Chapter 1

"Come on Carla," Matt yelled. The two of them had been on a weeklong hiking trip through the Nation Forest near their hometown. They had been best friends through high school. When Carla's family had moved in down the street and she started at the local high school, the two had become fast friends. Walking to school together every day, they knew everything about each other.

When they had graduated two weeks before, they had proposed this weeklong hiking trip as a way to cap off the end of the school year and as a way for the two of them to unwind before starting their summer jobs. Both families thought it was a great idea and readily agreed to the plan. The old hiking gear was pulled out and packed for the kids and off they went.

The trail head was only about an hour away, but they stopped at a little restaurant to get a good breakfast before they started on their hike.

The first two days were great. Warm sunny rays of light filtered down through the trees. The wildlife was active and Matt got some great pictures on his digital camera. They didn't make as much progress as they had wanted to each day because of Matt's frequent stops for pictures, but neither of them really minded too much. The trip was meant for them to relax so they didn't push the pace too much.

On the second day the passed another couple that was on their way out and had them take a few pictures of themselves together next to a waterfall. The picture looked like it would be a great one and Matt couldn't wait to get home and get it printed.

On the third day, they woke to a sky that had turned very dark and gray, signifying a huge rain storm to come. They decided to cut the trip a little short and start heading back for home.

Today was the fourth day now, and as yesterday, it was still pouring down rain and a huge muddy mess. Matt, having a body that was a little more in shape than Carla's, had been doing a little better on the hike. Carla was by no means out of shape, but all of the football, weightlifting and endurance training that Matt had done throughout high school was definitely paying off on this trip.

Matt had been scouting ahead for a spot that looked like it would be a good place to stop for the night. Carla caught back up with Matt where he had been waiting for her and he motioned for her to take a breather. Slumping down on a rock by the side of the trail, she blew an errant strand of her light blond hair out of her eyes. Matt was struck by how sexy she looked right then. Even though she was covered in sweat and grime, she was easily the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He knew that both of them had feelings for the other, but he had never wanted to pursue it for fear of ruining the relationship that they had now. He highly suspected that Carla felt the same way. Better to be best friends than to lose it all he thought to himself.

Coming back to the present, he realized that Carla was trying to get his attention to ask him a question. "Oh, sorry Carla," he said, "I spaced out for a minute. What was your question?"

"She said, "Are we going to stop soon for the night or press on for a while yet. It is almost dark and we should probably find a spot to set up camp soon."

"Well what do you think Carla? I haven't seen any good spots for making camp and I thought we could press on for a while yet and hopefully hit more level ground, and a spot with some protection from the rain and wind. It's up to you though, I know you're getting tired."

With a tired look in her eyes she got back up. "Let's press on for a bit yet," she said.

Carla picked up her pack which Matt helped her slip back on and they started walking with Carla leading the way. After a time the trail came alongside the river, but started to angle sharply up and soon there was a good size cliff to the side of them. Rain began to fall harder and they began to look in earnest for a place to strike camp.

Suddenly Carla pointed out up ahead of them. "That looks like a good spot, lets head for that," she yelled. The storm by now was very noisy, and Matt could barely hear her so instead of trying to reply, he simply nodded a motioned for her to press on.

All of a sudden a thundering rumble could be heard, even over the noise of the storm and a ten foot part of the bank that Carla was standing on gave way, with her disappearing over the edge.

"Carla," Matt yelled! Running over to where the earth broke away, he saw that Carla had managed to snag a hold of the root from a tree and was madly swinging from it being bounced around by the wind. He could see that her leg was bent at an angle it wasn't supposed to, and Matt knew they were in trouble.

Throwing his pack to the ground he lay over the cliff face and took a hold of one of her hands. It was then that he noticed that she had lost her pack in the fall and it was floating down the river. With a super human effort he hauled her up beside him and she collapsed into his arms sobbing hysterically from fright and pain.

"Shhh, it ok," he said. Gently wrapping his arms tighter around her and pulling her face to his chest and he gently stroked her hair and cooed words of comfort to her. Eventually, her sobs lessened. Carefully lifting her up into his arms, he continued down the path to the spot she had spotted. Setting her down, Matt set up camp.

First thing he did was to build a fire and sat Carla down next to it so she could stay warm. She was shivering and not all of it was from the cold. Shock was starting to set in and he knew time would start to move against him. He took off his coat and had her wrap herself in it.

Next he went out to the surrounding bushes and foraged for some berries that could be eaten. Most of their food had been lost in the pack that Carla had been carrying. Blessing his father for making him learn what he had of survival; Matt was soon able to gather enough to eat that would at least sustain them through the night and into the morning. Matt didn't want to use the little bit of food they had left unless they had to, hoping to keep it as a backup.

Matt ate his fill of berries and walking back to the camp, he gave her the rest of what he had found, and started on the tent. Being that there was only one and one sleeping bag it was likely going to be very long and awkward night, and he figured, a very uncomfortable one for himself. After pitching the tent, he went back beside Carla and began to check on her leg. She had eaten most of the berries. Carla's vitals looked ok, but her face was drawn in pain. Thanking his father for making him take the first aid classes he had, he was soon able to figure out the problem at set it straight. Matt's father had insisted upon the best training he could get for his son and had convinced a family friend and the fire station to give him a little more training than the standard first aid class would.

He pulled the first aid kit that he took everywhere with him out of his backpack, and set to work on her leg. Spreading out an Emergency blanket on the ground he told her that she was going to have to take her pants off so that he could examine her leg. Biting her lip with modesty, she nevertheless did as she was told. Matt let out a small gasp as he saw her perfectly shaped legs. Forcing himself to ignore the beauty before him he took on a doctor's mindset, and forced such thoughts out of his mind as he went to work.

The bone in her lower right leg was broke from where it struck the cliff face. Thankfully it appeared to be a clean break; however, it did need to be set. Knowing he was going to hate himself forever for causing her so much pain, he took a bottle of tequila out of his back pack and had Carla take a couple of large swallows from it and then placed it to the side. He waited until he started to see the effects of the alcohol in her. He gently stroked her cheek with the back of his hand once and then reached down and with a quick pulling motion set the bone back in place.

With so much pain Carla thankfully passed out on the blanket. Matt himself was in tears over what he had just had to do to his best friend and reached over for the bottle of Tequila and took a couple of swigs himself. Running his hand over his lips he replaced the cap on it and put it away. He had meant for it to be for when they reached the end of the hike that night and before they started back in the morning, but now it served another purpose. Matt took his pocket knife and cut off the right leg of her pants so that if he needed to look at it again she would not have to go through the pain of trying to take her pants off again.

While she slept he gently put Carla's pants back on her. While he was doing this, he was once again struck by her beauty. One of his favorite things to do had always been to watch her while she slept. Numerous time of crashing at each other's house had given him plenty of times to watch her at rest. She would often fall asleep against his shoulder or chest. He never tired of seeing her this way. Now, with her face drawn in pain, he just wanted the morning to come quicker so that they could get her home and some help.

Going over by the fire, he finally allowed himself to give into the fatigue that his body was feeling. His eyes glazed over and he thought back to happier times, to get his mind off of what had happened that day. He remembered the day that they had first met. Carla had just moved into the house two down from Matt's family and when his family went to introduce themselves to Carla's family, he had been struck speechless by her beauty. From the meeting both families had become fast friends and after they had become fast friends. Although the kids never knew it, it was the hope of both of their families that the two kids would marry some day.

Carla's moaning on the blanket brought him back to the present. He moved over behind her and helped her to sit up. With a strangled little cry she reached down towards her leg, but before she could Matt brushed her hand away from it telling her not to touch. Allowing herself to fall back against his chest, he wrapped his arms around her and they sat there for many minutes just staring at the fire. Matt yawned and looked down at his watch and noticed that it was after one in the morning and figured that they should probably go to bed, for tomorrow would bring more difficulties and they needed their rest.

Wrapping her tight Matt stood and walked towards the tent. Opening it he carefully got Carla into the tent, and then the shocker came.

"Matt, I need you to help me get these clothes off. I don't want to sleep in them, they're dirty and I never sleep in clothes. I can't get them off myself so you're going to have to help me with them."