It’s not silly.” He murmured. He took another sip of his coffee. Then, he was struck with a realization. “Oh, you don’t have a drink! Where are my manners?”

“It’s ok.” She said. 

Carter, intent on being a gentleman, flagged down the waitress anyway. Brielle ordered a regular cup of coffee without any pumps of this or that or soy, non-fat, oat nonsense. Not that women with crazy orders were inherently bad, but Carter was particularly sensitive to anything remotely equated with high maintenance given his past relationship.  Perhaps of greater value to him though was the way in which she ordered. Carter was far from grammar police, but her use of “may I” instead of “can I” was masterful. Add in her please and thank you and Carter was falling hard. He always pictured himself with a “bad girl,” but this sweet one in front of him was sexy. 

The waitress returned rather quickly with Brielle’s drink. All he could do was stare. Her focus had shifted to her coffee. Her spoon clinked against the mug as she stirred in some cream and sugar. Then, she blew on it before taking a small sip. When she had finished, she wrapped her hands around her mug letting it warm her. Her gaze returned to his. 

“May I ask you something?” 

“Yes, of course.” He answered. 

“Why weren’t you at the hospital?” 

That punched him in the gut. It was a question he asked himself every day for the past month. He looked down at his drink. 

“Your family had been called, and…and…there wasn’t any room in the ambulance. I…I figured…you didn’t want to wake up to a stranger.” He answered. 

“Except, I did.” She said. 

“I’m sorry.” 

“I found you. That’s all that matters, now. You’re the key to my memory. Truth be told, I don’t know what I would have done if the roles were reversed.” 

“I won’t do it again.” He said. 

She laughed. “Planning on saving more damsels in distress, are you?” 

He chuckled. “No, I suppose not.” 

Brielle became serious once more. “Honestly, I’m still struggling.” 

“Physically or mentally?”

“Physically, I’m managing, but I’m still coping with the memory loss.” She said. 

“Sometimes, the real trauma is not remembering the trauma.” He responded. 

“Exactly! Are you a therapist or something?” 

“Ha. Me? No, but I may have answers. Are you sure you want to know?” 

She nodded. 

He began by telling her how her body folded around the tree. When he realized she wasn’t moving he sped in her direction. He made sure help was coming, and then he began to assess her. First, he made sure she was breathing. 

“I…felt…” She began, but then she touched the side of her neck. 

“Yes, I was praying to God you had a pulse.” He said. 

“You were?” 

He nodded. 

“You felt it, right?” 

“At that moment, I did.” He said. 

“You mean you lost it?” She quivered. 

He nodded again. 

Tears were escaping from her eyes and her body shivered. Carter reached across the small table and gently grabbed her hand. She let out a slow breath. 

“How did you know what to do?” She said. 

“I didn’t. Well, sort of. My lifeguard training from a few too many years ago kicked in on autopilot.” He said. 

“That explains it.” She gave a slight grin. 

“Should I continue?” He asked. 

“Please do.” She said. 

“Your face was bloody. I didn’t have a first aid kit, so I improvised with my scarf.” 

Brielle’s hands touched her face. “I could taste it. You wiped my face for me? With your own scarf?” 

“I had to make sure you were ok. I covered you with my coat, so you wouldn’t go into shock.” 

“Weren’t you cold?” She asked. 

“Nah, I think it was the adrenaline. That’s about when you opened your eyes.” 

“I remember.” 

“Yes, the whole angelic glow. We covered that, but then…” 

He stopped. This next part he didn’t dare say out loud. He had unsuccessfully tried to forget this memory. He was beginning to question whether she should know. 

“No pulse.” She whispered. 

“Right, so I started CPR. The paramedics arrived and took over, and…” 

Now, his eyes were leaking. He was usually stoic, so this emotion surprised him as equally as it embarrassed him. This time, Brielle turned comforter and took Carter’s hand. 

She continued for him. “My parents told me they had to shock me. It’s ok. I didn’t feel it. I’m alive. It must have been scary to watch though, huh?” 

“It was. I’ve only seen that kind of thing on TV.” 

“Same.” She said. 

They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. Both of them were processing what had just unfolded. They knew; however, this wouldn’t be the last time they saw each other, and it wasn’t. When they had recovered, the conversation changed and took on a more upbeat tune. When they finally decided that they should get going, Carter told her he didn’t want to have coffee again. 

Brielle was hurt and said “you don’t?” 

“I don’t want to have coffee because I want to take you to dinner.” 

“Ohhh…” She smiled. “You got me there. I would love that.” 

A week or so later when they met for dinner, Carter brought flowers, but Brielle also had an unexpected gift. 

Carter half laughed and half cried when he opened it. 

“A new scarf! Thank you!”