Jack Beale 00 - Killer Run

in no condition to move.” He began to peel off his jacket to give to her.
    “No. Help me up. I can make it back.” With that she grabbed his arm and began to pull herself up, nearly pulling him down on top of her.
    He regained his balance as her grip slipped and she sat down hard. “Sylvie. Wait a minute. This is a bad idea.”
    “I don’t care. Help me up.”
    He stood looking down at her and could see that she was not giving him a choice.
    “Fine, but you know this is a bad idea.”
    “Shut up.”
    He shrugged. Then, first standing in front of her, he leaned over her and said, “Okay. You’re going to put your arms around my neck so we can get your good leg in a better position for you to stand. I’ll help you.”
    She nodded yes. It must have looked pretty strange to others as they ran by to see this couple entwined like that. He was surprised at how solid she was, and when she pulled up to reposition her good leg, her strength surprised him as she nearly pulled him over again. He had to lean back against her weight and wrap his arms around her, and then with the combination of their efforts and some leverage he was able to pull her up until she was standing.
    Her arms remained around his neck and his encircled her waist while their faces stopped inches apart. They each looked directly into the other’s eyes for what was probably a split second, but it felt like forever. Her eyes, the most amazing shade of blue he had ever seen, were incredibly sexy, and he was mesmerized.
    “Thanks,” she said, breaking the spell as she quickly pulled her arms from around him and looked away. He did the same and took a half step back. She was balancing on her good foot but had to steady herself by holding onto his shoulder.
    “This is a dumb idea,” said Jack.
    “No, it’s not. If you will help me a little, I’ll be able to hop down to the finish area and I’ll be fine.
    It was slow hopping because of the rocky terrain, but with arms around each other, they finally made it to smoother ground. Once there, their pace increased.
    “You know, if this were a three-legged race, I think we’d win,” she said, trying hard to make light of the situation. Still, Jack could tell she was in some serious pain.
    That was when a pickup truck came up the road toward them. “The cavalry has arrived,” said Jack.
    By the time the truck had returned them to the start/finish area, both Jack and Sylvie were shivering. Jack stayed with her as an aide ushered them into the warm school, where a waiting EMT promptly looked at her now-swollen ankle. Immobilized and packed in ice, Sylvie braced herself for a trip to the hospital.
    “Sorry, Jack,” she said.
    “For what?”
    “For ruining your day. You were having such a good run.”
    “I’m fine. It’s you whose day is ruined. Let me know how things turn out. Maybe we can do this again next year.”
    “Thanks.”
    Jack watched as the EMTs began to wheel her out to the waiting ambulance. As the doors closed, he headed out for something to eat before continuing his run. He was going to miss running with her.
    “Jack!” When he turned, he saw one of the race organizers walking toward him. “Jack, you’re going to go on?”
    Swallowing the chocolate chip cookie he was chewing on, he said, “Yes, in a minute.”
    “Okay. We’re going to give you a thirty-minute allowance for what you did in helping her.”
    This surprised him. “You don’t have to do that.”
    “No, we do.” Then before Jack could say anything else, he said, “Have a good run. See you at the finish.” And he walked off.
    “Cool,” said Jack with another mouthful of cookie.

CHAPTER 49
    JACK WALKED UP THAT FIRST HILL where the road became trail. He wasn’t the only one. There was still a long way to go, the adrenaline rush of dealing with Sylvie was wearing off, and he could feel the trails in his legs. He wondered how far ahead Dave and Christos were. They certainly didn’t know about Sylvie.
    As he neared the top of the hill, two runners flew past him. He quickly did the math and realized that they had to be running the 50-mile event. They must be on their third loop. “ How the hell do they do that? ” he wondered to himself. All he could do was shake his head and start running again.
    Ahead he could see a number of runners strung out single file, but because of all the twists and turns, it was impossible to tell how far ahead they were. At one sharp turn he glanced back and couldn’t see