Hello again everyone, and thank you for taking the time to read the revised first chapter of Nicholas's Hope. Thank you for all your comments, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Again it was without an editor so I hope I have caught everything. I'm still working on finding one.
Hope you all enjoy!
This story is of my own creation and all persons therein are fictional. All persons are over 18 if not stated.
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Nicholas cursed, glaring icily at the root that had reached itself up as if by magic to trip him. His ankle was throbbing, and he knew from medical experience it was sprained or broken. A tender examination of his swollen ankle proved it to be a sprain, not as bad as a break, but still painful.
"That will teach you to hike alone. Now you have to navigate this forest on your own, injured..."
A clap of thunder followed by a torrential downpour had Nicholas groaning.
"Oh yes, and if that wasn't bad enough. You get to do it in the rain."
Still grumbling to himself about the weather and his predicament he searched his surroundings for a branch that looked to be strong enough to bear his weight. He was no small man, at 6 foot 3 with the body of the linebacker most people mistook him for; he was large enough that it made most people uncomfortable. People instantly looked at his body and dismissed him as anyone of intelligence, but that's what made him strive to prove everyone different.
Nicholas was a doctor, and not just any doctor. He was the director of surgical practices at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, Washington. He had grown up in these forests, and had wandered the trails since he was a boy of 10. Wide-eyed and amazed by everything around him he had spent most of his summers within the woods camping with his parents.
The sudden flashback brought a sharp pain to his heart as he thought of all the summers his parents had come with him to these woods. The memories came unbidden now, flashing through his mind quickly. He had just turned 18, ready for the life of a college student when his parents surprised him with one last trip to their favorite site. They were going to spend a week in the Orestes, bringing in only light tents, and very few supplies. Nicholas had known his mom smuggled a chocolate bar into her bag. The one indulgence she couldn't leave.
It had taken a day of hiking to reach their spot, a clearing in the middle of the forest ringed with tall pines. A small stream wound its way through the forest, not far from where his family had always made camp. It was always nice to have fresh fish for dinner, or whatever small game that turned up in the snares his mother set on the small game trails. She had been trying to teach him how to set the snares, but Nicholas had never had the patience to set the delicate wires. Instead he and his father would often hunt the small game with a bow instead. They never hunted the large game; they simply would take enough for one meal, perhaps two, but never more than they could eat. Skins were saved, some organs eaten, others used for fishing bait. Bones were always thrown away on a hike away from camp for the scavengers to find later.
They always did their best to leave their special site as they found it. The only permanent fixture was a ring of stones where they built their fire. It had been there when they first found the site and it had been left as it was found.
The last day of the trip Nicholas had left both his parents to go foraging for food. Walking along the bank of the stream he had scared a duck from her nest. Knowing she wouldn't return he grabbed the eggs, checking their buoyancy in the Water to make sure they were fresh. When they continued to float Nicholas gathered them into a small leather pouch he wore on his hip during hikes. It was left with the hair of the rabbit inside the pouch and would protect the eggs well enough till he returned to camp.
It was on his way back to camp that he had heard his mothers scream, followed by a howl. The howl had been hasty, almost in glee and Nicholas rushed back towards his parents, instinctively not leaving a trail in his wake.
When he finally did reach the camp Nicholas found his parents gone, and with the amount of blood around the campsite, he knew wherever his parents were, that they were no longer living.
Shaking his head to clear the memories, Nicholas brought his mind back to the present and the situation at hand. His gaze skittered over a thick branch that had fallen close to where he sat. Wiping the water from his eyes he made his way over to the branch, praying that it wasn't rotten.
Standing slowly he let his weight rest partially on the branch, ready to catch himself if it snapped. Once his full weight was supported by the branch he breathed a sigh of relief. Looking around him, Nicholas looked down the trail. He had shown another streak of idiocy in leaving his compass at home, right along with his trail map.
Muttering obscenities at himself Nicholas picked a direction and started to slowly hobble his way down the path. The rain dripped into the back of his jacket, winding its way in cold little rivers down his back. At the rate he was going he was going to have to find or make shelter sometime soon and get a fire going. Deciding he had a way to go he continued down the trail till it split. Looking down each trail Nicholas tried to decide which way to head. The sound of the rain covered any sounds a car on the highway might make. Deciding his best option was to head towards his left he did so.
Nicholas walked slowly, his eyes scanning his surroundings for any signs of something he could use for shelter. A loud crack sounded through the air, lightning flashing across the sky, and the noise of a tree falling close by startled him. Birds rushed by him, obviously fleeing from the falling tree. It could be used as a temporary shelter and seeing as the rain was not letting up Nicholas turned towards the direction the sound came from and hobbled slowly that way.
It wasn't even 5 minutes that he had been walking that he came across the tree. It was a huge oak its trunk scorched black where the lightning had sliced through it, red embers glowed in the dim light and Nicholas knew if he worked quickly enough he could be warm and dry in the matter of an hour. Making his way up the truck Nicholas looked for the thickest growth of the limbs giving him the best possible cover from the rain. Pushing his way through the limbs Nicholas stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth dropping open slightly as he stared dumbly at the sight before him.
A woman, in her mid-twenties if he was to guess by the spread of her hips and her well proportioned body, lay unconscious beneath several limbs of the tree. Her short brunette hair was curling gently around her face, matted somewhat with leaves and blood. Her face was heart-shaped, her lips full though busted and bloody. Her body, with its generous womanly curves, was marred with scratches, some of them deeper along her ribs and torso. A particularly wicked looking gash ran from her hip to her knee, the blood seeping into the ground to mingle with the leaves, dirt, and moss below her.
Nicholas shook his head, stamping down the spurt of desire he felt course through his body. She was obviously injured and all Nicholas could think of was running his hands on her himself, firmly directing her moist and warm... "STOP!" Nicholas exclaimed to himself, running his hand through his hair roughly. Surveying her body now as a patient Nicholas slipped his pack from his body, rummaging through it. He pulled out a small medical kit that he always had handy, knowing it contained a suture kit. Next he pulled a small hatchet from there, normally used to cut kindling for his fires it would serve to chop through the branches that held her body down as well as give him a more comfortable area to treat her in.
Pulling his poncho out of his bag he pushed his way through the branches to lay it across the top of the tree, letting it completely block anymore water from hitting the ground below it. Returning to the woman, Nicholas picked up the hatchet, starting to chop gently at the thickest branch that pinned her. The hatchet would dull quickly and if he got the thicker branches out of the way first he could break the smaller ones by hand if needed.
It was tedious work, stopping every few minutes to check her breathing and pulse. She was blessedly unconscious through him clearing the branches from her body. He kept a few that were brittle and dry to start a fire to help warm her. The few touches he allowed himself to have as he checked the area where a branch was pressing, making sure it had not imbedded itself in her body before he removed it, let him know she was rapidly becoming chilled.
