The Great Divide

Victoria staggered to her feet coughing as she breathed in the heavy fumes.
She felt dizziness  overwhelm her and the corners of her vision turn black
but she fought it with all her strength.  She kicked open the twisted door
and fell face first into the snow.

*Ahh... that feels good*  she thought.

Pulling herself up she found her footing and ran through the knee deep snow
until the explosion knocked her back into the snow.  For a moment she just
lay there gasping for air as the heat from the fire burned her face.  She
looked down at her body relieved to find all her arms and legs were there.
Even though the light coat she wore held little warmth her body was to numb
to feel the cold.  She tried to get to her feet but found that her legs were
shaking to violently to stand.  She felt a sob like hysterical laughter tear
from her mouth as the impact of what had just happened washed over her.
Every emotion she had ever felt came at once:  relief,  joy,  terror,  and
panic.

"I've got to get out of here before they find me" She said out loud,
clinging to the sound of her voice.   She forced herself to stand and began
walking away from the wreck.

Victoria didn't know how far she had been walking or for how long but she
did know it was cold.  She couldn't remember what her feet felt like anymore
and her hands tingled painfully.   The frigid air burned her lungs no matter 
how many layers she put on her mouth and nose,  and it was getting colder. 
A biting wind had picked up and snow was falling like sheets.  

Victoria stumbled and fell into the ever deepening snow.  Her legs cramped
and she rolled onto her side bringing her legs to her stomach trying to ease
the pain.  

"This is it,"  she thought,  "I didn't think I would die like this."  Her
mind was too thick to feel any sadness.  Blackness took her vision and for a
terrifying moment she felt warm all over.  In that wonderful oblivion she
heard poem she had learnt in high school tumble lazily though her mind.  She
clung to that poem as time stood still.

Victoria felt herself being lifted and she open her eyes trying to see who
the lifter was,  but all she could make out was a great white blur.  Since
her body wasn't with her yet she allowed herself to be carried.  She knew it
was a man because of the voice;  soft and deep.  Her mind was having
problems sorting out what he was saying and in the end she gave up trying to
understand him and just listened to his voice.  

He put her down and she felt a warm and comforting weight settle over her
body.  For the first time in what seemed like days,   the shaking stopped.
The voice was talking to her again;  asking her a question.  She opened her
eyes wanting to see his face but she had trouble focusing on it.  He asked
the question again and this time some of it got though.

"What.....name...,....mine....Benton Fraser."
*Name.  He is asking for my name.*

It took awhile for her to remember but she opened her mouth and pushed out
the word,  "Victoria".

"Victoria"  he repeated after her .

She nodded slowly.  He had said his name was Benton.  Her sight was
returning and she was finally able to make out his face.  He was very
handsome with striking blue eyes.  She felt herself drifting off again ,
she was so sleepy........

"No!"  Ben said forcefully,  "Victoria stay with me,  talk to me."

The only thing that came to mind was that poem so she began reciting it
slowly methodically,  hearing her dry voice crack as she pushed the words
out of her mouth. She felt his gloved hands touch her face.

"That's lovely"  he said gently pushing her long hair out of her face,  "Say
it again." 

She recited that poem for hours until her voice has to hoarse to speak.  All
the while Ben was stroking her face, and trying to warm her freezing fingers.

"Your turn." she said.

He told her about his job and his mother's death and his father's withdrawal
after it.  He told her about his grandmother's library and the time he had
been hit with a sea otter. She smiled at that story visualizing him as a 
young boy with an otter stuck to him.  She felt like she had known him 
forever;  he seemed so real to her,  so alive.

She reached up and touched his cheek loving the feel of his cold skin.
Gently she moved her hand to the back of his head and pulled his face down
so that their lips touched.  The kiss began gently but soon gentleness
wasn't enough.  She pressed against him feeling him move against her.  The
heat of their desire,  for a wonderful moment,  took the cold away.


THE END