I laughed, loudly, a chuckle that filled with the realization of just how close it had come for both of us.
‘I guess you don’t want me dead yet, huh?’ I thought.
“You okay.” He mumbled. I warmed with pride at hearing his voice and wiped the happy tears from my eyes.
Carefully avoiding the bits of mud on my hands to do so. I tried to control the hysterical laughter that bubbled out of me.
“I am fine. Just relieved the hard part is over.”
“Thanks,” he said. I warmed, noticing that he had no slur to his words and felt relieved.
“Now it’s just a battle to get us home,” I said. I felt the board shake and knew he had nodded.
I felt content I had managed to save him.
‘Or rather keep him alive. He isn’t safe yet, Mina.’ I inspected him closely.
He had a mild grade three concussion, and I had zero medical help. I hadn’t even brought my mini flashlight I kept on my keys with me at all times.
All there was to do was to pull him up the hill and out of the rain. Where hopefully I could use my old knowledge to make him as comfortable as possible until I got power and could call for help.
Or until someone used this barely traveled road and I could stop them and ask for assistance.
I just hoped the way back was stable enough.
I grabbed the edge of the bark, ignoring the pain in my hands, I knew would turn into blisters later. And groaned as I hoisted all of his weight the opposite way gravity wanted to take us.
Each step uphill was a muddy battle. Some steps were just to get back to the spot I was before. And I felt that despite how the rain was pouring down, it must just be starting to slowly thin a bit as the surrounding area was still a muddy battle zone but the rain on my shoulders seemed lighter.
Despite the small reprieve of a few drops, the rain was still heavy enough that visibility was not very far out. And the light from the fire had been put out by the falling rain so the surrounding hillside was utterly dark; the only way up was slow painstaking steps.
It was a mental battle all the way.
My arms were past aching and my body moved as if zombified, pulling this soaking wet body of a large well-built man and my soaking wet body uphill.
My pink sweat suit was now such a dark shade of brown I doubted I could ever get it clean again, it wasn’t worth saving it at all, and my feet felt leavened and numb.
I knew only tired and cold.
So much so that my brain battled to remember what either of the opposites of those things even felt like anymore. But I also knew that the mud was warmer than the plain hard ground or grass would be, and I enjoyed its small bit of warmth. Even if it felt as if it were my own body heat was providing it.
It took sheer adrenaline and willpower to ignore my back that ached from being stooped forward for however long this was taking. And despite how many times I had switched between pulling and pushing my arms miraculously found strength even when the rest of me felt as if it were falling apart.
I was pushing with what felt like the last of my strength when I balked and clutched the board tightly in surprise.
I looked up into the starry sky instead of the hillside as the board having zero support of the earth behind it suddenly fell forward and back down to the ground.
I stared in amazement at the road in front of me, the smooth pavement and the two street lamps were the most comforting thing I had ever experienced, in all my life. Even the dark brown house with its black windows across the street made me brim with happiness.
“YAHHHHH, YES YOU DID IT MINA!” I yelled my voice was hoarse and not even that loud but it was warm and filled with happiness.
The man who had been softly snoring until the impact of the makeshift sled falling back down had startled him awake with a groan. He chuckled at my enthusiasm
“Ouch. ”
“Sorry, it’s almost over... Do you think you can make it?” I whispered.
“Hmmm, I feel okay just a little cold... I could probably stand uppp...”
“Don’t you dare!” I glowered jumping and holding out my arms in protest. At that moment my feet hit something and sent them down the hill with a tumble. I looked down to see my pink slippers rolling away.
I sighed.
‘What the… heck, what is my luck? I left them up here to save them from being destroyed’ I rubbed my brow.
“Please, stay there…” I snapped a little tired and annoyed by his stupidity, then when I saw him look hurt all my anger drained out of me.
“I used to be a nurse... And the best thing for you right now is to lie down. We will be inside soon enough. Please, just stay there.”
I looked up at my house.
My scowl disappeared, and I smiled, suddenly so thankful to be alive.
I had never been so excited to see my meager establishment before in my life. And I looked both ways before grunting and stopping over again. I started pushing again; the bark was harder to move on the pavement and the sound was so loud I was sure that by the time I reached my front sidewalk I would be deaf.
I pulled from my excitement using it as a last-ditch energy source and charged for my front door.
“You can do this!” I grunted, and I sighed with relief when his feet made a clear THUNK on the uneven sidewalk that led up to my door.
I groaned, realizing this meant I would have to turn him and then pulled him up and over the little bump. I pulled it to the right, spinning the board around slowly, careful not to hit his head when the board came around. And I lifted him ever so gently over it. The bark scraped against the sidewalk the sound was like nails on a chalkboard and I gritted my teeth all the way to the front door.
I stared at my wide-open door with a sense of relief and a horrible realization that the entrance was wet and the house would be cold.
I knew for a fact that the chances of us both getting very sick were high right now and I knew I needed to do something about it immediately.
I put my cold hands under his armpits and winced as I noticed his body temperature was low, even colder than my hands. I pulled him with all my might over the threshold and into the little living room, then closed the door and immediately ran into my room.
I ripped all my bedding off my bed and dragged it out into the living room, then lay it all down on the floor.
I apologized again to the darkness, but felt infinitely better when I checked him against my pulse and felt like his pulse was equally as steady as my own.
I groaned.
‘The cold though… I don’t even know how long he was there while I was sleeping’
“I touched him gently. I have to check your pupil dilation okay.” I said calmly as he opened his eyes and looked at me. I gulped, his eyes were beautiful, a warm chocolatey brown that looked like dancing silk, even if the rest of him was a muddy mess, his eyes were enrapturing, I looked down and turned on the flashlight, running a few small regulatory tests and breathed deeply, letting go of the breath I had been holding. He was better than I thought he would be.
“Do you know who you are?” I asked him.
He looked at me. I saw him shiver. ‘Not good,’
“Mark... Mark Wang. ”
I smiled.
“Good, I am Mina... Mina Taylor.” I said then stood back up, then walked over to the corner where the stack of firewood was that heated the small fireplace.
Outside the front door that ran the ondol in the old house floors and I lit a small match, walked outside opened the lid then threw everything in. The fire roared to life, and I sighed with content, happy that the owners of the house had taught me how to do this before they had left it in my care. If I had never got it all set up beforehand, I knew very well that we would be screwed right now.
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