‘This is all I have. Until the day warms up a bit more. How are you feeling?’
‘Not sure. What if I’m sick again?’
‘Let’s hope you’re not. But you must drink. I don’t want you to dehydrate.’
He touched her skin, her forehead and the back of her neck. ‘You’re sweating a lot.’
‘My head hurts.’
‘Let’s hope she gets here soon.’
‘But what can she do?’
‘She knows everything there is to know about the desert and what it can do to us.’
‘Will she be able to fix me?’
‘Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. Now lie still.’ Although he had spoken in soothing tones, Eliza could see the worry in his eyes. She let out her breath slowly and lay still.
She was only vaguely aware of the passage of time. Minutes seemed like hours, and hours went by in a flash.
Sometimes he asked her how she was and sometimes she asked him what he was thinking. But neither of them were telling the truth, she thought. He said everything would be fine but his eyes gave him away. She said she was feeling better even though she was not. When she was completely lucid she remembered they had not spoken of what would happen after the rains.
While she muttered about rain, Jay looked increasingly worried, pacing around the tent when he wasn’t sitting by her side, but eventually she heard the sound of a motorbike and raised voices. Soon after that the old lady came in, walking with the aid of a stick. The first thing she did was to look at the site of the bite and frown.
‘Two small red dots,’ she said clearly so that Eliza might understand. ‘Black widow spider.’
Jay visibly relaxed, letting out a long slow breath. ‘I thought it might be.’
‘You did well to keep her still. We do not wish the venom to flow further into her blood.’
‘So I can’t move her?’
‘Not today. But you need to keep her cool. Only young children and the very old die from this.’
‘But she has had a severe reaction?’
‘Yes, just like you, my boy. Only when you were very small I gave you a herbal remedy. A remedy that I do not have here today. It may not be pleasant for her but she will survive.’
He nodded.
‘Fan her, apply cool wet cloths to her skin – back of her neck, chest and face – and add a little salt to her water.’
‘Strange that it should have happened to her too,’ he said, as he accompanied the old lady to the door.
‘You love this woman?’ Eliza heard her ask, but she didn’t hear Jay’s reply.
A few minutes later Jay came back in, smiling broadly. ‘So we stay put for today and if you feel better we’ll go back in the morning.’
‘How was she?’
‘Much thinner and a lot frailer.’
‘I feel awful making her come all this way.’
‘Don’t worry. She was happy to come. Now please drink. We have to avoid heat exhaustion.’
Eliza nodded. She could feel the day heating up and knew the temperatures could be stifling.
