“But you fed him, right? And the others outside? If you don’t feed ‘em they’ll eat us.”
She isn’t understanding the gravity of this situation. The more she sits there and smiles at him like he’s making some sort of joke, the more worried he becomes. Doesn’t she know this could be life or death? They have no room to fuck it up.
“I fed them,” she says, her lips pursed in amusement. “And I can’t wait until you’re better to tell you all about this conversation.”
“Okay, good. Good.” He takes hold of her hand and pulls her closer, whispering a warning. “It’s important. The truce could be broken if they don’t eat.”
“They’ve eaten all their snacks. The truce still holds.”
“Did you push the button too?”
She pauses, brows creasing until realization hits. “Oh, oh, okay. I think you’re blending parts of your life with something you saw on TV. It was a good one, I’ll give you that. Remember those two full series I told you I watched? That was one of them.”
“If you’re not gonna push it, I will.” He moves to get up and do it himself, but she guides him back into bed.
“I pushed the button.”
He’s so fucking weak it’s easy for her to keep him flat on his back. Her touch is gentle, but he feels out of control and confused. So tired he can hardly think straight and so hot he may as well be bathing in lava.
He narrows his eyes. “Are you fucking with me?”
“Never. I took care of everything, I promise.”
She promised, and she’s not a liar, so it must be okay. He relaxes again with an exhale, patting her on the thigh like they’re familiar enough for that when part of him whispers they aren’t, even if he can’t remember why not. “You do that, don’t you? Take care of things. I’m so lucky you’re here.”
“You might think differently later,” she sighs.
“I won’t. You need to go look for Emma, can’t stay here with me,” he mumbles, some of the fog lifting long enough for his words to be lucid and relevant.
“We’ll look together when you’re better.”
“Wasting time on me. Every second matters.”
“It’s not a waste. This is where I need to be right now. I can’t lose you.”
No one ever gave a shit about losing him. He didn’t know how badly he wished someone would until she was sitting here beside him.
“You won’t,” he replies.
“Good. Because we still have a trip to take, don’t forget. I’ve decided I’m holding you to it. We need to see those mountains, and I’ll even get in the hot tub, despite it sounding very unpleasant. So you have no choice now, you have to get better.”
Makes sense when she says it like that. They have plans, and he has to get his shit together so they can follow through.
It’s not long before he’s passed out again, but this time he doesn’t dream up old memories. This time, he dreams of white-tipped mountains with Addison and Emma by his side.
* * *
“Fuck.” Wyatt shields his eyes from the sunlight blaring into his retinas.
“How do you feel?
“Like shit.” His dismay only grows when he remembers a few highlights of his recent behavior. “I’ve been seeing things?”
Addison nods, putting a hand to his forehead. “But you’re asking about it now, and that’s a good sign. People who are hallucinating don’t know they’re hallucinating. The fever broke, thank god. You had me so worried.”
“How long was I out of it?”
“About two days.”
