Words of Love Read Free

grunts, trying to get his breath, he let Jessica go. He put his hands on his knees and shut his eyes.  
    That had been close.
    A sudden chill of fear ran through him and he realized he was still wearing the backpack. He quickly stood and shrugged it off. It hit the stone floor with a thud. As he put his hands on his hips, still breathing hard, he looked at Jessica. But it was too dark to make her out.
    Feeling in front of him, he found the table with the propane lantern on it. He quickly lit it and the campground appeared in front of them.
    The cavern was enormous, fading into black almost immediately. The green canvas tent was next to the wall, off to the right. It was a tall freestanding field tent. He’d gotten tired of hunching over in the little camping domes.  
    “Home sweet–” he had started to say as he turned to her.
    She was standing stock still, a hand pressed down over her mouth as though she were stifling a scream. The other hand–Brett stared at it–the other was still gripping her suitcase. Behind the rain dappled glasses, her eyes were shut tight.
    “Jessica?” he said, as he stepped toward her. He looked down at the suitcase and realized that she was gripping the handle so hard her knuckles had turned a pinkish white. “Jessica?” he said, gripping her by the shoulders. “Are you okay?” Stupid question, he thought. She was obviously not okay. “Right,” he said, quietly. “Let’s leave the suitcase.”
    Slowly, he pried her fingers loose. One by one, he gently but firmly unfolded them, until he could hold her hand. He lightly rubbed the stiff fingers between his palms and looked up at her. She hadn’t moved. He stood directly in front of her and put his fingers on the hand covering her mouth. She immediately opened her eyes and inhaled through her nose. But as he started to lift her hand away, she resisted and her breathing rapidly rose.
    If she needed to scream, then she should scream.  
    Who wouldn’t want to scream after what they’d just been through?
    Her nostrils were flaring and collapsing, trying to keep up, and when he finally managed to pry her hand away, lightning flashed behind her at the cave entrance and she shrieked.
    A bone-chilling wail leapt from her throat as she shut her eyes tight. It startled him and he nearly let her hand go but she was gripping his hand hard now. As the wail died away, her entire body began to tremble.
    “Let’s get you inside the tent,” he said.
    With an arm around her waist, he picked up the lantern, moved the tent flap aside and led her through.
    Inside the spacious tent there were two small beds on either side. They were identical, with metal tubing that formed the headboard and footboard. The thin, tick mattresses were covered in sheets and blankets and each one was draped with mosquito netting. He’d used a tarp for a room divider, though it was currently tied up and out of the way. He left the lantern on the improvised work desk of plywood across rubber tote boxes. Still with his arm around her waist, he could feel the temblors shuddering through her body. If she didn’t lie down, she’d fall down.  
    He guided her through the netting and turned her to face him.
    Like him, she was soaked through to the skin. The large clothing that draped her was plastered down and he realized with a start that she had a body. Petite and curved and…she shuddered again.  
    She was trying to take off the drooping canvas hat but her hands shook so badly there was no way she could manage it.
    “Here,” he said. “Let me.”
    He loosened the toggle under her chin and lifted the hat away. Long waves of red hair unfurled, wet and glistening in the dim light. Again, he was surprised. Somehow, he’d thought she wore her hair short.
    He tossed the hat to the floor with a soggy plop and removed her glasses. He folded them with a little clinking sound and tucked them into his wet, chest pocket.
    Maybe because she wasn’t trying to look through