Watery Grave, Part Two

Continued from Part One

    "Drink." Warm mist caressed her face. It smelled awful. She pressed her lips together, but someone forced them apart and hot liquid filled her mouth. She winced as it burned down to her stomach. Head spinning, she opened her eyes to nothing but a blur of muted light. "Keep drinking," the voice commanded. She had little choice. The liquid streamed down her throat and her eyes began to focus.
     She lay covered in blankets on a cot in a tiny cabin. There was a wood stove in one corner warming a battered teakettle. A worn backpack sat propped against the wall near the door along with two pairs of heavy, winter boots and a set of snowshoes. Her vision continued to clear with each sip but her body remained numb and unresponsive. It was all she could do to swallow when the man sitting on the floor beside her held the small cup to her lips. She was desperate to understand where she was and what had happened.
     "I know you’re confused, but I can't tell you what happened, Alexa, I wasn't there." He stood and crossed the room to the wood stove. Picking up the steaming kettle, he refilled the cup. His long, gray hair was pulled back from a face weathered by years of exposure to sun and cold but his arms were muscular below his rolled shirtsleeves. "You told me to wait downriver and that's what I did." He returned and set the cup on the floor before taking her hand. "Squeeze," he said. She barely managed to twitch her fingers.
     She swallowed hard and rasped, "Where?"
     "Safe house off the Kanc," he answered. "No one knows you're here but me and it's going to stay that way. You've been out for three days and we had a good storm pass through so no one's getting in or out. Trees are down. Power's out. The road is closed for now and it’ll stay that way for awhile. Long enough for you to get out."
     A tingle of feeling crept through her body and memories flickered at the edge of her mind. She saw Michael standing in front of her, his eyes full of pain and shock as she fell into the water. The water. She took a gasp of air. The man sat back down next to her and helped her take another sip. "You're remembering?" he asked and she managed a small nod. He rolled his sleeves down and buttoned them snug around his wrists.  "Then it's time for me to go." He stood and took his coat from a hook on the wall.
     "What? Wait," she sputtered as he shrugged the coat over his shoulders.
     "Look, you'll be fine in a few more hours, and I don't want to get stuck here another night. You called me for help. I helped. Now I'm leaving. That's how it works."  He snapped the top flap of his coat around his neck and pulled the hood close. "That's how we both manage to stay alive." He grabbed the snowshoes and reached for the door. With his back turned he said, "Whatever you've gotten yourself into, whatever mess pushed things this far, you'll figure it out. You always do." He opened the door and Alexa was momentarily blinded by the bright sun reflecting on the expanse of white snow outside. She squeezed her eyes closed and when she opened them again, the man was gone.

To be continued in Part Three