When Annie finally roused, she realized that it was nighttime, that she was on land, that a fire was blazing very near to her keeping her warm ... and that she was lying in the arms of King, who was nearly naked and trembling from the cold. As she rolled to face him, he awoke, too, looking into her eyes as she asked, "[i]What the hell?[/i]"

It didn't take a genius to understand generally what had happened: her head told her that she'd been injured after entering the water; her presence here in King's arms said that he'd saved her from drowning; and ever the gentleman, he'd traded his dried clothes for her and risked freezing to death if she hadn't awoken in time to tend to him.

Annie checked her own clothes as they hung over the fire, finding them dry enough to don again. She stripped out of King's clothes until she was standing before him naked, silhouetted by the dancing flames of the fire. She slipped into her clothes, then helped King back into his own, chastising, "You could have died, you silly goose."

She tossed some more of the flammable items stacked nearby onto the fire, then returned to King's embrace. This time, of course, she was able to wrap her own arms around him to help pull them close together. She asked, "Did you see my father...? Did they continue onward around Black Rock...? Is our boat sunk?" 
  
She couldn't know about her father, but she was pretty sure that the boat had been lost. As she listened to King's responses, Annie smiled, delighted to be in the man's arms, even if it did take nearly dying to lead here.