“Definitely,” he said as he tapped on his phone, pushing herself a few steps away. “You’re hot. I don’t want you that close to me.”
“Sorry,” she said with a shake of her head. “Great to know if I’m sick, you’ll be there for me.”
“Sorry…in the middle of a jungle, I really don’t want a small space heater pressed against me.”
She chuckled weakly, bypassing the tree she’d marked earlier and selecting another to make the trip seem more manageable.
“Text sent. Now, we’ll just wait for him to respond.” Kyle shoved his phone into his pocket. “It’s kind of nice to have signal here thanks to Alex’s satellite following us.”
She glanced at the sky, hoping Alex’s satellite wasn’t the only one following them. She hoped Alex was keeping track of her movements, using her phone’s location to keep his hope alive.
“If this GPS wasn’t sucking my battery down, we could have just stayed on the phone with him,” Ava lamented.
“He’s okay, Ava. You have to believe that.”
“Then why isn’t Shadow answering?” Ava slapped her thighs, her frustration building. “You’d think this would be a simple two words or something.”
She heaved a sigh, her worry growing with each passing second as they continued toward the facility.
“How far are we?” Kyle asked, wiping at his glistening forehead.
“Too far,” she answered as she stumbled a step before she doubled over.
“Ava?” Kyle raced to her, placing a hand on her back as he leaned forward to check her pulse. “Okay, your heart’s racing. This is way too hard on your body. We need to stop.”
“No,” she said as she straightened, flipping her hair back as it clung to her sweaty face. Her clothes clung to her body even though she’d long since shed the hoodie.
She glanced down at the sweat staining her tank top, wanting to collapse to her knees and curl into a ball.
“Ava…”
“I said no,” she answered, heat in her voice as annoyance roiled inside of her. “We have to keep going.”
Kyle’s jaw flexed as he shook his head. “I’m not okay with this.”
“Check your phone again. Please tell me Shadow answered.”
Kyle dug the phone from his pocket, his features going taut before he shook his head. “Maybe he’s busy with the hospital staff. They may be overwhelmed. It doesn’t mean anything’s happening with Alex.”
With slumped shoulders, Ava pushed herself to continue forward, mindful of how she placed her feet so she didn’t stumble again. Her skin burned to the touch, but she was on the verge of shivering despite the heat.
She untied the hoodie from her hips and shrugged it on.
“Ohh, how can you do that?”
“I’m feverish, so I’m actually freezing,” she shot back.
Kyle’s phone chimed, and Ava came to a stop, her stomach clenching. “Was that Shadow? What did he say?”
With her heart thudding hard against her ribs, she waited as Kyle pulled his phone from his pocket. He licked his lips, flicking his gaze up to her. “It wasn’t him.”
“You’re lying,” she answered. “Let me see the phone.”
“No,” he said, shoving the phone into his pocket before he grabbed her elbow. “Come on before you collapse.”
She pulled her arm away from him with a vehement shake of her head. “No. I want to see that phone. You’re not telling me the truth.”
“Ava, let’s just keep going, okay?” He reached for her again, and she danced away from him.
