Fanfic: Interference 9/?

[leikvin]

Author: leikvin
Category: AU
Characters: Michael Scofield, Sara Tancredi, Lincoln Burrows, Veronica Donovan, Nika Volek, Nurse Katie, Charles Westmoreland, Paul Kellerman, Frank Tancredi
Genres: Romance, drama, angst
Pairing: Michael/Sara
Warnings: Work in progress
Word count:  5769
Summary: Michael is in the airport on his way to Colorado on a business trip. A business trip he's not too happy about. When he gets into a sticky situation in the departure lounge, he's rescued by Sara, and the two are immediately attracted to each other. But things get complicated once they arrive at the destination. Will they have a chance?


She knew it the second he put on his skis.

Even though she still hadn't seen him ski as much as one yard, there was no doubt that he'd done this plenty of times before. The easy routine with which he tightened his boots and slipped them into the ski bindings totally smacked of a trained skier. These preliminary preparations usually resulted in a lot of moaning about ankles being squeezed, feeling much too tight and cramped; not to mention the difficulty of fitting the boots into the bindings, which was usually quite a challenge for the beginner. But Michael performed these tasks with a dexterity and proficiency, totally betraying his cover story as a beginner.

"So how many times did you say you'd done this before, Michael?" she 'casually' asked, while inspecting him thoroughly. Even though he'd obviously wildly exaggerated his uselessness as a skier, she couldn't help but be amused by his little charade. Knowing it would probably be tough for him to keep up the inexperienced pretense, she had no intention of revealing that the jig was up anytime soon. This could actually become quite entertaining.

"Just a few times," he evasively replied while fidgeting with his gloves and poles. "Thinking about it, it's actually quite a miracle that I made it through without breaking any bones. So I'm afraid your skills as an instructor will be highly challenged today." Sara figured it wasn't a coincidence he avoided meeting her scrutinizing gaze.

"Is that so..?" she replied with a mischievous smile. "Well, I'm sure you'll do just fine. You probably have hidden talents, Michael, just waiting to be revealed!"

He sent her a quick glance, surprised by the accuracy of her words, trying to figure out if she'd somehow already seen through his bluff. Her arched eyebrows made him a bit nervous, but how on earth would she know? They hadn't even starting skiing yet! Maybe he had yet to perfect his ‘beginner’ charade'? He couldn't let her discover that he was actually quite experienced - ruining his excuse for booking the lesson in the first place.  He also wanted her to feel good about her skills as instructor upon his impending miraculous improvement during one lesson.

"So let's get moving over to the lift then." Sara gestured to the line of people waiting to mount the double chair lift, and the two of them slowly maneuvered their way to the loading area, planting their poles in the fresh powder and skating with their skis.  Once again Sara couldn't help notice the expertise with which Michael handled his equipment, confirming what she already knew. It appeared that he was not only 'not a beginner', but he might even be a very skilled skier.

The line wasn't long, and it didn't take more than a minute before they both were scooped into the double-seat of the lift, and they quickly lowered the safety bar. The chair was rather narrow making them sit close, shoulder to shoulder, as the lift quickly started the ascent to the top of the mountain. The sensation of his broad shoulder against hers felt comforting and warm, and for a second she found herself fantasizing about how nice it would have felt to have his strong arm draped across her shoulders so that she could snuggle into his warm body. The feeling of his embrace in the airport was still so vivid, and she couldn't believe the strong physical impact this man had on her. Without even noticing, she instinctively leaned in a bit closer to the attractive engineer next to her, enjoying the warmth emanating through the multiple layers of clothes, as if it had been skin touching skin. To her own annoyance she once again she found her thoughts drifting in a most indecent direction. It required all of her will power to shove those naughty thoughts aside.

Trying to get her focus back on the lesson, she quickly cleared her throat. "So.... since you're a 'beginner', I guess we'll have to go pretty easy from the start?"

It was actually more a statement than a question, and it somehow made her realize that suddenly she was the one with the upper-hand. Until now, she'd always felt frustratingly out of control around this man, recurrently losing track of the hard-earned self-control which she had carefully built up around herself.  But seeing through his little charade, combined with her confidence as a skier, finally made her acknowledge that this situation actually presented some distinct possibilities. An insidious little smile appeared at the corner of her lips.

"Yes - please!"  Michael immediately noticed the slight change in her attitude, and even though suspicions about being found out lurked in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but be mesmerized by the lovely girl in front of him.  "You must promise to be gentle with me!" he pleaded with a twinkle in his eyes, a request which seemed to refer to much more than the ski lesson. The flirtation didn't go unnoticed by the auburn haired beauty, but a sneaky plan was coming to life in her mind, which encouraged her to pay him back for his charade.

"Don't worry, Scofield. I'll be very gentle!" The smirk dancing around the corners of her mouth both thrilled and scared him. A flicker of apprehension stirred his stomach. What was she up to?

"I'm not sure I like that smirk of yours. I'm starting to worry whether I can really trust you...?!" This time it was him sending her a mischievous glance.

"Sure you can! I promise, I'll take very good care of you," she replied with a grin.

As soon as the chair had left the base of the mountain, they found themselves soaring upwards along the wire about ten yards over the ground providing them a great view of the hillside. It was a beautiful sight - thick spruce forests covered with a thick layer of powdery snow - alternating with wide open undulating meadows, imaging the perfect winter wonderland which Sara had come to love. The different trails fanned out underneath them, and even though this resort wasn't one of the largest, there were still lots of skiers out in the terrain. It wasn't long until they were out of ear-shot from the lift engines, and the deafening silence greeting them now was only interrupted by occasional cheerful shouts or laughter from the skiers underneath them.

Sara spent the time in the lift pointing out the different runs, explaining the area to her attentive listener. It was pretty obvious that she was excited about the valley, and that she knew the terrain like her own backyard. Similar to the very first time they met in the airport, their conversation flowed cheerfully and easily.

"So how does one end up as a ski instructor in Colorado? I mean - didn't you say you were a Chicago girl?" he tentatively asked. He clearly remembered her saying something about needing to get away from the hectic urban life, and he was curious to hear how on earth she had ended up in this place.

"I've been skiing since I was a little girl. My parents used to have a mountain home in another Colorado resort, so I would spend all of my vacations there during the wintertime. I guess skiing is almost in my genes now," she replied with a smile. Even though her relationship with her dad had changed rather dramatically over the last few years, she still treasured those lovely memories immensely.

"Must have been great."

"It was! I loved it there, and probably most of my happy childhood memories are from that place." Her thoughts flashed back to a time when she still felt like part of a family…to a time when politics were just a minor part of her father’s life and her mum was still there to hold everything together. Michael noticed her quiet wistfulness, but chose to remain silent. He sensed the importance of these memories, and let her relish on happy thoughts for a few moments.

"But that was before everything changed." A melancholic, almost painful shadow suddenly veiled her eyes.

It was obvious that the conversation had also brought her back to some gloomy memories, and a sad expression darkened her beautiful, classical features. Wavering between the instinct to pull back - keeping the conversation light without pushing her any further - and the curiosity to learn more about the secrets behind her melancholy, Michael considered his options. Curiosity won.

"Changed how?" he asked with a soft, empathic voice.

Sara hesitated a moment. "I lost my mum... She died when I was fourteen."

"Oh...I'm sorry. That must have been tough on you." His voice was all velvet compassion.

"It was..... And my dad didn't take it very well either. He buried himself in work to get over it..." She lingered, and once again seemed lost in her own thoughts for a few moments. "He still does actually..."

"Oh...?"

"Things have never been the same between us ever since. To be honest we're not on very good terms these days…"  Did she just tell him that? This subject definitely belonged in the category of taboo topics which she practically never shared with anybody. She didn't even tell Katie about her strained relationship with her father until after about six months of close friendship. She couldn't believe she'd just shared her pain with this man, whom she barely knew, and still wasn’t sure if she could trust. But strangely enough it felt good to tell him - it felt easy.

Encouraged by her openness Michael decided to push the subject a bit further: "Was that why you left Chicago?" He held his breath for a second.

She sent him a shifty glance - brakes finally kicking in. "I guess that was part of it..." It was one thing to be talking about her childhood and even her complicated relationship with her dad. But it was something completely different to be talking about her abrupt flight from Chicago. She didn't talk to anybody about this. This was in a totally different category. There was no way she was going to tell him about her cowardice and shame. About the pain and the dark shadows, which were still haunting her dreams. Carefully choosing her words, she finally replied; "Erm....let's just say that the peace and quiet here was exactly what I needed, when I moved here a few years ago...."

Michael sensed her discomfort immediately and silently cursed himself for pushing her too far. Trying to get the conversation back on the light and cheerful track he quickly retorted; "And I guess the ski resorts are better here, than in Chicago..?" A charming little smile was playing on his beautiful, full lips.

Grateful for his discreet and agile retreat she sent him a cautious giggle. "Yes...definitely. Lake Shore Drive is a bit too flat for skiing!"

A relieved smile covered his face, and Sara noticed he kept staring at her for a moment. Feeling slightly embarrassed by his intense stare she looked back at him inquiringly: "What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing." But he kept looking at her.

"No - what?" Sara insisted.

For a second he almost seemed embarrassed. "Uh....I was just wondering. What made you change your mind?"

"About what?" she asked, even though she was pretty sure she knew what he meant.

"About giving me a chance. You didn't seem very likely to change your mind when we talked the other day in the coffee shop."

This time it was Sara sending him a thorough glance, pondering what to say. "I'm not really sure...." Her eyes drifted away now, seeming to get lost somewhere far away. "I think I finally decided that you sounded pretty honest in the end. Like you really meant it." She swallowed hard before she went on. "And then I maybe felt a little flattered that you took all the trouble to come here, taking a ski lesson from me. I thought I could at least give you a chance." To her annoyance, she felt her cheeks turning slightly red.

"I'm so happy you did," he replied in a quiet, sincere voice.

The lift reached its destination on the top of the mountain before she had a chance to say anything further, and the two of them easily and smoothly glided off the chair. Sara remembered her last pupil’s struggle to get off the lift. Jen had made a rather inelegant fall, forcing the crew to make an emergency stop. Jen had been immensely embarrassed, and it had almost been impossible for Sara to convince her that falling off the lift was rather common amongst beginners. Michael skiing so smoothly off the lift now was another piece of evidence that he was not a beginner.

Sara took the lead, making sure her pupil was following her. She slowly made her way over to the plateau, from which all the different slopes emerged.

"OK, Michael. Here we are." She had turned around while watching him ski over to her. She had to fight really hard to suppress a giggle upon observing his feigned clumsy and unsteady style. Sara had no doubts it was all a charade. "There's a run over here which would be a perfect place to start." Michael was relieved to see that her sadness seemed to have vanished.

Before he had a chance to object, she took off towards the expert level slopes, located a few hundred yards away. Not familiar with the terrain, Michael obediently followed suit - having no idea he was being lured into a trap.

As they arrived at the starting point of the most difficult freestyle slope - a double black diamond run - Sara executed an elegant parallel turn to stop, ending up facing her pupil. A smug grin plastered her face as she crossed her arms over her chest, and expectantly watched him approach slowly.

Michael did a clumsy snowplow-stop, and quickly assessed the situation. Looking down the tremendously steep and bumpy slope, he - to his horror - realized that this was perhaps one of the most challenging groomed runs he'd ever seen. "I must say your beginner's slopes are pretty tough here in Fox Creek," he said, gulping.

"You think so..?" she replied with a chuckle. "Well... Considering what a talented beginner you are, I would say it's just perfect!" she gleefully retorted. A mischievous twinkle was sparkling in her large, chocolate pools.

Not yet completely ready to admit to his farce he continued, "You actually want me to ski down there?"

"Oh yes,” she nodded. Then watching a sliver of fear enter his blue eyes, she felt a stab of guilt, deciding to call his bluff. “You might as well admit it, Michael. There's NO way you're a beginner!"

Finally conceding defeat he couldn't help but laugh: "Hey..!! How did you know?! I thought I was doing pretty good as a beginner!"

"And I definitely enjoyed your style - very much. But I'm afraid it wasn't very convincing though ...."

"Hmph...." he grunted - trying to appear miffed. Even though he'd been busted, he had to admit that he admired how easily she'd figured him out. "But seriously…" He scratched the back of his head, looking a bit overwhelmed by the challenge, "I might not be a complete beginner, but that slope is way over my head!" The trail looked both impossibly steep and bumpy.

Sara just shrugged her shoulders:  "You wanted me to teach you a lesson, didn't you?!"

He sent her a skeptical grin. "Yeah...but I wasn't really expecting something like this...."

"I wouldn't have figured you for a chicken, Scofield..." she mockingly challenged him.

"Chicken..? Trying to mess with my reputation again? Instructors are supposed to be supportive and encouraging!" he scoffed back, while taking another good look down the precipitous trail. It wasn't so much the steepness as the moguls that concerned him. He'd never really done any free-styling before, so this was all new to him. But there had to be first time for everything. "Well - I guess I asked for it...."

"You'll do just fine, Michael! I'll teach you." She sent him a beaming smile, which somehow bolstered his ego. He took a deep breath. "OK...Let's get the lesson started then - before I change my mind!"

Sara was pleased that he hadn't pulled out. She liked a man up for a challenge. Before they took off, Sara spent a few minutes instructing her pupil. "I take it you've never done moguls before?"

"Never," he confirmed. And he definitely hadn't expected to be doing them today either.

"Well, we'll start with the basics. Generally the point is to slide in between the bumps by zipping through the troughs - or going around them." As a demonstration she slid down between the two nearest bumps, immediately stopping again, while turning around to face her pupil. She was still just a few yards away from him.

"OK..." Michael was leaning forward against his poles. "That looked easy enough." He couldn't help but admire the elegance with which she'd navigated the short distance.

"But as a beginner you don't want to do that all the time. You need to use the moguls. For instance; when you ski up onto a bump; use the moment when you're on the top, and your tips and tails are not touching snow, to change direction. Or you can start edging down the front side for speed control. Speed control is a keyword, when doing this, so whenever you have a chance, please speed down."

Michael was listening attentively in order to learn as much as possible, but her ardent and charming demeanor, which he found absolutely enchanting, kept distracting him. He had to concentrate thoroughly to keep his attention on the subject - and not on her playful, chocolate depths or her perfect creamy cheeks, now blushing with excitement - as she went on explaining about how to absorb the bumps with his legs and keep his poles in front of him to aid balance and rhythm.

"OK...so the keywords are; speed control, use the bumps, absorb the bumps and poles in front of you! You got it?"  Noticing his flustered appearance, she sent him an inquiring glance, to make sure he was still with her.

"Erm...yeah...I hope so," he hesitantly replied, desperately hoping he hadn't missed anything important.

"OK...let's get started then."

As Sara had done with Jen, she split up the trail into smaller segments, and together they slowly worked their way down the arduous slope. The first few segments were difficult, but as Michael eventually started to get the hang of it, his growing confidence made him speed up and take bigger chances. He sustained several heavy falls, but his drive and eagerness were impressive, and a few bruises didn't seem to scare him off. Sara was actually quite impressed by her athletic pupil.

After the first - and worst - expert level slope, Sara took mercy on him, and let him practice on some other runs that were not quite as demanding.

The time passed by very quickly, and as the lesson was coming to an end, Sara decided to take Michael on one of the narrow freestyle trails, which meandered through the forest. They had just exited the lift and were preparing themselves for the last descent, as she told him about her plans for the last run.

"This will be the last one today, Michael. Going through the forest can be a bit challenging, but it's usually so much fun, and I think you're ready for it." She was very well aware that the lesson had turned into something much tougher than he had expected.

Even though he’d enjoyed the lesson immensely so far, his eyebrows arched sarcastically. “So this will this be the last time you'll try to kill me today?"

"Last time - promise!" she replied with giggle. "But the difference here is that the trail is very narrow, making it much more difficult to lower the speed. And since there are plenty of trees to bump into, you don't want to lose control in there, Michael! So make sure to speed down, whenever you have the chance."

"OK..." he moaned.

"Just follow me," and then she plunged off towards the forest, where she immediately found the narrow freestyle trail. She quickly disappeared into the woods, and Michael had to speed up to follow her. It wasn't long until he caught glimpse of her slim, athletic figure darting smoothly in soft, elegant curves a bit further down in front of him, and once again he had to admire her perfect style. What he found so difficult and demanding himself, Sara did with an effortless ease, which totally impressed him.

The forest became thicker and he could hear the sounds from the wide open runs getting more and more distant as they got deeper into the forest. He'd lost sight of his instructor again, so he instinctively increased his speed to catch up with her. He had to agree with her; this was fun! The narrow trail meandered in and out between the trees, constantly demanding his full attention and making use of all of his newly required skills. What a kick! He could feel the adrenaline as it flowed through his veins, and the rush somehow made him speed up even more. Suddenly the trail made a sharp turn around a group of dense trees, and too late he realized that he was going much too fast.

As he turned the sharp corner he immediately understood what was about to happen. Even though the following events took place within the course of only a second, it was like everything started proceeding in slow motion.

He saw Sara, who'd stopped to wait for him, standing in the middle of the trail, while carefully adjusting the loops on her poles. She looked relaxed and beautiful, totally unaware of his hasty, careening approach. Despite his exorbitant speed, he was painfully aware of himself sliding towards her, his arms frantically waving about, desperately trying to gain control while simultaneously realizing that a collision was unavoidable.

Sara heard him a few milliseconds before the crash, and he just had time to see her calm brown eyes widen in shock before he slammed into her with a violent thud. Michael felt a sharp pain as his forehead smacked into Sara's lip. The two of them were thrown off balance, and tumbled over in the snow with skis, poles, arms and legs getting all entangled with snow whirling up in a crystalline cloud around them. Sara landed on top of him, chest to chest, and they both remained dumbstruck a few seconds while the chaos of the collision was soon replaced by the silence of the deep winter forest.

Sara finally slowly lifted her head, which had been buried in the snow right over his left shoulder, and worriedly gazed down upon the man beneath her. Michael's face was almost completely covered with snow - eyes closed - and so far he hadn't moved. A sudden horror spread through her body, and her eyes got huge as she tried to establish the full extent of the damage.

"Are you OK?" she asked with a concerned voice.

"I'm fine," he retorted with a grunt and he finally managed to disengage his hands and pulling of the gloves to swipe away the snow from his face. As he opened his eyes he shot her the most dazzling smile, making Sara's heart skip a beat. But the smile was immediately replaced by a care-worn expression, as he took in her appearance.

"But you're not! You're bleeding!" His steel blue gaze focused in on her bloody lower lip, and his eyes were filled with worry and concern. Before Sara had a chance to reply, his hand shot up to her face, and carefully brushed off the snow from her cheeks. Despite the coolness of the snow, she immediately felt the mesmerizing warmth from his hands, and to her regret she felt her cheeks blushing.

"I am?" she replied with a frown. The shock and the adrenaline output still seemed to blur out the pain from the small scratch on her swollen lip.

"I'm so sorry Sara. This was totally my fault." Guilt was plastered all over his face.

"No, no. I'm fine. And if it's anybody fault it's definitely mine! Some kind of instructor I've been today," she scoffed, shaking her head at herself. She struggled to untangle her hands to check out her lip herself, but her wrists were strapped to her poles, which were fixed underneath Michael. It wasn't until then that she shyly realized that she was pinned down to him, hugging him tightly. She quickly had to give up, while sending him an apologetic smile. "But I'm stuck."

Relief floated over his face, and a smile once again danced across his perfect mouth. "Here....let me" he offered, returning his warm hand to her face. Very carefully, with movements which most of all reminded her of the touch of a feather, he gently removed the snow from her lower lip and swept away the blood. His touch first made her twitch her head away a little, but honestly she wasn't really sure whether it was the pain or the electrical jolts emanating from his sweet caress that made her flinch.

"Hey, lay still," he said. Voice velvety and smooth. Sara immediately froze, and she watched him studiously as he again focused on her mouth, while he carefully examined her lip.

"There's a scratch - but it's small. I think it'll be fine. Though you'll probably have a swollen lip for a few days," he finally concluded with a relieved sigh, and looked back up into her eyes.

They were still lying close, with faces only inches apart, and it wasn't until that moment that he seemed to realize just how close they really were. As his eyes locked with hers it was like she was hit by another electrical jolt, piercing from his eyes to hers, glancing downwards through her spine and all the way to her toes. Sara could easily feel the warmth radiating off of his perfect skin. Warmth not only from his face, but maybe even more springing from his tight, muscular body, pinned to the ground by her own. And she was pretty sure that he had no problems feeling her telltale heartbeat, which for some reason had gone into overdrive.

Both of them held their breath, and it was like someone had pushed the pause-button on their ski lesson movie, freezing that specific moment. Michael was the one who broke the eye-lock first, but only to move his eyes downwards to her lips, and for a second Sara thought that he was going to kiss her. But the moment was broken when a vibrating buzz suddenly started somewhere between them, and his eyes snapped back up to hers. The question in his eyes disappeared as she once again started to struggle to free her hands from the pole loops beneath him.

"Sorry...it's my cell," she moaned, becoming more and more frustrated when still not succeeding in freeing her hands. Michael finally realized that he had to lift his upper body to help her, and Sara managed to disentangle her arms so that she could slip out her cell from her pocket. While rolling over to her side, thereby freeing Michael from their close embrace, she quickly checked the ID on the display. "It's the paramedics down at the base," she informed him and flipped it open with an apologetic smile.

"What's up John?" she quickly asked, still panting a bit. Seemed she had been saved by the bell. Michael watched as a concerned expression suddenly floated over her beautiful face, and within seconds she was back on her feet.

"Is she unconscious?" Michael couldn't hear the answer, but since Sara was hastily picking up her skis, still on the phone with her left hand, he figured something serious was up.

"OK. Call 911 immediately and ask for an ambulance, John. I'll be down there in two minutes." And then she hung up, slipping her boots into the ski bindings.

"I'm sorry, Michael. But there's an emergency down at the base, so I need to hurry down there. A child has been injured."

"No problem. You just go ahead. I'll be fine". Michael was back on his feet too, and was watching her intently, trying to understand why she was called because of a medical emergency.

"You just follow the trail." She couldn't suppress a little smile, "Slowly!" He smiled back at her. "And when you come out of the forest, you'll have no problems finding which way to go. Just meet me down by the base, ok?" Before he had a chance to answer, she was gone.

Sara whizzed down the narrow trail, and it didn't take her more than a few minutes to get down the mountain. She immediately spotted a cluster of people at the bottom of one of the runs, and as she approached she could see the small, fragile body of a little girl about eight years old. John was kneeling down beside her, trying to cover her up with warm blankets. Within seconds Sara got rid of her skis, and knelt down beside the girl.

She was pale - much too pale - and obviously unconscious. John quickly filled her in about accident-it appeared that the girl had been hit in the chest by a runaway ski, which had been lost by someone much higher up on the slope. She had cried out loud first, complaining about pain in the chest. But instead of decreasing, the pain only intensified, and the people who had come to her aid had watched as she became even paler and more breathless, eventually losing consciousness. By now her breathing was fast and shallow, just like her pulse. Taking in the girl’s condition, Sara immediately realized that she was severely injured.

"Give me the medical bag, John!" she quickly demanded. "And help me open up her jacket. I need to listen to her breath sounds." Sara would usually have waited for this step until the patient had come inside, but the girl’s bad condition demanded an immediate examination. They managed to open up the jacket and lift up the girl’s shirt, and Sara easily found a dark blue bruise on the right side of the chest.

"Blood pressure?" she demanded while she quickly palpated the skin. The little girl cringed at her touch. There was no doubt the rib was broken. But Sara was more worried about the shallow breathing, and with experienced hands and ears, she quickly listened to the thorax through a stethoscope. Breath sounds were weak on the right side, and the girl’s respiratory rate still seemed alarmingly high.

"BP  80/40," John informed her, and Sara's suspicions were confirmed. This was bad. "It might be a hemothorax...How far away is the ambulance?" she quietly asked, and was relieved to hear it would get there in a few minutes.

In the meantime Michael had arrived. He was surprised to find Sara - his ski instructor - in the center of all of the action. Was she some kind of paramedic too? He moved in closer to watch her work, fascinated by her calm and professional demeanor. Talk about having hidden talents!

Sara turned to the girl’s father, who was anxiously waiting next to them, holding his daughters hand. "You're the father?" she tentatively asked.

"Yes. What's wrong with her?" he asked, voice filled with panic.

"I'm Dr. Tancredi," Sara hastily informed him, "It's too early to say. We need to get her in for some more tests."

Michael's mouth dropped. What? She was a doctor?!   His mind went back to one of the conversations he'd had with Nika, talking about her husband's illicit relationship with a Dr.Tancredi. So Sara was Dr. Tancredi? The one who was having an affair with Charles Westmoreland? His heart dropped. How could this be? Until now it had been all about Sara believing that he had an affair with Nika, and now it turned out that she was the one sleeping with Charles?!?

"What's a 'hemothorax'?" the father asked nervously, returning Michael's attention back to the scene playing out in front of him. Sara's head snapped up at the father’s question, surprised and dismayed that he'd obviously overheard her comment to John.

"Well, I don't know yet if it is a hemothorax, so let's wait and see how bad it is..." She silently cursed herself for sharing her suspicions too loudly with John. She should have known the father would overhear her, and there was no need to worry him before they knew for certain.

"But what is it?" he demanded to know. Sara eyed him carefully. He seemed to be quite calm, and Sara concluded that it would be wrong to keep him in the dark.

"Well... A 'hemothorax' is a collection of blood in the space between the chest wall and the lung. This can be caused by a broken rib, which has lacerated the lung or maybe an artery. It's dangerous, since the blood will eventually cause the lung to collapse and even impair the function of the heart. So I need to get her in to the clinic immediately for further tests and treatment." The father turned pale, clutching his daughter’s hand tightly.

"But I think she'll be fine, sir." She put a calming hand on his shoulder. "We just need to get her in to the clinic fast!" The father’s skin had gone pallid, and for a moment she became worried that he might pass out too. But he somehow found a way to pull himself together.

Sara and John kept working on the girl - securing an IV and checking the vitals - and Sara was tremendously relieved when the ambulance finally arrived to the base of the mountain. While the paramedics lifted the girl onto a gurney, and started moving her over to the ambulance, the doctor turned around and finally caught sight of Michael. Recalling their recent rather intimate encounter in the forest, Sara felt her cheeks redden.

"Good to see you found the way." She sent him a hasty, shy smile, and continued before Michael had a chance to reply: "I'm sorry, but I have to go with the ambulance. But I hope I wasn't too harsh on you, Michael, with the moguls. You did impressively well actually!" Then she ran to the ambulance and jumped inside to accompany the injured girl. Doors closed behind her.

Michael just stood there, watching her disappear with the vehicle, moving away from the slopes. He was dumbstruck. He couldn't believe she hadn't told him who she was! After all the talk about honesty and trust it suddenly felt like she was the one who had been lying. A confusing mixture of disappointment, anger, jealousy and sadness rose within him. Maybe pursuing her had been a huge mistake.

Chapter End Notes:

Hm.... I'm afraid things can't be too easy for these two.... ;)

I hope the chapter was worth the wait. But as you know; I'm a sucker for reviews. Please write me a few lines. *hugs* Ina