Three fuckingmountains.
But we make it. And I gasp into Rafe’s ear. “If you die on me after I’ve dragged you all this way, I willneverforgive you.”
I nearly drop him onto the mattress, but I lower him down carefully, my arms shaking, weak and numb. My body folds and I collapse down beside him, sucking oxygen into my lungs.
One minute. Just one, just to catch my breath.
And then I crawl over to Kit, pressing my cheek against his chest. His breathing rattles, but it’s there. Ellen next, herbreathing a little better than it was, even as her temperature still rages.
And then I crawl over to Silas. “Silas?”
His eyelids flicker, and I lift myself enough to get some water, spooning it carefully into his mouth.
“I need you here,” I choke out around the lump in my throat. “Everyone is sick, Silas. And I don’t know what I’mdoing.”
A rasping breath is my only reply.
I can’t lose them. I won’t.
I try to use his phone to call someone, anyone, but I can’t even get through the locked screen. All I can do is pray.
I move between them, giving water and cool presses and talking to them quietly. I’m next to Kit when there’s a shout. My head jerks up.
Rafe.
He’s thrashing against the mattress, soaked with sweat when I reach him. My hands press into his shoulders. He cries out again, twisting violently.
“You’re okay,” I breathe, even as it feels like my heart snaps inside my chest. Because he’s crying, tears rolling from his sunken eyes. “Rafe. It’s Stasi. You’re going to be okay. This is going to pass soon.”
It feels like a lie. But he settles as I coax him back down, taking a little water from me before he starts to twist again.
“Stasi.” My head jerks up from his chest. “Stasi.”
“I’m here.” Frantically, I run my hands over him. Checking his eyes. But he’s not aware of me, even as he mutters my name again. “I’m right here, Rafe.”
“’M sorry.”
I blink. But he says it again. And then again.
My name and an apology. Over and over again. The tears stream down my face unchecked as I wipe his away, taking hishand and squeezing it. “Tell me when you’re awake, Rafe. Wake up and tell me.”
But he doesn’t wake up.
None of them wake up.
Not for a long time.
39 – Silas
My chest feels like it’s on fire. But as I cough, trying to clear the itching from my throat, my eyes open. The ceiling swims into view, white whirls of plaster that don’t look familiar.
Frowning, I twist my head to the side. I’m laying on a mattress. Kit is next to me, his breathing steady. And when I struggle up, I see Rafe. Stasi is curled up next to him, sleeping, her head on his chest. Ellen is asleep in the final bed.
And the memories return in a slow creep, my head foggy as hell. I don’t know how long I’ve been out. I reach slowly for my phone, but the battery is dead.
There’s a glass of water next to me, and I drink it down almost in one. It tastes a little stagnant.
“Kit,” I croak. His eyes slowly creak open, and I breathe a sigh of relief. “You hear me?”
