Building Up to Love Read Online Free

place as Travis and Laura both stared at the piece of floor plank protruding from Travis’s calf.
    “Don’t make another move. I’ll call-9-1-1.” Laura reached into her pocket and gave him a doomed look. “Crap. I left my phone on my desk. Tell me you brought your phone.”
    “Yeah, hold on.” Travis fished into his front pants pocket and pulled out his phone. The screen was shattered. He pushed the power button…nothing happened. “You gotta be kidding me.”
    “What?”
    “It broke in the fall.”
    “So, now what do we do? It’s Friday night. I don’t expect anyone back here until Monday morning. Will your grandparents worry about you?”
    “No. I come and go at all hours. They have no clue what my schedule is.”
    “You lay still. I’ll go find the way out,” Laura said. “Any chance you have anything to use for light? It seems to be getting darker by the minute.”
    Slowly, Travis reached down to the side pocket on his work pants. He pulled out a tiny flashlight. “I hope this didn’t break too.” He pushed a button and a small beam of light appeared. “I know it’s not much. It’s my backup. I left the other flashlight up on my workbench.”
    Travis held Laura’s hand tight as she reached for the flashlight. “Please, be careful. Don’t move anything, and I mean anything. Things could shift and give way.”

    * * * *

    “Scout’s honor.” Laura took the light and cautiously stepped away from him. As she moved farther away from the opening, the darkness wrapped tighter around her. She shone the tiny beam down at her feet to make sure there were no obstacles in her way and then bring it up in front of her. A door came into view and she hurried to it. She turned the knob and pushed. Nothing happened. She remembered Travis’s warning and decided not to try the door a second time. She turned in a slow circle and saw no stairs or other ways to get out. She headed back to Travis.
    “There’s a door back there, but I can’t get it open. I tried, but it’s stuck. I didn’t keep trying because of my promise. I didn’t see any other way out. It’s really dark back there. I think we will have to wait until the morning to do further investigation. We need to get your leg wrapped.”
    “I hate to say this, but you need to pull the piece of wood out.”
    “No. It will bleed,” Laura said.
    “Yes, it will. But the longer the old wood stays in my leg the more likely I will get an infection. Besides, I can’t help you find a way out of here with a piece of wood hanging out of my leg. It’s in the meaty part of my calf; you should be able to pull it out without the risk of an arterial bleed.”

    * * * *
    Laura stared at him for awhile. He could see she was weighing the options. She pulled off the flannel shirt she had thrown on before they started down to the basement. She knelt down next to his calf, took a good long look at it and looked back at him. He nodded. She focused on the wood and wrapped both hands around it. When she placed her hands on the wood, his leg started bleeding once again.
    “Shit!” Sweat covered his brows, but he stayed put.
    “We need to leave it in. I know you want it out, but it’s too dangerous.” She gingerly, yet quickly wrapped the shirt around his calf, leaving the piece of wood framed by flannel.
    “I’m sorry,” Laura said.
    “For what?” Travis asked, through panted breaths and gritted teeth.
    “For causing you so much pain.”
    “Don’t be silly. If you weren’t here I would have yanked the damn thing out and probably bled to death. It’s getting dark. There’s nothing left to be done tonight. Let’s sleep a bit. We can tackle this predicament in the morning. Come on up here.” He motioned with his open arm. She gawked at him. “I’m the only warm, soft spot you are going to find tonight. Take it, or leave it.” Laura shuffled back up and hesitantly snuggled into Travis’s side.
    Travis woke and found Laura wrapped around him. She was