Marie was really starting to get worried by the end of the first day. Logan just wasn’t waking up and that was scaring her. He should have woken up a long time ago. The bleeding had stopped after little more than ten minutes so Marie figured that he couldn’t have lost that much blood. Unless, of course, he was bleeding internally. But Marie refused to even consider that. Logan was just resting and would be completely fine in a few minutes.
As the sun began to set on that first day, Marie’s confidence was beginning to wane.
“Come on, Logan. Please wake up. Ah need ya t’ wake up,” Marie whimpered as she continued to stroke Logan’s thick hair. “Yer really startin’ t’ scare me now.”
Just as before, Logan didn’t so much as twitch a finger.
Sniffling and shivering, Marie watched Logan sleep. All of her energy was focused on keeping him warm and comfortable with the hope that it would help him wake up sooner. It was the only thing that she could think of to do. She knew that Logan would wake up. She wasn’t going to stand for anything else.
“Logan, just open yer eyes. Move. Do anythin’. Just let me know yer still alive,” Marie pleaded, tears filling her eyes for the umpteenth time.
As dusk turned into full dark, Marie was visibly shaking. Her entire body was freezing. It got very cold at night in the Canadian north. Marie had discovered that while she had been hitchhiking to Alaska. Of course, back then she had been dressed in more than a bra and a pair of panties.
The only thing that kept Marie from going completely and utterly insane was Logan’s voice in her mind. For the first time ever, Marie didn’t regret someone touching her. His voice in her mind wasn’t angry. He wasn’t cursing her for having touched him. Logan had done it willingly. Because it had been his choice to touch her, his presence was lingering instead of fading into the background.
Another thing that Marie had gained from Logan besides his healing powers was his advanced senses. She had been listening intently all day for any signs of soldiers hunting for them. Aside from a brief snatch of conversation just after dawn there had been no sign of anything save birds and other forest animals. Convinced that there was no one around, Marie felt safe enough to build a small fire. Something just large enough to keep them warm.
Drawing from Logan’s own memories, Marie constructed a small pile of twigs and dead leaves from the floor of the cave. She set it up about three feet away from Logan’s head and went in search of two rocks that she could use to make a spark. Marie hoped that she was doing it right All that she had for reference was Logan’s memories, but she was sure those would be sufficient. True she lacked Logan’s strength but it couldn’t be that difficult.
“All right, Ah can do this,” Marie told herself as she began hitting together the two rocks she had chosen. “Ah am gonna start this fire then Logan an’ Ah will be warm. Then Logan’ll wake up an’ everythin’ will be okay. He’ll get better then we’ll get outta here.”
For several long minutes, Marie struggled to create a spark. She pounded and pounded and pounded, growing increasingly frustrated at her failure to start a fire. She needed heat. Logan needed heat. Even with the blanket on, Logan’s fingers and lips were still blue tinged.
“Shit!” Marie hissed as she accidentally smashed her thumb between the two rocks. She dropped both rocks and cradled her injured hand against her chest. “Why isn’t this workin’? Yer just s’pose t’ hit the rocks t’gether an’ they made a spark. Why can’t Ah make a spark?”
Once the pain in her hand had dulled to a minor ache, Marie picked the rocks back up and started trying to make the fire again. Her frustrations soon gave way to tears and Marie was soon sobbing. Even when her tears became so great that she couldn’t see, Marie continued to smash the rocks together.
Marie all but screamed when the leaves caught on fire from a sudden spark. She quickly dumped a whole bunch of leaves onto her tiny flame. Very soon, the fire was large enough for Marie to warm her hands over.
“Look at that, Logan, Ah got a fire goin’!” Marie cheered, smiling over at Logan. “Ah’m wilderness girl now!”
The heat generated by the small flame felt wonderful to Marie’s chilled limbs. She could actually feel the tips of her fingers again. Marie had almost begun to think that she would never be warm again. That she would be a human popsicle for the rest of her life. Words could not even begin to describe how glad Marie was that she was wrong.
Warm once again, Marie stretched out next to Logan, dropping her head onto his shoulder, the blanket covering his skin. She was grinning from ear to ear, relaxed for the first time in a very long time.
“Everythin’ is gonna be all right, Logan. We’re gonna be just fine,” Marie told the unconscious man, allowing her eyes to fall shut.
Marie jerked suddenly, the only sign she had that she had fallen asleep. The only sign besides the fact that her fire was now smaller. Sighing, Marie continued to lay there for a few more minutes. It had been the first peaceful sleep she’d had in a very long time. The cold was beginning to return, though, so Marie rolled over onto her side and began to crawl towards the fire. She grabbed a few twigs from the pile she had created earlier and tossed them onto her tiny flame. Some more leaves made ensured that they would catch fire.
A quiet moan from Logan stopped Marie dead in her tracks.
“Logan, is that ya?” Marie murmured, sliding back towards Logan.
“Nughhh....”
This time when she looked Logan’s head was moving around a little bit. He continued moaning and shifting around. Marie was on her knees and crouching down over Logan. Being careful as possible, Marie rolled Logan onto his back, smoothing her fingers though his hair once again.
“Logan, open yer eyes,” Marie said softly, tears shining in her eyes.
“‘Ri....” Logan moaned, jerking his head around as he struggled to open his eyes.
“It’s me, Logan. Marie. I’m right here. Everythin’ is all right. Just open yer eyes,” Marie murmured. “Just open yer eyes, Logan. I’m right here.”
Slowly, Logan’s eyes fluttered open, his hazel eyes locking on hers instantly.
Grinning from ear to ear, Marie placed her hand on his cloth-covered chest, rubbing it in a soothing gesture. “Welcome back t’ the land o’ the livin’, Logan.”
“Marie?” Logan groaned, blinking rapidly as though to clear his vision.
Marie ran her fingers through his hair, her smile getting even bigger. “It’s me, sugah.”
Logan let out a relieved sigh. “You’re all right?”
“Ah’m all right,” Marie confirmed, nodding her head. “Thanks t’ ya. Ya saved mah life, Logan, an’ even though Ah’ll never understand why, Ah’ll always be real grateful.”
“I saved you because I couldn’t let them hurt you,” Logan told her.
Marie couldn’t think of anything to say to that. There was no way that she would ever be able to thank Logan enough for what he had done for her. The tears that had never quite left her eyes since she had woken up to find Logan unconscious and bleeding from three gunshot wounds started once again.
“Hey. No. Marie, don’t cry,” Logan murmured, reaching a trembling hand up to cup her cheek through her mess of hair. “It kills me to see you crying.”
“These are good tears, Logan. Ah promise,” Marie whispered, leaning into Logan’s palm. “Yer awake which is the most amazin’ thin’ that Ah can think o’ happenin’.”
“How long have I been asleep?” Logan asked, lowering his hand and carefully beginning to push himself into a seated position. Marie’s arm behind his back helped a great deal since it was obvious that Logan was still weak.
Marie made sure that Logan was steady before pulling her arm away. “An entire day. When Ah woke up, ya were unconscious an’ bleedin’ all over. Scared me half t’ death. Ah thought ya were gonna die, Logan.”
The sorrow on Logan’s face was very clear. He looked down at his lap, fiddling with the blanket pooling around his waist. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just... I just couldn’t let you die. All that I could think about was what you had told me about your mutation and how I could save you if I just gave you enough of my powers.”
“Logan....” Marie moaned, reaching out to comb her fingers through Logan’s hair. She pulled his head towards hers and placed a kiss on the top of his head.
It was obvious that Logan was still exhausted so Marie pulled enough of the blanket onto her lap so that she could lower Logan’s head onto it. He went willingly, curling himself into a ball as Marie wrapped the outer edge of the blanket around him.
“Ah want ya t’ rest now, Logan,” Marie told him, placing a kiss on one of the thick mutton chops that adorned Logan’s cheeks. “Ah’ll watch over ya.”
Logan moaned and shook his head slightly. “No.... Don’t wanna sleep....”
Marie couldn’t contain her grin at Logan’s sleepy protests. “Ah’d believe that, Logan, if ya weren’t blinkin’ like an owl an’ almost completely asleep already. So how ‘bout ya just stop arguin’ an’ just go t’ sleep. Ah’ll still be here when ya wake up.”
Logan’s grumbled protests continued, much to Marie’s amusement.
“Quit fussin’, Logan. The sooner ya get some sleep the sooner ya’ll start t’ feel better.”
“I feel better now,” Logan told her.
For a few minutes Logan was completely silent. Then he whispered something that threw Marie for a loop.
“Love you, Marie....”