“Let me see your friend.”
I take him back and show him the wound. Eddie takes a deep breath through his teeth.
“All right, grab your things and help me get him in the back of the truck. Leave the bikes for now, we’ll come back for them.”
I do as he says and put my hands under Jamie’s armpits. He’s burning up. He groans as Eddie lifts his legs and I take his torso.
“Holly’s sister’s home from the war,” Jamie mutters.
“What’s that?” Eddie asks through a grunt as he moves to the truck.
“He’s delirious.” Jamie told me about sepsis when the fever started. Fever, rapid heartbeat and breath. Delirium came next, then organfailure and death. “We need to get him antibiotics fast. Please tell me you have them.” He doesn’t answer, which makes me nervous. The driver runs past us and locks the gate back up.
The truck’s tailgate is down. Cara sets out the blanket and we put Jamie on it, then Cara and I jump in. The driver does a quick three-point turn and we’re speeding back the way he came.
I look down to see Jamie’s eyes staring up at me. “Holly wants us to come home,” he says. “I miss her.”
“Me too,” I say. I have no idea who Holly is. “You just have to stay with me and we’ll go see her.”
“I want to do that.”
“You’ll be okay and we’ll go see Holly, right?”
Jamie whimpers something and closes his eyes.
“Jamie!” I shout. I put my hands to his hot neck. I can’t feel a pulse because the truck is bouncing too much. “Jamie, please.”
He doesn’t answer me. He doesn’t open his eyes.
Jamison
WE NEVER SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE CABIN.It’s the only thought I have between dreamless sleeps. By the time I open my eyes, it feels like I’ve been asleep for years. Fort Caroline caught up with us. But if that were true, they wouldn’t be keeping me alive. They should have killed us by now. The early morning sun filters through a window to my right. The lights above me are off. The room smells like alcohol, antiseptic, and bleach.
Andrew is there.
He’s in a chair to my left, curled up, his knees to his chest and his head lolling to the side. That can’t be comfortable. His arm is out toward me, his hand grasping mine. I squeeze lightly and he stirs before turning his head and letting out a snore.
My heart rushes and I let out a shaky breath. I glance around. We’re in a hospital room with a drop ceiling and linoleum floor. There’s a small bandage taped over the crook of my elbow. I pull down the blanket that’s tucked up to my chest. I’m wearing a hospital gown and there’s a new bandage where I was shot. I pull it aside andlook at the wound. It’s pink and puckered and the stitches have been cut out, but the pus and redness have gone away. I prod it with my free hand. There’s glue keeping the skin together instead of stitches.
The hospital door creaks open.
Cara.
Her eyes go wide, then she looks away. “You’re awake.”
“I’malive.” It’s a surprise to me, so I can only imagine it must be to her. “Where are we?”
“South of Key Largo.”
Key Largo. Only a little farther to Islamorada. What? Thirty, forty minutes? Twenty if there’s no traffic. That makes me chuckle.
“How long have we been here?”
“Four days. They gave you broad-spectrum antibiotics and fluids and you started to get better, but the pain meds kept you knocked out. How are you feeling?”
“I’m feeling amazing.” I really am. My side is sore as hell and it feels like I did eighty-five million crunches in three minutes, and I’mstarving, but I’m alive.
Andrew is still asleep. He can sleep through anything, can’t he?
