My heart sinks. “I… no… we weren’t talking about that…” I say desperately.
Victoria’s eyes widen as she realizes her mistake.
Theo turns to me. “What’s she talking about?”
Ooops,Victoria mouths over Theo’s shoulder as she backs away from us.
“Hey.” Theo steps close to me. “What’s wrong?”
“I found Victoria’s bag and let it sink on purpose,” I say in one rushed breath.
His gaze clouds as he steps away from me. “What the fuck?”
“I didn’t know about the insulin, but I knew the bag was hers. I found it and brought it to shore, but then she made a joke about sharks attacking me, so I let it sink. If she—” My voice breaks off, and I can’t bring myself to say the word. “If anything happens to her, it’s my fault.”
He shakes his head. “You told Victoria about this?”
I nod, and his face falls.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know how.” I can barely push the words past the lump in my throat.
Theo rakes his hands through his hair, looking dazed. I step toward him, but he holds out his hand. “Please,” he says. “I just need a minute to think.” The flash of betrayal in his expression makes one thing crystal clear: he will never look at me the same way again.
I press my lips together as tears burn behind my eyes. “I’ll find a way to fix this. I’ll figure it out. I can do this,” I promise as I back away from him. When my feet hit cold water, I turn and run.
“Wren—wait,” he calls.
Don’t follow me,I think, but I’m still devastated when he doesn’t.
I run along the shore until my lungs give out, and then I walk until the sandy beach turns into volcanic rock. The rocks form a shallow tidepool, and I step over them and into the water. I shiver; this is the opposite of a hot spring, and I hate it. I pretend I’m in an ice bath, which is another thing health nuts do in the name of wellness;Gwyneth Paltrow has definitely done a cold plunge,I think.I sink until the water hits my belly button, and I know immediately that this isn’t wellness. I feel violentlyunwell.My teeth chatter and my body spasms while I try to think of a way out of this.
I need a new plan, and this one has to be something I can do on my own. I don’t have Naomi or Brooke or Theo to help me anymore.
I squint through the dark, and at first, my frozen mind has trouble separating the black sky from the black water, but then I blink, and a shape emerges that’s just a little bit blacker than the skyorthe water. I move toward it until I hit the volcanic rock barrier.
I squint harder, and it’s small, but it’s there. A big black blob in the middle of the horizon.
Land?
If rescue isn’t coming for us, we’ll have to get it ourselves. We need to find another island or a passing ship. Either way, we need to leave this island.
I’ve never felt as alone as when I finally drag myself out ofthe cold tidepool and up to where rocky sand meets the trees. I gather fallen shoots of bamboo and slowly pull them from the trees. My muscles are burning and my fingers blistered by the time I move on to gathering vines. The temperature must have dropped, because my feet are dry and I’m somehow colder than I was in the ice bath, and dizzy, too.
I can’t remember the last time I drank water. My legs give out as I drop a heavy vine next to my collection of bamboo. I wrap it around the bamboo and tie it off. It’s not going to win any awards, but I’m on the right track. I decide to take a five-minute rest, and then I’ll get back to working on my raft.
Just five minutes.That’s all I need, and then I’ll be good as new.
I’m almost there.
I can do this.
I curl up on my side and close my eyes.
CHAPTER29
I dream I’m floating.
