Purposeful Betrayal

Wells Kennedy was completely taken aback at finding a woman sitting on the trail he was jogging on. The last thing he expected, especially since it was getting late, was running across another person in this particular area. Known for the rocky terrain and wild animals that scavenged the area at night, most people had enough common sense to steer clear this late in the day. It wasn't until he really looked at her that he gasped. "Oh, God. You're hurt," he said in concern as he dropped to his knees in front of her. "What the hell happened to you?" Brinley frowned at the tone of his voice. "I had an accident," she informed him tartly. Seriously, what did he think happened to her? "I'm sorry," he apologized. "That didn't come out right." Hearing her stomach growl, he looked at her in concern. "How long have you been out here?" "A long time," she said wearily. "I started my run around six this morning. I fell a few hours after I began." "Good lord," he exclaimed. "Where's your running pack?" he asked looking around. Seeing none, he looked back at her, beginning to suspect that she was a newbie to running and hadn't started her morning prepared at all for what could happen. Like a damn fall! "I didn't carry one," she answered, confirming his suspicions. "Water? Cell phone?" When she shook her head indicating she had none of those things, he huffed in disgust. "You're reckless," he lectured as he reached for the strap on his shoulder and pulled down the backpack that she hadn't seen hidden behind him. Wells quickly uncapped a bottle of water he'd taken from the pack and handed it to her. He watched as she chugged the entire bottle, stopping only when the last drop hit her tongue. Sighing in pleasure, she handed the empty container back to him. "Thank you," she murmured, embarrassed that she'd guzzled the water without considering that he might have wanted some. It's just that when the refreshing, cool liquid first hit her tongue it tasted so good that she couldn't seem to stop until the last of it was gone. Brinley hadn't realized how dehydrated she was. "So, what happened," he asked, storing the empty bottle back in his pack. Then taking out another bottle along with a cloth, he saturated it in some of the water. Handing the remaining water to her, he started to dab at the blood on her face. "My foot caught on a root. I was distracted and didn't see it. When I went down, I twisted my knee, my ankle, and hit my head on something.” "Did you lose consciousness?" he asked brusquely, feeling her head for lumps. “I don't think so. I stayed on the ground for a while trying to get my bearings." "You have a lump on your right temple near the hairline as well as a bad gash and another lump in the back of your head." "I could have told you that," she replied sarcastically. "Fine. Sounds like you've got things covered here, I'll just leave you to your own devices," he said, standing to go. Realizing she was antagonizing the one person who could help her out of this mess, she whispered softly, "I'm sorry. Please, I need help. I've been crawling for hours trying to find someone. Don't leave me here.” "Christ," he muttered, kneeling back down. Picking up her hands, he examined the dirt, cuts, and scrapes on them before lifting her arms and seeing the damage to her elbows. "You weren't kidding. We need to get you to a hospital." "No hospital. I just need help getting back to my cabin. I'm staying at the McKinley place. Do you know where it is?" "I do, he answered, "but my cabin is closer." "Please, can you just take me to my place?" she implored. Realizing that she was awfully close to breaking down, he relented. "Fine. I'm assuming that since you were crawling that your knee and ankle are too injured to walk on. That means I'm going to have to carry you. You okay with that?” "Of course. If you are," she answered. "Good thing I ate my Wheaties this morning," he joked. When she didn't respond to his humor, Wells merely stood and hooked his running pack through his arms and onto his back. "This might hurt," he warned as he leaned down and lifted Brinley into his arms. Hearing her sharp intake of breath, he carefully stood and adjusted her in his arms. "Okay?" he asked when he had her settled against him. "Fine," she gritted.