World I Never Knew

Joe turned down the hallway, confusion clearly etched upon his face. He wasn’t sure what he had done completely wrong to have Angela kick him out of the house. He packed his bags, leaving any clothes he had borrowed on the bed. Grabbing his things he looked down the hallway and saw Angela’s bedroom door open slightly, the light shining into the hallway.

Downstairs he placed his things by the door so he could grab his coat. Outside the snow was swirling insanely. A huge blizzard was forming and it was getting to the point where you could barely see. Heaving a heavy sigh he pulled on his coat and wrapped a scarf around his neck.

One last glance up the stairs proved Angela didn’t care. She wasn’t standing there telling him not to go. She wasn’t begging him to stay. She didn’t care if he froze to death. He wrapped his hand around the doorknob and, with difficulty, pulled it open. The wind was swirling the white flakes around the air, some flying into the house.

Joe squinted his eyes at the sudden brightness and freezing air. He grabbed his bags and set them down on the porch, closing the door behind him. This would be difficult, making his way towards the gate to Angela’s drive. One, because he couldn’t even see the gate; two, the snow looked like it might reach his waist in height. He couldn’t even see the steps leading from the porch to the ground. After grabbing his bags, he started trudging through the white tundra that lie before him, the cold instantly sinking through his pants touching his skin.

****

While Joe was in his room getting his things together, Angela sat on her bed with her knees pulled up to her chest. A lone tear drop slid down her face. She saw his shadow as he walked down the hallway towards the stairs. He stopped for a moment and she froze, wondering if he would come in and beg for her forgiveness. A moment later he descended the stairs.

Silently, she crept from her room to the top of the stairs, her back pressed against the wall so she could listen. She heard the soft thud as Joe set his luggage down, she assumed he was grabbing his coat. Her lips were pressed together in silence. Inside her head, however, her mind was screaming for her to rush down the stairs to beg him to stay. There was no way she could let him go outside in the blizzard that was forming. But she didn’t.

She didn’t stand up. She didn’t shout it out. She didn’t grab onto his shirt and pull him back inside. She didn’t kneel in front of him, holding onto his leg and cry for him to stay. She didn’t.

By the time she heard the door close, it was too late to do anything. She slipped around the corner and slowly made her way downstairs. Pulling back the curtain on the window she saw Joe, carrying his luggage and trudging through the waist high snow. A moment of hesitation made her realize how cruel and stupid she was being. Mainly stupid.

She hastily pulled on her jacket and scarf and pulled the door open with as much force as she could. Instantly she was hit in the face with freezing air and blinded by the quickly swirling snow. Joe didn’t seem too far ahead of her but the howling of the wind was so loud. The tree branches were swaying dangerously as she followed in his footsteps, hoping to catch up to him.

“Joe!” she cried, hoping he would hear her. Unfortunately, the winds were just too strong and he kept walking… or tried to.

Keeping his head down, Joe kept making his way through the snow. All feeling in his legs had disappeared and the same was slowly happening with the rest of his body. It was just so cold… he was sure his lips were blue. He glanced up quickly and saw the trees dancing around in the wind that was so strong.

A scream tore Joe from his concentration. His eyes widened and he looked behind him. He couldn’t see anything but his mind instantly raced to Angela. Who else could it be? The only thing is… would she really have gone out after him? After a moment of thought Joe turned his body around and followed his deep path back towards the house.

He scanned the white expanse for something… anything that would give him a sign. Looking ahead he saw a long, dark object blocking his path back to the house. As he got closer he realized it was a tree branch. Even closer… and he realized Angela was under it. His eyes widening in panic he dropped his bags and walked as fast as he could.

Angela’s eyes were closed… unconscious. With all his might he lifted the branch off of her body. Blood oozed from her forehead where he saw a long gash. With one arm under her knees and the other behind her back he lifted her as best as he could and made his way back towards the house. He couldn’t feel anything in his body but he couldn’t give up.

What seemed like centuries later he arrived at the house. He stumbled up the steps and through the door where he placed Angela on the couch. Not taking a moment of hesitation he went straight to the bathroom in search of a first aid kit. On his way back down the stairs he grabbed as many blankets as possible.

Placing the blankets around Angela’s body he made sure to cover every inch of her. He rubbed his hands along the blankets to warm her body and get her blood flowing. He looked through the first aid kit for some gauze and alcohol wipes. Gently, he cleaned up her forehead.

“Come on, Angela. Wake up.” He whispered.

Once he had her head wrapped up he went over to the fireplace. A fire roared to life once matches were in. He didn’t want to leave her but he needed to warm himself up. Reluctantly he went upstairs and put on about three layers worth of warm clothes before returning downstairs.

He noticed Angela’s cheeks pinking up. Her eyes started fluttering before opening and she looked around.

“Joe?” she asked softly.

“Hey,” he said, quickly walking over to her. He knelt on the floor next to the couch. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore. What happened?”

“I’m not sure. Apparently you came out for… some reason and I heard a scream and instantly thought it was you. I found you unconscious in the snow with a large tree branch over you. The wind must have ripped it off a tree and it flew into you. You have a gash on your forehead but I’m not sure about anywhere else.”

“Wow,” she whispered, sitting up. She winced in pain and instantly his hands reached out to her.

“Do you… want me to check… for bruises?” he asked uncertainly. Her eyes closed in thought and instantly he was worried but then she opened them.

“Would you?” she asked and he nodded his head.

She pulled the blankets away and turned her body, gently lifting her shirt up so her side was visible to him. He winced internally when he saw the large purple bruise on her skin. His eyes flickered across her body where he could see the scars on the left side of her stomach but there was no bruise there. Gingerly, his fingers traced the shape of the bruise.

“That hurts.” She hissed, trying to twist out of his reach.

“If you’d hold still it wouldn’t hurt as much.” He insisted.

“Yeah, well… if you hadn’t left… this wouldn’t have happened.”

“If you hadn’t kicked me out, I wouldn’t have left.” He mocked, rolling his eyes at her.

“Well… you shouldn’t have asked such a stupid question.”

“You should learn to trust people!” he said, leaning away from her.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you.” she said slowly and he glanced up to look at her. “It’s just…”

“Just what?” he whispered, leaning forward again.

“I’ve never felt this way about someone before.”

“And… how is it you feel?”

“I think I’ve been stupid enough to let myself actually start to like you.” she admitted, her fingers twisting together on top of the blanket.

“You’re far from stupid.” He whispered. He looked into her eyes and she blushed. “Now… hold still. This might sting.”

He reached forward and gently lifted her shirt again. Lightly, he touched the bruises, warmth radiating from the skin of both bodies. Joe lifted his gaze and smiled at Angela.

“Thank you.” she whispered and he nodded his head. With his free hand he reached up and stroked her face. The scarred side. She flinched away at first but then leaned more into his hand. She turned her head and kissed the palm of his hand and he smiled wider.