“Some of them are holding, but they’re fighting a losing battle,” he said. “People are losing their shit and going wherever they want now—and before you say it, don’t. I’m not leaving. Not yet.”
I wouldn’t waste my time arguing with him. He’d made his stance clear more than once. “Did you talk to your dad or sister before the phones died? Is the Internet down, too?”
“There’s no Wi-Fi,” he confirmed. “Last I heard, Mia was heading to the farm with Ruby. They’re holing up together until all this blows over—however long that takes.”
It could be years. A chill swept over me when I let myself feel the truth. We might never come back from the devastation.
“You’ll be less worried about them knowing they’re all in one place,” I said, coughing into the crook of my elbow.
He nodded thoughtfully, his thumb tracing slow circles over my sock. The silence stretched on as we stared mindlessly at the television, and when he finally spoke again, his voice was softer, more intimate. “When I leave… what are my chances of convincing you to come with me?”
His question had the impact of a physical blow, and I almost shot upright, wondering if I’d heard him correctly. “Me?”
He gave me a sideways glance and a vague smile. “Why so surprised?”
Because his tone may have come off casual, but his question was anything but. He’d invited me into his life—to stay there indefinitely. My skin flooded with heat, and I scrambled for an answer. “I can’t leave,” I said as a thousand thoughts crowded my mind. Travel, sleeping arrangements, what it would mean for us as friends, or more. “You know why.”
Theo went back to watching TV. “That’s not why your face is turning red.”
My stomach dipped, and I draped an arm over my forehead. Going from near death to feeling more alive than I had in a decade left my head spinning. “It’s the fever.”
“Your fever broke overnight,” he said without looking at me.
So calm and composed. Just a harmless conversation with a friend… only it didn’t feel that way at all. My face throbbed, and a reckless feeling sped through me. Not trusting myself to speak, I lay still and waited for my pulse to slow.
He squeezed my foot and smiled a little, keeping his attention on the news. “Why don’t I check in with you again when your sister’s home and you’re feeling better?”
A long breath left me. Theo must have heard the way it trembled because he bit into his lower lip to contain a bigger smile.
My whole body sparked to life with a rush of energy, and I shifted against the cushions, restless and confused. “I don’t know what you’re doing,” I said, unsure if I was frustrated or aroused, “but stop it right now.”
He tipped his head back against the couch and let out a low laugh. “I’m not doing anything.”
The sound of his deep male laughter made my skin prickle. “My defences are down. I’m not equipped to deal with the likes of you.” I let the silence hover for a moment, and as soon as it felt safe to speak again, I said, “When you asked me to leave, you just meant me, right?”
Theo nodded. “Unless the others want to come with us. If they do, we’ll make room.”
I rubbed my hands down my face as fatigue washed over me again. I hadn’t been awake for this long in days. “Laura has a sister with some type of farm set-up. Horses, I think. She was considering going there.”
Theo trailed his fingertips along the top of my foot. “What about Tim and Varesh?”
We hadn’t talked about where they’d go—or if they’d leave at all. Varesh’s entire family lived in India. Tim’s loved ones were thousands of kilometres away in Queensland. “They might come with us, but like I said, I’m stuck here indefinitely.”
I wouldn’t go anywhere until I had confirmation Ava was safe, which meant seeing her with my own eyes.
“I’ll wait a few more days.”
I coughed again as tiredness came for me. “You could always leave me directions to your dad’s farm, and I’ll follow once Ava gets back.”
It wasn’t the craziest idea. My car was undriveable, but I could easily take one of the vehicles left behind by a resident who’d passed.
Theo watched me struggle with exhaustion, running his palm up and down my shin. “You’re tired," he said. "We’ll talk more later.”
I let out a heavy sigh. Just a few hours, and I'd feel stronger. “Okay. I’ll take a short nap.”
Theo patted the top of my foot and slipped out from under my legs. “See you soon.”
As sleep took hold of me, my last thoughts were of the challenges Ava might encounter on her way home… and the intensity in Theo’s eyes promising a different type of danger.
