Hypothermia

---Aaron---

I heard Katherine before I saw her. "Aaron! Indigo! Where are you guys? Are you two alright?" Her voice drifted closer. "Aaron! Indigo!"

"Kath! I'm here!" I shouted, trying to move faster through the snow. Soon, I collided with Katherine.

"Aaron! What's wrong? We heard your three tugs—what happened?" Katherine's eyes searched me up and down for any wounds. "Is Indigo behind you? Is she alright?"

"Indigo disappeared; I think Lord Victor kidnapped her!" I blurted out. Katherine's eyes widened with shock and fear. "I-I don't know what happened—we were walking fine, and then there was a huge wind, and I fell, and then—"

My words stumbled over each other. I felt the panic, which I had tried so hard to suppress, rise up again. I was shaking all over. Katherine placed her hands on my shoulders. "Aaron, calm down. It's okay. You're safe now. It'll be alright. Take a deep breath…yes, good…take another one…"

I hadn't realized I was hyperventilating. My breaths came out in white puffs in the cold air. Katherine gripped my shoulders hard. "Let's go inside the cave and get you warmed up. Your lips are purple." I nodded, feeling the numbness in my limbs more clearly. I stumbled after Katherine back into our cave.

The warmth of the cave made me feel how cold I was. I was shaking uncontrollably. My coat was wet with snow. "Medic? Where's the medic?" Katherine was barking orders. "Aaron is possibly in the first or second stage of hypothermia, he needs immediate treatment!"

My clothes were peeled off; new, warmed clothing were put on. The next thing I knew, I was sitting on several blankets in front of a large fire, wrapped in Augustus's cloak. Despite the warmth, I was still shivering. Katherine hovered around me, noticeably worried.

"Aaron, how are you feeling? Can you feel your fingers and toes?" She asked, reaching out to hold my hand. Her hand was significantly warmer than mine. Blue sparks danced around her hand and surrounded mine, but I didn't feel any improvement. Perhaps Katherine's healing powers were only limited to weapon wounds.

"Kind of." I mumbled. My brain had shut down after seeing Katherine, as if knowing that I didn't have to push on anymore. Katherine frowned worriedly. She sat with me, holding my cold hands in hers, and tried to channel her healing powers into me. After a while, when my hands weren't so deathly cold anymore, she suddenly remembered something.

"Aaron, did you notify Lionel and the others of what happened? Did you pull on the rope for them as well?"

I shook my head no. Katherine's frown deepened. "Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…" She got up to pace around the fire. "I gotta let them know. Lionel's probably worried sick, knowing how much he cares about Indigo. Oh, poor Lionel…" She walked over to the rope line and gave it three hard tugs. Moments later, the bell attached to the end of the rope jangled twice, signifying that the other end had received our message.

"I need to go over to Lionel and the others. We need to talk about this." Katherine was talking to herself. I watched as she gave instructions to three of Lionel's officers who were in this cave, telling them to keep things in order and to watch over me.

"I'll need one person to accompany me, in case I go missing as well." Katherine said solemnly. "Any volunteers?"

"I'll go." I said, trying not to sound weak. Katherine looked at me like I was stupid.

"Aaron, you're staying here. You have hypothermia from your trip out; there's no way I'm letting you go out again."

"But I'm the only one who made the trip there and back, I know where to go." I argued.

"All I need to do is follow the rope; it's not that hard." Katherine turned away from me and began to layer on her coats. I scrambled to my feet.

"You don't know where the entrance is though. Indigo and I had to look for it for a long time. Lionel made their cave nearly impossible to find." I needed to persuade Katherine. "You could get lost even with the rope line set up."

"Aaron, it's fine. I'll be fine. You need to worry about getting warmed up so we don't have to amputate an arm and a leg." Katherine tied her scarf around her, pulled up her hood, and put on her gloves. Her tone was very firm and left no room for argument.

"Kath, please, just let me go with you."

"No, Aaron. You're staying here." Katherine turned away to leave.

"I'm coming with you whether you want me to or not." I started to put on my boots and coat again, which were drying by the fire.

Katherine spun around. "Aaron! Stop being so stubborn—you're going to die out there if you go now!" She pointed a finger at the snowstorm outside. "You're still recovering from a mild case of hypothermia. We already lost Indigo. I can't lose you too!"

The cave's murmurs died as everyone looked in our direction. I stared at Kath. Besides that night at Josephine's, this was the only time she had ever raised her voice at me. But this was the first time I've ever seen her so angry, so determined, so…worried.

"Kath…" I looked at her with a soft gaze. "For all we know, Lord Victor could be still out there. You can't fight him alone, Kath. You know the Rosewood Seven is strongest when we are together. So please, Kath, let me go with you." I paused, then added, "I don't want to lose you either."

Katherine's gaze bore into me, and I saw the emotions surge through her eyes. I held her gaze, pleading. After a tense minute of silence, Katherine let out a defeated sigh. "Fine. Come along, then, if you want to so much."

Yes! I made a victory punch as Katherine turned away. I hurried after her, tying Augustus's cloak around me. "Take care of things here!" I called out to Lionel's officers, who saluted me.

"Aaron, if you get lost, get hurt, or freeze to death out here, I'm not going to help you." Katherine was clearly mad that I was tagging along. "If Lord Victor swoops in to kidnap you, I will stand by and watch."

I bumped her shoulder with mine. "You say that now, but you know you're going to push me out of the way at the first sign of danger."

Katherine's muttered response was lost in the wind as we headed toward Lionel's cave in the swirling snowstorm.