"Route for the Home Team."

Chapter 6

Lidia was beyond furious with the plant life around her, "This is why I live in New York City!" she fumed, shoving away a plant that'd attacked her leg. It's bristly thorns clung to her sock and she kicked angrily. "Dane! Help me with this thing!" she shouted at her friend's back ignoring his eye rolling.

"You are holding us up, Lid, we could've been down the other side of this mountain by now." he muttered as he knelt and freed her of the clingy plant.

"You don't have to tell me again, I'm quite aware of the time constraints. Thank you for once again making me feel all of two feet tall." Shoving past him, she stomped up past the next few trees before more brush slapped her in the legs. Feeling the pain twinge in her already open wound she gritted her teeth and moved further.

"I'm sorry, Lid, really, I am." he whined moving closer to her and keeping his steps measured with her's, so he could be a total and complete nuisance.

"Well, Dane, right about now I'm pretty sorry I asked you to come." she muttered.

"Aw, c'mon Lid, don't be a spoil sport."

"A what? Where did you even get that phrase from?!" she questioned, rolling her eyes at him and shaking her head. When she had gotten in front of him, and pushed through the large growth of trees and brush, she came to a clearing.

"I don't know exactly, it just fit." he said, coming up behind her.

Jumping, she swatted him with her hand, "Don't scare me like that."

"Ooooh, someone's jumpy!"

Just as she turned to yell at him once more, something that eerily felt like a hand grasped her ankle.

--

Altan held tight to the first glimmer of hope as he opened his eyes, was he halucinating or was he really holding a human ankle? His heart fluttered with renewed hope as a very feminine scream pierced his ear drum. "Calm down." he whispered, trying to use his quite sorry sounding voice.

"Altan?" the question was also asked in the near-hilarious voice as the woman's face came into view. She looked familiar, who was she? Why was she here?

"That's my name..who are...wait a minute! Lidia?" he asked, sitting up and then regretting that he had he fell back.

"Aye Dios mio! Dane! Look at him.." her voice was soft now as she touched one of his beyond sore legs.

"I'll be okay, don't worry." he added quickly taking a deep breath between clenched teeth as she aggrivated the injury with prodding hands.

"You don't look okay to me!" she whimpered taking in the scrapes he'd acquired on his face. At least, he hoped they were just scrapes.

"You're gonna need some medical attention, man." agreed Dane, lifting a cell phone from his side.

"I tried calling...but you see my cell phone looks worse than me." he gestured to the pile of broken parts beside him.

"I'd say so." said Lidia, her voice still hushed.

"Hey, I'm really not so bad, Lid. I'll be fine, and we can go out on a date. How's that sound?" he did his best at an attempt to smile.

"Sounds okay, I don't know. Are you sure I have to go on it with you?" she smiled back at him, grasping a hurting hand inside hers. Though, he hardly minded at this point, he was just pretty glad she was here.

"Well, hey, fine suit yourself. Find yourself some other guy who'd put up with you on this mountain." slowly he turned his head from side to side as if looking for another man. "Sorry, no takers."

Lowering herself next to him, she pressed a kiss to his forehead, "That's quite fine."

"Can't even go away for five minutes to call some help and you two are flirting again. Man, you'd think a week of seperation would stop the two of you." called Dane from his spot on the sidelines.

"Shut up." Altan called back, grinning up at Lidia.

--

Dane sighed as he watched out the window of the helicopter, "Did you have to kiss him before they knocked him out?" he asked Lidia from his seat beside a rescue flight paramedic.

The paramedic cocked an eyebrow of interest, "You two an item?"

"No!" she replied testily before turning back to Dane, "And shut up."

Holding up both hands in his defense he pulled back away from her, "Bite my head off why don't you, I was asking a question!"

"Right, and I'm the queen of England." Lidia rolled her eyes before casting them back on Altan's now still form.

"All hail her majesty." he muttered a grin tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Real pleasure to meet such royalty, ma'am." said the paramedic tipping his cap.

"You can shut up too, you're not supposed to be talking. You are supposed to be making him better."

"Right away." griped the paramedic.

Dane couldn't hold back his smile any longer as they landed with a whirl in the parking lot of the nearest hospital. The paramedics rushed off with the gurney containing a very broken, yet hardly dead Altan. Lidia trailed along behind them, and he walked at a slower pace following them. His cell phone jangled to life, and he repeated the details he'd been told by the paramedic and that he'd lived to Jazzelle. When he hung up the phone, he dialed his wife's work number, this had the promise of a long day. At least this story was going to have a happy ending, right now.