United Amidst A Great Divide Ch.11 - Missing You
Chapter 11 - Missing You
Something was wetly dribbling down the side of Blair’s neck, and even though she was just beginning to wake, the feeling made her stomach churn with a sick familiarity. She felt rough fingers brush the underside of her chin and trail along her jaw, following the liquid sensation on her skin.
The last vivid memory in her mind was of being struck across the face, being left alone - bleeding heavily - and from what she could feel; she hadn’t made it far from the situation. She wanted to keep her eyes shut against the abuse that would began again once she opened them, but as someone else’s fingertips moved further down her chest, a small gasp slipped from her mouth. Blair felt the hand pull away as she blinked rapidly, clearing the haziness of sleep from the only eye that would obey her actions.
“Blair?”
The sudden, although soft utterance of her name, startled her as she tried to discern where she was. The lighting was dim, and as her senses began to refocus she could feel that she was lying down on cushioning blankets.
Turning her head was painful, but it helped Blair in finding the source of the deep, smooth voice that had whispered to her. The individual’s features were blurred as a result of having one eye bandaged and just waking, but from what she could make out, the lines of his face seemed recognizable. But she wasn’t going to let her mind trick her into believing something that she knew was impossible.
“Blair?” The voice surrounded her once more, and then she was sure that she hadn’t mistaken the familiarity.
“Chuck…” She could barely push the words out of her throat after having lied asleep so long, and crying until her voice was hoarse during the preceding days. Blair heard a sharp exhalation of breath, and then suddenly she was being wrapped in a close embrace, a warm cheek pressed against her own.
“Yes, it’s Chuck. I’m right here.”
The statement sluggishly registered in her mind, and as she gazed blankly over Chuck’s shoulder, Blair had to wonder if she was hallucinating the entire situation. It seemed real enough. Chuck’s fingers were entwining with her long hair, just as they had done in times before. His bare skin held the masculine scent of tanned leather and gun powder just the way she remembered. But her memories of being alone on the bank churned around in her head, much like the way the choppy rapids of the river had done the last time she had seen Chuck.
As Chuck pulled back from hugging Blair, he very lightly brushed the pads of his fingers over the uninjured side of her face. “I thought you would never wake.” He was now lying on his side, head cradled in his palm, as he watched Blair coming from the depths of unconsciousness.
Blair had no response; her thoughts were too addled over how she had ended up here, because with that handsome visage hovering close to her own, it was now clearly visible that it belonged to Chuck. He was smiling at her and talking lightly, but as the shock of waking up to the image of Chuck’s face wore off, something else began to push at her, and it was too much to ignore.
“My face…” Blair breathed out, the syllables hardly audible through her obvious pain. Her hands and arms were stiff at her sides, but she still tried to fumble against the blankets, attempting to touch her fingers to her damaged features.
Chuck grasped her hand within his, stopping her, and interrupting its intended direction towards her face. “No, don’t touch it.”
“It hurts…” Blair’s voice croaked, and she clumsily tried to maneuver her fingers out of Chuck’s hand. But it didn’t take much for him to outsmart her movements, and he gently pressed her hand back to the surface of the wool blankets.
“I know it hurts, Blair, but you cannot touch your face…it’s just beginning to heal.” Chuck explained to her. Even though he could tell that Blair was only focused on how she could make the discomfort go away.
Trying to give her a distraction, Chuck patted the wet rag in his hand along the column of her neck. It seemed to help relax her because her eye slipped shut, but only for a few short seconds before her lost and bewildered gaze looked up at him. As her lips pursed before she began to speak again, it was evident that even the most minor of movements was causing her to hurt.
“How did you...” Blair started to ask her question, but stopped mid-sentence to take a breath and recollect her thoughts. “How did you find me?”
For a fraction of time Chuck seemed confused, but then his expression turned sympathetic as he realized that the brunette probably could not recall most of what had happened. He hesitantly contemplated a way to tell her as she patiently awaited his answer, but then he decided it would be better to see what she could remember on her own.
“You don’t remember?” Chuck wondered aloud, hoping that it would prompt Blair into being more coherent and of course, he couldn’t deny his curious concern for what had occurred while they were apart. But in a way, a small part of his mind wished that she wouldn’t remember anything at all, in fear of what might have happened to her.
A flicker of darkness passed through Blair’s gaze and Chuck’s stomach turned over with nervousness, he could tell some sort of memories were being conjured up.
“I couldn’t find you…”
Chuck hadn’t betted on that being the first sentence Blair would utter and even though she hadn’t meant for it to do so, it magnified his guilty conscience tremendously. His hand stilled above her neck, where he had been continuing to dampen her hot skin, and he stared down at her, at a complete loss for words.
“Blair…I’m so sorry for what happened…I never thought -”
“I just kept trying to find you, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t …and there was so much blood, and then...” Blair paused, and the mistiness gathering in the corner of her eye combined with her solemn words and expression of remembered fear gradually began to kill Chuck. “And then I can’t remember what happened.”
The brunette before him seemed lost as she looked up to him for answers, but he just couldn’t believe that she had no recollection at all of the other events. “You don’t remember anything?”
“No…” She acted almost as if she felt guilty for not remembering, as if for some reason Chuck was expecting her to recall something that had happened, but she could not.
“A soldier was taking care of you and I came across him in the forest, and then I brought you here.” Chuck explained, wondering if the bit of information would stir her memory. “He said he cared for your wound and -”
“No…no, that’s not what happened!” Blair announced quite fiercely. Suddenly, she was fighting to sit up and her features were marred with panic, as certain memories came flooding back. Then her face began contorting in pain from her movements, while Chuck’s arms came around her shoulders trying to guide her back down.
“Stop… what’s wrong!?” Chuck struggled against a hyperventilating Blair, finally getting her to lie back down and placing his hands on her cheeks. “Talk to me, Blair.”
“They wanted to kill me…” She finally sobbed, and still Chuck was clueless as to what she was trying to tell him. Maybe she was still feverish and she wasn’t even aware of her own hysterical ramblings, but her next statement sent the man beside her into such a rage that he could only consider it true. “They tied me up…and he, he hit me…”
If Blair’s eye hadn’t been shut and spilling tears, she might have noticed the maniacal sneer that came over Chuck’s features as soon as the words had clumsily tumbled from her mouth. His teeth clenched together so tightly that his jaw ached, and in his mind he replayed the vivid scenarios in which he should have killed that Yankee before letting him get away. In all of his life he had never felt such fury, and he was by no means a character of peaceful demeanor. The only reason he wasn’t tearing through the forest hunting the man’s blood was because of Blair.
“Who, Blair, who hurt you!?” Chuck frantically demanded, as he continued to hold her face in his hands.
“The Yankees…” Blair whispered, slipping her hand up to wrap her small fingers around his tense arm.
To feel Blair reaching out for him lessened some of the intensity of his anger and he lied down beside her, before gathering her against his chest, allowing her to break down while he held her safe. He murmured nonsense words of comfort to her, hoping she would settle down before exhausting herself so soon after waking. Though he could hardly do the same for himself, he had to will the image of the Yankee soldier’s deceitfully concerned face from his mind lest he do something drastic.
Once Blair’s crying had died back to near silence save her shallow breathing, Chuck moved to lay her on her back, thinking she had fallen asleep.
“Ow…” The muffled groan startled Chuck and he immediately went still, not wanting to cause any further damage.
“I thought you had fallen asleep.” He said quietly, moving his hand upward to carefully brush the unruly strands of hair that were lying across Blair’s forehead. Her uncovered eye was closed, but it was obvious that she had heard him as she turned her head to the side at a very slow pace, in disagreement. By her steady motions, Chuck knew exactly why she hadn’t fallen back into slumber.
“Does it hurt very badly?”
Now she was nodding in affirmation, pressing her lips together and concentrating on keeping her movement smooth to avoid any more pain. Chuck leaned down to kiss her cheek, as much as wished he could do something for her, all they could do now was wait for her injury to heal itself.
“I’m sorry…” Chuck whispered against her skin, and then she brought her hand to his shoulder, urging him back to look in his eyes.
“Please, Chuck…this is not your fault.” Blair insisted, giving him a strained smile.
Chuck tried to smile back, but her words were just wrong in his mind. “Don’t be ridicu -”
Blair slid her hand behind his neck and pulled his face to hers, not letting him finish the sentence. As their lips touched, Chuck was delicate in his advances, making sure only their noses brushed while they shared a soft kiss. When he pulled away a few moments later, Chuck leaned his face against his hand, now grinning widely.
“Now, you stop being ridiculous.” Her tone was authoritative and Chuck didn’t dare object. Even while bruised and bandaged, Blair still had Chuck easily wrapped around her finger.
“Anything for you...” Chuck laughed, wanting to sound as if he was joking, when they both knew that he had meant what he said. Blair’s reddish lips turned up in a smirk and she let her eye close, before adjusting her head against the wool blankets, wincing as she did.
Chuck gently smoothed his fingertips down her neck in a soothing gesture. “Wouldn’t you like to be drunk right now?”
The brunette’s forehead wrinkled in puzzlement and disgust, and her gaze shifted to her side to look up at Chuck. “I’ve never been drunk, you cad.”
Chuck released a small chuckle. “I thought as much, but imagine if we did have whiskey, or even brandy. You could drink until you couldn’t see straight, you wouldn’t feel a thing…well, until tomorrow.”
Blair giggled at his ranting, and it pleased her to know that he was doing it to make her feel better. Listening to him tease, as he toyed with her hair did help her to somewhat forget the ache in her head.
“You’re still being ridiculous. I thought I told you to stop that?”
“If you insist.” Chuck huffed in mock exasperation, and then rested his head next to Blair’s smiling face, leaving the tent in solitude so they could both eventually drift off to sleep.
*****
When Blair woke again, the sunlight was filtering through the leafy forest, already high above the trees outside. The turbid heat permeating the small shelter from the midday temperature was becoming intense, and she pushed the heavy blankets down their bodies.
The gorgeous man beside her was still laying asleep, one of his arms drawn behind his head. She ran her hand down the expanse of his bare stomach and chest, moving upward to cup his jaw. Chuck’s lips twitched from the touch and he turned his head, unconsciously leaning further into Blair’s hand.
“Chuck…”
Her quiet whisper went unnoticed, so she stretched her body closer to his, pressing feather light kisses to his mouth and chin. Chuck made a low noise in his throat upon waking, and then lifted his head, surprised to see an especially chipper Blair inches from his face.
“I hadn’t expected you to be this lively, this morning.” Chuck drawled, pushing his fingers through his own short hair, before reaching out to sink them into Blair’s mussed ringlets. “How are you feeling?”
The brunette shrugged her shoulders, she felt immeasurably better, but the dull pain was nowhere near ceasing. “It feels like the worst of headaches, like a throbbing ache.”
Chuck had pushed himself into a sitting position as she spoke, wrapping his arm around her back and bringing her along with him. “The bandage should be changed again…hold still.”
Blair did as she was told and angled her head up, while one of Chuck’s hands held her face and he used the other to cautiously remove the cloth covering her injured eye. The routine was painless until the last layer of cloth had to be carefully peeled away from Blair’s skin, where it had become tacky with blood and moisture.
“Ahh…” Blair gasped softly, grabbing Chuck’s thigh as the bandage finally came loose.
“There…all finished.” Chuck stated and then tucked Blair’s hair behind her ear, making sure it didn’t fall against the wound as he studied it. Experimentally, Blair attempted to open her swollen eye, but it was no use for the sensitive flesh was far too contused and puffy.
“Is it awful?” Blair asked dejectedly, after a few moments had passed in silence and Chuck continued to inspect her face with serious concentration.
He almost laughed aloud at her vain question, but she sounded so sad that he thought better of it, and of course she really had no idea of what exactly had happened anyway.
“No, it’s not awful. There are only two deep cuts on your brow and a lot of bruising, but I would imagine it had felt awful when it happened.”
“It did…” Blair sighed. Despite her confession, she still gave Chuck a dazzling smile, something he had genuinely grown to love over their short time together and had longed for during the past days. Suddenly, he was realizing just how much he had missed his hot-tempered little companion and gripped her hips, pulling her to sit astride his lap.
“I missed you... I thought I had lost you.” Chuck breathed into her long hair, his warm lips tickling her skin before he placed a kiss against her neck.
Blair felt her stomach turn over in a good way while Chuck held her tightly, his arms completely wrapped around her waist, pulling his bare muscled chest against hers. His words sounded raw and honest as his deep voice rasped into her ear, and Blair couldn’t help but admit just how she had felt as well.
“I missed you too, Chuck.” Blair whispered, and then carefully set her face on his shoulder, taking the time to appreciate being with him once again.