This was the tenth time we had stopped in the last hour. Jake constantly had to stop to catch his breathe. We weren't going very fast, and I could tell he was beating himself up over being the reason we had to stop so often. I had my arm cradled against my ribs, and I was just now aware I couldn't even feel my arm.

I quickly started to examine it. I was suddenly filled with emotion as I remembered when I had volunteered for the local animal rehabilitation center. There had been a baby fox named Bane that was brought in. It's front leg was broken and turned at an odd angle. My arm looked like Banes' leg.

A sick feeling arose in my stomach. "Oh God... no, that's not my arm. My arm isn't bloody or bent. This is someone else's arm." I thought frantically, going into total denial mode. "Hey... you. Are you okay?" Jake asked. I jumped as his voice jarred my out of my thoughts. He had a look of concern on his face, and I felt a blush creep onto my face as he reached out and felt my forehead. "Well... arm must not be infected... no fever..." Jake muttered.

"Stick out your arm." Jake demanded. I didn't even think about what I was doing when I stuck my arm out. He reached out and gently cupped my arm in one of his hands. He uses his other hand and lightly prodded my arm. I could feel my face scrunch up, but I merely felt a dull throbbing in my arm where his hand was. "She's in shock..." He murmured.

As he was muttering, I saw a dark figure creep from the hall behind him. I widened my eyes and poked Jake in the chest. "Wha-" he began, but I cut him off with a quick, curt nod of my head. I motioned with my eyes that there was someone behind him, and he understood immediately. He stiffened his body, and started limping forward while I walked backwards.

I pretended to keep my eyes on Jake, when really, I was watching the figure behind us. The person behind us cocked their head and began to head towards us. I let out a little gasp and contemplated just making a break for it, when a familiar voice called out to me. "Sammy? Is that you?" The person behind us called out.

"Autumn?"