Wilson Pea

I woke with a start. Something was making a lot of noise over the storm and it took me a few seconds to get my bearings. The digital clock by my bed said 3:41am and there was banging on the outside of the RV. I quickly put on some clothes, grabbed a flashlight, some tools and a 9mm Glock I keep on hand, you know, just in case. Opening the door, I cautiously peered out into the storm. Snow was coming down, or more accurately, coming sideways and drifting against the side of the RV. I couldn't see any moon or stars so there must be a cloud cover. Shining the flashlight on the roofline of my coach, I saw one of the solar panels had broken loose and was hanging from a cable. I moved out the door and stepped into about a foot of fresh snow coming over the bottom step. Walking around the back, I climbed the ladder to the roof and quickly replaced the panel, screwing it into place. It didn't seem to be damaged and neither did the side of the coach, so I thanked my lucky stars. I checked the other panel and satellite dish, which were both in good shape.

After climbing down the ladder I did a final sweep of the area with my flashlight. That's when I saw it—something in the snow near the road—or at least where I thought the road should be. It was a flash of color in the sea of white. I approached it cautiously, curiously. As I got closer, I could make out what appeared to be a glove. Why would someone throw a glove out here? I carefully grabbed one of the fingers and the glove popped up, but something fell out of it—a hand! A small hand that fell lifelessly back to the snow. I grabbed the hand and found it was attached to a body under the snow. I quickly dug the body out and saw that it was a young woman. I checked for a pulse and breath. Yes! She was alive, but just barely.

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I had grown a rather nice beard. I thought it looked good—made me look professorly. But the truth was I grew it because I didn't care enough to shave. The house was a mess with dirty dishes overflowing the sink and newspapers everywhere. Weeks ago I had let my housekeeper Gloria go because I couldn't stand to have anyone see me in this condition. I was sitting in my living room eating chili from a can, watching my favorite soap when there was a knock on the door.

I froze. "Go away go away go away go away" I silently pleaded, "Please just go away."

After about a minute of knocking, silence. Just as I started to think the intruder had left, I heard the terrifying sound of keys in the lock.

I wanted to run but it was like I was stuck to the cushions on my sofa. Slowly the door swung open and there stood my sister Suzy.

"Jesus Christ Mike," she said, taking in the room, "what the fuck have you been doing?"

"Uh...nothing," I weakly stammered.

"Yeah, no shit. You're a goddamn mess." she said, looking at the clutter that was, well, all over.

"This place is a disaster! What the hell happened to Gloria?"

"I...uh...let her go."

"What? You fired Gloria? What the hell's the matter with you?" she shouted.

I couldn't answer her. Hell, I couldn't even look at her. I just wanted her to go away.

Suzy knelt in front of me. She lifted my chin so she could look in my eyes.

"Mike, what's happened to you?" she said gently.

Looking into my sister's beautiful eyes, I felt the dam break and I began to cry...

*********************************

I carried the body inside the coach and laid her on the floor. She was dressed in light pants and a zipped hoodie, both of which were muddy and torn. Taking the jacket off, I saw that her clothes were soaked through. Underneath was a sweatshirt and a thin T-shirt—no windbreaker and no match for the fierce storm outside. I took the sweatshirt off and began rubbing her arms while taking loudly to her.

"Miss?" I said, "can you hear me? Can you hear me? Wake up!" No response. Okay, now what do I do. We were required to take a certain amount of medical training when I was in the service, but nothing covered hypothermia.

I reluctantly decided to take off the rest of her clothing, having visions of her waking up and thinking I was raping her. But that wet, cold clothing had to go. Grabbing a blanket from my bed I put it on the floor next to her and stripped off the shirt and pants. Now she was only wearing a pair of plain white cotton panties and a beige bra. Hoping I didn't regret this, I took them both off. Then I brought out a towel and dried her.

"This girl has a killer body," I thought as I looked at her beautiful 34 C breasts. She was slim but shapely, like an athlete. I also noticed bruises and abrasions on her arms and legs and a cut on her lip. I briefly wondered if she had been beaten up by some asshole. Her legs were long and smooth and her pussy was covered with thin, light brown hair. Her ass was tight and well formed and if I hadn't been trying to save her life, I might have gotten an erection. Instead I wrapped her in the blanket and moved her over a heating vent. Next, I grabbed my medical kit and took out the temporal scanner thermometer. Jesus, she scanned at 91.4 degrees. I decided this was above my pay grade so I better call for professional help.

Getting on the radio, I managed to raise the local police. I told them the situation and they said there was no way they could get help up here right now. I asked them what to do.

"You have to bring her core temperature up, and quickly or she could suffer brain damage," the dispatcher told me, "make her drink hot liquids and put hot water bottles on her body--especially the groin area."

That was no help. She can't drink liquids if she's unconscious and I don't have any hot water bottles for her groin.

Then I remembered something I'd seen in a movie—at least I think that's where. Someone suffering from hypothermia was saved by body to body contact. It was the best way to transfer heat from one to the other. I looked at her again. "Okay, this might get me killed," I said, "but I'm gonna try it."

I pulled my sleeping bag from the closet and laid it out on the bed. I threw some mittens and woolen socks into the microwave for a minute or so while I carried her to the bed. The mittens and socks came out hot and I put them on her hands and feet. I then put her clothes near a heating vent to dry, stripped to my underwear and climbed in the sleeping bag with her. I zipped the bag and pulled her to me on her side, with my left leg between hers. I put her left arm over my chest and my left arm over her shoulders so that we were in contact as much as possible. Damn she was cold! I began rubbing her back and ass, but eventually fell into a light sleep.

***********************

I cried a long time. All that emotion I had kept bottled up came out in one long, unstoppable stream. Suzy held me seemingly for hours, not speaking, just rocking gently on the sofa as I let it all out. She then called my favorite deli and ordered a good meal to be delivered. She also called Gloria, who agreed to be there in the morning. She went to her car and brought in a suitcase which she put in the guest bedroom. Obviously she knew something was badly wrong and had planned accordingly.

Suzy stayed the next week at my house. We spent hours just talking, taking walks, seeing movies and sharing meals. I remembered how close we had been growing up, when she protected me from the big kids in the neighborhood. She also taught me to stand up for myself, and I loved her for it.

I told her what had happened with Felecia and how I had felt emasculated and worthless. I explained about my job and how my life had no focus.

"Mike, you've always been a man who needs a reason to get up in the morning. Your marriage is over and so are your careers," she said, "but not your life."

"You have so many skills, so much to offer the world," she said.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Mechanical and carpentry skills. You love camping, love to travel," she said, "why not get an RV and take that trip you've been dreaming about for 40 years?"

She was right. As a kid, there was nothing better than taking my old backpack and tent and getting lost in some woods for a few days. I loved the challenge of carrying my home on my back and surviving on my own. Later, I rented RV's for a week or so at a time and quite liked it. The freedom of being on the road and self-contained just felt right to me.

An idea began to take shape.