7. Longing

The blanket is pulled back revealing your bare legs. You notice that your right upper thigh is wrapped in gauze. You gingerly press your fingers against the gauze and wince in pain. “What happened?” You ask as you notice a bit of blood seep up through the gauze. The man let’s out a frustrated sigh and you look up to see him frown. “When I pulled the bear off of you one of its claws caught on your pants… I hope it doesn’t hurt too much.”

“No, I didn’t even notice my leg was hurt” you reply as you look around the room for the first time. Your eyes land on your torn and bloody jeans on a chair to your right. A small fire in the chimney was keeping the room a warm comfortable temperature. You can hear the wind whistling outside and once again feel blessed to have found shelter before the cold weather really started up.

You feel the man shift on the bed and turn your head to watch him pick up a medical kit from the floor. “I’ll need to redress the wound, until it’s healed more the bandages will need to be changed twice a day.” He explains as he opens to the kit and pulls out some gauze and rubbing ****. You quietly watch as he begins unwrapping the bandages and try not to wince when you see the wound beneath. Three claw marks run down from the top of your thigh and stop midway down. The man must have stitched them up before you woke.

You lean your head back and close your eyes and he begins rewrapping your thigh. His fingers are rough but gentle and you’re aware that they linger a bit longer than they should. It’s been ages since you’ve felt human touch and you find yourself enjoying it more and more. Your eyes flutter open disappointedly as you feel his fingers pull away. You find yourself aching for them to return but just bite your lip instead as the man gets up and goes to put the kit on a shelf on the other side of the room.