[The Magic Of Miracles] By Brie Bohlinger
Short Story
Rated: PG-13

On one sunny, nice but cool day, the boys were all at a resort for a nice, relaxing vacation.  They loved being there with no hassles, no work just fresh air and lots of cool and fun things to do.  Brian and Kevin had gone out for the day and played a game of tennis, while AJ and Howie headed over to the golf course. Nick and his girlfriend Brie had gone out on a romantic lunch date filled with a picnic and horseback riding.

The sun was shining brightly overhead as the horses carrying Nick and Brie were slowly trotting along the path.  When they reached their destination, they spread out the blanket and sat on the blanket in each other’s arms.

“What’s on the menu today? Mr. Carter”

“hmmm… let’s see… how about ham sandwiches with pretzels and strawberries.”

“Ooh, strawberries. my favorite…you just know how to make a girl melt, don’t yaw?”

“You bet..  but I will be there you lick you up..”

“Stop…” and I push him and say “Nick we were going to eat..”

He laughs and says, “I know, I’m sorry baby…”

We converse in more civilized talk and then lay back and I feed him strawberries as he is laying on the blanket. Later after we have finished and cleaned up we go horseback riding. We are talking trails, talking, giggling and having a great time. Then the most odd thing happens.

The horses rear up and we try to calm them down but his horse runs off with him and mine rears up again, scaring me to death. I scream and fall off, hitting the ground with a hard thud and everything going black. Nick hears me scream as his horse races out of control into the wooded wilderness with no way off stopping it. As his horse was galloping away, He screams out my name.

Finally after what seems like miles after miles, the horse throws Nick off, goes a little ways away and settles down and starts eating grass. Nick gets up and brushes himself off and tries to gather his surroundings.

“Where the hell am I?”  and starts looking around and he sees the horse.

“Damn horse…”he sighs and then thinks a minute.

“Horse…Oh shit! Oh God. Brie! I gotta.. I gotta find her!”

He calmly and cautiously went over to the horse and soothed it and finally gets back on the horse and turned it around and started looking.

Meanwhile, I am starting to come to. I hurt all over. I try to sit up but I’m so dizzy. I touch my forehead and find blood all over my fingertips.

“Oh God. This is bad. Nick?… Nick?… Where are you?”

All I got was the silence that still remained. I started to get scared and panicky. I was all alone and it was getting dark. I didn’t know where I was, how I got there and I didn’t know where to go.

Nick, meanwhile, is still on horseback riding through the woods searching for me and shouting my name. He knew it was getting dark and hoped to God he would find me before it got dark and cold. Things and ideas flooded through his mind. ‘Is she hurt? Did she find her way back?’ Worry and sorrow filled his heart, hoping God would lead him to me.

Back at the cabin…

Brian and the rest of the guys are starting to worry. Brian paces the room.

“Where could they be? They should have been back hours ago.”

“ I know that we are all worried but hey, you know, they probably were having a great time and just forgot about he time, that’s all.” AJ said calmly.

“Damnit Nick, why didn’t you take your phone.”

Then Kevin walks over to Brian and lays a hand on his shoulder and says, “They wanted a quiet, peaceful, romantic time together. They didn’t want to be bothered.”

Howie pops in saying  ”All we can do now is wait.”  

__ a while later __

It is dark now, the moon is out and Nick is still out looking for me. He realizes that he is not going to find me without help or a flashlight and turns to go back to the cabin.

He finally reaches a clearing and the moon is shining overhead, leading him back.

“Hey, this has got to be where we were before... before we spilt up. Come on Nick, think... which way did we come?”

He shivers and realizes that the temperature has dropped dramatically and goes down the path back to the cabin.

 Back at the cabin, the boys are waiting anxiously for a call or for them to come right through the door any minute like nothing was wrong.

“Where could they be? Brian said as he stroked his hand through his dirty-blonde hair.

AJ walk over to him, trying to stay calm and says, “I don’t know, but at least they are together. I’m sure they’ll be back any minute.”

“Any minute? It’s been hours AJ.”

Kevin interrupts “Hey, let’s not start a fight. We’re all worried and fighting doesn’t help. Maybe they’ll just walk through that door together and everything will be alright.”

A minute later Kevin said that, Nick barges through the door coughing and nearly falls to the floor says “Got to find Brie..” but Brian and Kevin jump up in time to catch him.

“Nick…Are you okay? Where have you been? Where’s Brie? We’ve been worried sick!” Brian asks in a quick and rapid manner.

They sit Nick down by the fire and cover him with a blanket and give him some hot cocoa. Nick finally answers after a little bit. “I’m fine guys… We have to find Brie.” And he gets up but falls back down in the chair.

“Find her? Nick.. what happened?”

Nick leans his head back and thinks. “We went on a picnic and then for horseback riding. Everything was going great and we went down this trail that was a little dark and shadowy and something must have sacred the horses.” He gulped and went on. “The horses.. they ..  they reared back and we tried to calm them down. Then my damn horse took off and I heard Brie scream but the horse kept going and it finally knocked me off and went to go eat grass. I didn’t know where I was and I tried to gather my surroundings but it didn’t work. I finally got back on that damn horse and went looking for Brie. I couldn’t find her and it was dark, so I headed back and I didn’t have a flashlight. I gotta go back out there and find her.”

“Oh no you don’t. You are staying put right here. We’ll get a search party together and go and look for her.” Kevin said with full determination.

The recept in the lobby heard the whole story and had already called for a search party. A little bit later, a little swat showed up and they were briefed and Nick walks over to the captain.

“I wanna go with you.”

“No, its better that you stay here, we’ll bring her back, I promise.”

While they are searching for me, he slowly sat back down and cursed himself for letting this happen.

“It’s all my fault. I should have not even attempted it. I should have brought my phone. Damnit! If I had looked longer, I would have found her. God… she’s out there all alone, lost and scared… Geez. I don’t even know if she’s ok. For all I know she’s unconscious, lying in the ground somewhere freezing to death.”

“Stop blaming yourself, it’s not your fault. It was an accident.” Kevin said to try and calm him down.

He runs his hand through his hair and starts to cry. “What if something terrible happened? What am I going to do? God, I couldn’t live with myself if something happened. God.. I love her so much.”

Meanwhile, it is late and very cold out but the moon is still shining. I had walked a long time and my body couldn’t possibly take anymore. I tried to keep on walking but I took a step and fell, falling into what might have been a ditch. I lay there, unable to move.  I started to cry. I was all alone out here in the cold and nobody knows where I am. I realized within a few minutes that I could possibly die out here and I got even more scared. I tried to get my mind off of it. My mind floated to memories of Nick. I smiled and in a little bit a big, thick darkness overcame me.

The search party looked for what seemed like eternity. It started to snow and they regrouped and decided to go a little further and then turn back. A part of the group came to a bridge and didn’t want to go and explore, fearing the worst. They ventured over and pointed the flashlight into the ditch and saw nothing on the one side. Then they went to the other side and saw that sigh they had dreaded; a girl lying in the ditch covered in snow, not moving and a fourth of the way submerged in water.  One of them took a walkie-talkie out and told someone to tell the people in the cabin that they found a girl and were coming back.

They carefully pulled me out and someone carried me on horseback back to the cabin.

“They found a girl sir, they don’t know if it is the girl you are looking for but they are bringing her back as we speak.” The recept said.

“oh my god, are you serious? Oh geez..”

Nick passed the room..

“Nick, please sit down, you are burning a hole in the floor.” Brian said trying to stay cool.

“I can’t help it, I gotta see her, I gotta see if she’s okay”

Ten minutes later, they busted through the door, one of the guys carrying me and the other telling them to call a doctor quick. They told another person to get lots of blankets and hot towels.

Nick saw them bring me in they laid me on the couch. I was unconscious and there was a cut on my forehead with dried blood. I was covered in snow and frozen with frostbite, my lips were blue, not to mention all the injuries that you couldn’t see on the outside. Nick saw me and said “Oh God.. Brie.. Oh God.”

They brought the blankets in and covered me up. They put more wood on the fire. Nick came over to me, hands shaking badly and he moved a strand of hair out of my face.

“Brie , can you hear me? Please wake up.. oh God.. please wake up baby…” he gulped. “Don’t die on me.. you can’t. God.. I don’t know what I’d do without you… I love you so much…” He rubs his thumb over my cold cheek.

“Please wake up.. I’m sorry.. I’m so sorry..” and he lays his head on me and cries.

Everybody is watching. The guys are behind him trying to calm him down.

Finally the doctor arrived and checked me out. He said that I had severe frostbite and a concussion and a few bruises. 

“You have to watch her constantly, since she has already been unconscious for some time.. she could go into a coma. You need to keep her warm and maybe put her in a warm to hot tub and try to increase her body temperature. Here is some medication to give her when the frostbite starts to wear away and for the pain. She will more than likely have a high fever and maybe the symptoms of a severe cold. That is all that I can tell you for now.. call me if you need me or things change.”

Kevin looks up and says, “ ok, thanks so much doctor.”

“No problem, it’s my job. “

A few minutes later, the doctor leaves and they are all sitting there, so silent that you could hear a pin drop.

Hours passed like years, and everyone fell asleep ad they last were. AJ snoring in the chair, Howie in the rocking chair, Brian and Kevin sprawled out on the floor and Nick leaning up against the couch. Nick awoke to the incessant loud snoring and because of the pain in his neck from his position that he was sleeping in.  He started to get up when someone started to moan.  He looked around and saw that all the guys were still in a deep sleep. He looked down and saw a fragile, female figure bundled up with so many things that she could have been mistaken for a pile of clothes.

A quiet moan came from underneath the pile of endless fabric.  He kneeled down and looked at her face and saw that she was starting to wake up and color was returning to her face.

He quietly thanked god for the return of his precious angel.

“It’s cold” a soft voice murmured in the darkness.

He saw all the blankets and things that covered her and was a bit confused.  He put his hand up to her forehead and found that it was as hot as fire.

“Shit, she’s burning up! God I gotta get in her in a cold bath. He throws off the blankets and lifts me up in his strong arms and carries me up the stairs and into my room and starts up a cold bath. He comes back and takes off my wet clothes, leaving me in nothing but my undergarments.  He lowers me into the cold waters and takes a sponge and tries to cool off my overheated body and bring my temperature down. After a while, he takes me out wraps me up in a dry, warm towel and puts fresh dry cloths on me and puts me in the bed.  He runs down and gets the medicine that the doctor had left and a glass of water.

“Sweetheart, I have something that will help make you feel better..” and he helps me take them since I have no sense of reality at this time.

The frostbite was gone, but leaving me in a delirious, feverish state, looking pale and fragile.

Nick climbed up on the bed, and pulled me up close to him and put the covers over me. Spoon after I fell asleep against him. “I love you, my little princess” and kisses me on the forehead. An hour later, he too fell into a dreamland.