And why in the world was she outside sitting in half a foot of snow?
“Natalie, stay there.” It was Ren again, somewhere nearby but she couldn’t see him through the smoke. “There’s been an accident.”
“A-an accident?” She tried to clear fog from her brain but couldn’t.
“Yes, the train derailed or something. Crashed.” Suddenly he was there kneeling beside her. She could still barely see him through the smoke, but could see blood streaming over his temple. She coughed again.
“There’s a fire.” She still couldn’t figure out what was going on. “You’re bleeding.”
“I’m fine. But yes, the train is on fire. You need to stay back. I’m not sure what sort of materials the freight sections were hauling. Could be combustible.”
She tried to focus on his words, to understand them, and she did, but it was like they had to wade through mud to get to her brain. She put her hands up to her head.
“Are you okay?”
“My brain is so slow. How did I get here?” She couldn’t remember any of it.
“I carried you. I’ll tell you the whole story later, okay? But right now I need to go back.”
She grabbed his wrists. The thought of him leaving her alone in the dark and smoke and snow, when she couldn’t process anything, scared her.
“Am I hurt?” she asked. “I can’t seem to figure things out. I feel almost drunk.”
“Maybe you hit your head. But I’ve got to get back in there.”
It finally became clear to her. “Oh, my God, the other people. I’ll help you.” She tried to stand up but dizziness assaulted her.
Ren’s hand fell on her shoulder. “No, you just stay here. Trust me, in the shape you’re in, you’ll do more harm than good.”
“But that elderly lady...”
He gave a curt shake of his head. “She’s gone, Peaches. She and the guy who was hitting on you. The way the train car flipped when we derailed...if I hadn’t changed spots with the guy it would’ve been me dead. No one could’ve survived.”
Natalie bit back a sob. “Oh, no.”
“Just stay here, okay? I’m going to see if I can find the train engineers, although, honestly, I’m not holding out much hope. But just don’t move. We’re not far from a ravine, and I don’t want you falling. Plus, it’ll just put us both in more danger if I have to look out for you, too.”
He was right. She couldn’t even stand up on her own. “Okay. Be careful.”
She felt like he was gone for hours, although she knew it couldn’t be more than a few minutes. She was shivering and clenched her jaw as her teeth started chattering. Her stomach revolted every time she moved. She touched all around her head gingerly to see if she could find any lumps that would signify some sort of concussion, but couldn’t find anything.
How the hell did someone just sleep through a train crash that killed at least two people? She remembered dreaming about sheep. About feeling like she was being carried and hearing Ren’s voice. Had that been after the crash? When he was getting her out?
Her brain just felt so sluggish. She knew sitting in the snow wasn’t helping—physically or mentally—but was afraid to movein case she couldn’t find Ren again. The dark and smoke just seemed so all-encompassing. And until her brain started working again, she didn’t want to be alone.
But Ren had already been bleeding before he went back to try to help the train engineers. What if he was hurt worse than she thought? What if he was trapped somewhere right now and couldn’t get out without help?
She couldn’t sit here and do nothing.
She took a few steps into the smoke, coughing as it became thicker. The fire seemed to be getting louder.
“Ren?” she yelled between coughs. “Where are you? Let me help!”
She couldn’t hear or see anything. The smoke was too thick.
“Ren!”
Which way should she go? She took a few steps in the direction of what she thought would be the front of the train and where he had headed but she couldn’t be sure.
