“Yes, we have. Any other questions or can we get up and have breakfast?” he asked.
“Yeah, just one. Do we have any big ceremony like a wedding or do we just carry on as normal?” she asked looking down at the necklace.
“What do you want to do?” Luc asked.
“Honestly? I’d rather carry on as normal,” she said.
“Then that’s what we’ll do. Ginny of course will want at least a dinner party, but I think we can manage that,” he admitted.
“I can cope. Last one dressed makes tea!” she said as she dived for her clothes. Luc laughed.
After breakfast, they packed up their stuff and then hiked up to a waterfall. They ate lunch next to it, but conversation was limited as the roar of the falls deafened them. They had crackers, cheese and sardines for lunch. Luc put the trash from their feast in the ziplock they’d used for crackers. The waterfall deafened them enough that they didn’t hear the bear that came up to eat the choke cherries next to the falls. He didn’t hear or scent them either. They might have gone totally unnoticed if the wind hadn’t shifted.
As they headed down the trail, the wind blew across the falls to where the bear had been eating. He snuffed the air. A scent tickled his nose. He abandoned his berries and started to follow the enticing odor.
Luc and Meg laughed and bounced down the trail. They were noisy and goofing around. They didn’t hear the noise of the bear. They got back to the car and were relaxing before heading down the road when the bear shambled into the clearing.
Luc looked up as the smell and the movement registered at the same time. “Oh shit!” he gasped. “Meg, get into the car now!” Luc ran for their packs and was tossing them into the car when the bear charged. Luc scrambled for the driver’s door and almost got it closed when the bear swiped at the car. The car rocked and Luc nearly lost his grip on the door. Meg was trying not to scream as the huge bear shook the car. The sound of metal ripping under the heavy claws sent shivers through Meg.
Luc was trying to hold onto the car door and start the engine at the same time. Hard to do when the car is a standard. He almost had it going when the door wrenched open. The bear’s paw swiped in and caught Luc across the shoulder. The glass of the window shattered and scattered everywhere. Luc roared in pain and hit the gas as he tried to hold onto the steering wheel. The bear was still trying to pull him out of the car. The car hurked and jerked across the meadow in a contorted dance as the bear tried to keep up. His last attempt scored the side of the car from the driver’s door to the rear fender. Luc, who had partially shifted, barely fit behind the wheel. He grabbed the door and slammed it closed as they bounced down the road in first gear.
“Luc, are you okay?” Meg asked over the whine of the gears and engine.
“Nho!” he growled.
“Pull over and let me drive,” she said.
“NHO!” he growled loudly with sub-vocals thundering inside the car.
Meg took a deep breath and grabbed the rear view mirror to try and see the side of Luc that the bear had swiped. She could see blood and that was about it. They bounced down the road for almost a mile when she tried to get his attention again.
“Luc, pull over now!” she hollered.
“Nho! Beahr! Mus geht whay!” he gasped.
She knew he was in pain and wouldn’t listen. The bear was far enough behind them that they weren’t in danger any more. As soon as she could see that the road was cutting across a fairly level meadow, she reached over and turned off the car.
“Nho! Mehg!” he said and turned towards her.
Meg could see the damage to his shoulder and about threw up. Swallowing hard, she grabbed her shirt from the back and stuffed it against his neck.
“And if you bleed to death being a hero, I will be so pissed at you!” she yelled. “The bear is gone. Back in the meadow. We can stop for five minutes to stop the bleeding and change drivers,” she shouted.
Luc blinked and her words cut through the fog of adrenaline and pain. He tried to swallow and move his neck. A whimper broke from his lips. “Hokay,” he said and stopped fighting Meg’s attentions. Meg scrambled out of the car and ran around to the driver’s side. She helped Luc out and got him into her seat. Wrapping her shirt around his wound as best she could, she added another shirt from the back and then belted him into the seat. She swept the glass off the seat, got in and headed down the mountain. She knew that there was no cell service for the next twenty miles. However, she had her phone tucked in her shirt ready to use it as soon as it beeped that there was service.
“Mehg, sorry,…” he started.
“Just shut up and don’t die on me,” she barked back at him.
“Call Ghinny,” he said.
“Why? Why not go to a hospital?” she asked as they bounced down the road.
“Neehd shihfter doc,” he gasped.
Then it dawned on her that there was no way he could go to a hospital. Dammit! She drove as fast as she could down the dirt road. Meg blew through the lower campground at 75mph. She was grateful that all the campers had left. Crossing the cattle guard, they caught air, and when the car landed, Luc winced in pain.
Meg drove as fast as she could. She drifted around curves and left dust plumes that were probably visible for miles. She hit pavement at the same time her phone beeped. She had signal. Reaching for her phone, she slowed a bit and hit the speed dial button for Ginny.
“Ginny! We need a doctor! A bear slashed Luc!” she hollered into the phone.
“What?” Ginny asked, not sure what she just heard.
“A BEAR HURT LUC! We need a doctor!” she shouted again.
“Fuck!” Ginny exclaimed into the phone. “Where are you?”
“On highway 69, about 27 miles from the nearest junction,” Meg answered.