After they hand out the lunches, we sit and eat. It’s a healthy lunch of veggies and chicken. The waves roll into shore like a soothing song, and the sun is high in the sky and beating down on us. After lunch, drinks in hand, we walk into the ocean. The water is cooling our bodies and washing off all the mud collected from the tour.
“Geez, we have had little time to chat, but this excursion was well worth it,” Kendall says as we relax in the water.
“Do we have a plan for later?” Addison asks.
“We should totally eat dinner and chill by the pool,” Lane says, and I nod in agreement.
With sad puppy eyes, Kendall says, “Party poopers! Let’s go to the sister resort and watch the dance show!”
“Maybe if I take a nap in my air-conditioned room. I’m not sure why, but my body feels hot and exhausted,” I say as I dunk my head under the water. When I pop up, the breeze delicately touches my skin as I swing my hair back.
Addison splashes me. “It’s still early. There’s plenty of time.”
We are finally pulling into the resort after a day filled with exploring and having fun. We made so many memories today, and I’m so grateful we did it. As we take the steps off the bus, a blast of hot air hits us. My head was throbbing on the bus, but now, it’s worse as we walk into the lobby.
“I’m going to my room and take some ibuprofen. I’ll meet you at the pool,” I say as I make my way to the hotel room. I dig into my bag for water and take a few sips.
The walk back to the room is awful. When I swing open the door and feel the air conditioning, I drop my bag and head to the bathroom to take a cool shower. First, I need to grab some meds for this headache. After finding the pills, I take them down with one quick swig of water. My body is on fire. I look in the mirror to confirm it isn’t a sunburn.
Nope.
I walk to the bathroom, removing my clothes as I go. The shower is cool on my feverish body, and I run my fingers through my hair, massaging my scalp in hopes it eases my headache. The dizziness comes out of nowhere, and I slide on the shower floor, hoping it will subside if I sit down and wait it out.
TWENTY-TWO
FAITH
Heat exhaustion? This is unreal. Ugh.
I finally move from the shower floor and shut off the water. Something was up earlier, but I thought I was just hot and tired from all the sun. Now, as I take in all my symptoms, I know it’s heat exhaustion. It’s the worst. Thankfully, I don’t feel nauseous at the moment, so I shuffle through the room to grab clean clothes and quickly put them on. The electrolyte packets I keep on my nightstand will come in handy right now. Ugh, I only have a half a bottle of water. I’ll make do with this for now. With a few shakes, I drink the rest of the bottle.
I find my bag and take out my phone. This isn’t my phone; it’s Kendall’s. How did we swap phones? I call my phone, hoping she answers.
“Faith?” Kendall says, clearly confused.
“You have my phone,” I say wearily.
“You okay?”
“No, can you bring me a whole bunch of water bottles? I’m pretty sure I have heat exhaustion.” I snuggle up into bed with the phone to my ear.
“Of course. Do you need anything else?” she asks. I hear her whispering to the others about what’s going on.
“No, water is all I need. Thanks.”
“On it,” she says and hangs up.
My nerves settle down, knowing she’s on her way. I throw the phone on the bed, not moving an inch until I hear a knock at the door. I gingerly rise and open the door, thinking it’s Kendall with waters and my phone. Instead, I’m staring into Jude’s amber eyes and his arms filled with bottles of water.
He gives me my phone as his hand grazes over mine. The needles pricking my hands tell me all I need to know. Still, I’m uneasy knowing I’m a sweaty mess. I didn’t brush my hair after getting out of the shower; it probably looks like a rat’s nest.
“Kendall said it was okay to bring these to you,” he finally says as we stare at each other.
She is so unpredictable. Why would she send him? I’m not feeling well and look like this. Ugh!
“I bet she did,” I say, suppressing an eye roll.
“Can I come in?”
