Since he’d returned to consciousness, in the worst moments of pain and in the best moments, he’d had an awareness of God.
God was close. And God was real.
He’d wanted to come here today because he couldn’t shake the sense that he was heading for a collision. Again last night, he’d dreamed of the brunette and woken in a cold sweat, terrified. Plus, despite what he was saying to Remy, he knew his health was slipping away from him. He was worse today than yesterday.
Hadn’t he suffered enough? What would he do if this sickness was a chest infection? He’d have to leave for a hospital. This island was not his home, but it was the only place familiar to him.
Most of all, this was Remy’s place.
She was here. Though she was prickly and quirky, she was also the person who reassured him, centered him, and gave him strength. She was his lifeline. He needed to be where she was.
God, he prayed silently, his gaze fixed on the simple altar,I trust you. Will you help me again?
Remy kept butting in on his virtual doctor’s appointment. She hadn’t butted in on his first appointment, days ago. But this time, she’d insisted on being present.
When he tried to downplay his cough, she leaned into his video feed and told the doctor, “The cough is increasing in severity.”
“Whose appointment is this?” Jonah grumbled.
“His fever was ninety-nine this morning,” she announced, “and is still ninety-nine.”
“That’s within the range of normal,” the doctor responded via the computer screen.
“That’s what I said,” Jonah whispered under his breath to Remy.
“However, the cough combined with that temperature is worth watching,” the doctor continued. “Pneumonia can be an issue for patients with fractured ribs.”
“That’s what I said,” Remy whispered under her breath to Jonah.
“If your temperature is higher or the cough is worse tomorrow,” the doctor continued, “you’ll need to come to the hospital for treatment.”
Light pressure slid across Jonah’s forehead the next morning, waking him. It was followed by a soft electronic sound.
He moaned in protest and opened his eyes.
Remy hovered over him, thermometer in hand. “It’s eleven in the morning and you’re still sleeping. Also, your temperature is higher today—one hundred degrees. You’re going to the hospital.”
Disappointment socked him in the stomach.
“I’ll call the airstrip and book you a seat on a flight out.” She started pacing up and down the side of the bed.
What a lousy way to start the day. He pushed onto his elbows, struggling to throw off the confusion of sleep. “Are you coming with me?”
“I don’t have to, no. I can figure out a way to get you from the airport to the hospital—”
“No. Remy.”
She paused.
He put all the force of his will behind his words. “I am not going to the hospital unless you're coming with me.”
It was the truth. He was going nowhere without her.
Nowhere.
ChapterSeven
“I’ve packed some things for you,” Leigh said to Jonah shortly after they’d entered the building next to the airstrip several hours later. She passed over a brown paper sack. “Folgers coffee, some chocolate pudding cups, and a carving I made. I also put a slip of paper in there with my cell phone number on it, in case there’s ever anything I can do for you.”
