Nicole ran her fingers through her hair, hating how dirty it was, hating the hard ground and the chill air, hating the turmoil churning inside her. She sighed and stood up, wearily tossed four more logs on the fire, and turned to her sleeping bag. As she knelt down to unzip it, she stopped short. Eric was watching her.

“Oh!” she said, startled. “I didn’t know you were awake.”

“How come you’re still awake?” he mumbled, obviously struggling to sound alert.

She shrugged and sat down to take off her shoes.

“How’s your foot?”

“It’s okay.”

“Did you take a pain pill?”

“Yes, just a few minutes ago. How’s your leg?”

He pulled a face.

“Are you ready for another pill?”

He started to shake his head, then caught his breath as the pain hit him. When it passed, he let it out in a long sigh. “Yes, maybe I am.”

Nicole found him a pill and poured him a cup of water from the canteen. She helped him sit up enough to get it down. When she was finished, she crawled into her bag, grateful even for the hardness of the ground as long as she was lying on it rather than standing.

They fell silent for several minutes, both looking up at the brilliant stars spread out like a protective net overhead, until Nicole felt the drug starting to work on her. Or maybe it was just sheer exhaustion.

“Nicky?”

Her eyes came open with a tremendous effort. “What?”

“I…” She heard him sigh.

She half turned in her bag so she could see him. He had his hands under his head, staring up at the stars. “What?” she asked again.

“You are really something else. Did you know that?”

His earnestness caught her by surprise. “Something else? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean today. After all I’ve done to you these past few days. After yesterday at the dam. Why didn’t you leave me?”

She looked down. “You forget, I’m not in very good shape to travel either.”

“And?”

“You saved my life!” she whispered fiercely, shuddering at the vivid memory of the grizzly hurtling down on her. “If you hadn’t come when you did—” She took a deep breath, then turned to look at him.

“If I hadn’t come when I did, that night in your house, you wouldn’t have been in the mountains trying to get away from me,” he said.

“Well, I certainly can’t disagree with that logic.”

“I know, and I’m very sorry.”

She leaned on her elbow and stared at him. “How sorry?”

“We’ll have to stay here for a day or two at least. I don’t think either of us is in any shape to go very far. But then, if you’ll help me get to base camp, I’ll have one of the men take you down.”

“Do you really mean that?”