The last few days have been a whirlwind cleaning spree while Wyatt recovered from his ordeal. In between scrubbing, she’s taken care of him the best she can, learning that he’s a terrible patient when he’s not hallucinating. He refused to stay in bed. Kept trying to help around the house when he could hardly stand.
Wyatt behaves much the same way she does when she’s sick. He hides it.
His insistence that they go out to look for Emma, even when he’s too weak, is difficult to refuse, but it’s not practical.
At least, that’s what she told him every single time he asked, which was frequently.
He’s chomping at the bit to get moving again, though his exhaustion works in her favor. It’s not a lie that he needs to rest. She’s only relieved to have a valid excuse to redirect him. She’s gotten away with it so far because of the circumstances, but he won’t continue to let it slide.
Addison can already see him gearing up for a battle while he watches her clean the coffee table.
“You don’t have to do all this, you know?” he tells her.
“I don’t mind. I want to.”
“Weather’s good. We should get out there and search again.” It’s a tentative suggestion as if he expects her to finally blow up at him.
“You’re still not one hundred percent. It’s not safe.” Something tells her that this tried-and-true argument is about to fail today.
Wyatt chews on his bottom lip and blurts something out that surprises her. “You worried about me, or using me to avoid going out?”
She rubs the cloth against the wood hard enough to squeak the table. “That’s not fair. Of course I want to go.”
“Coulda fooled me.”
“We’ll go when you’re better. Every trip has to count when gas is this low.”
“I can walk. The fever’s gone. I’m good.”
She hasn’t gone out alone again for fear of getting lost and wasting what little gas they have. Two sets of eyes are better than one. He knows the area, so she told herself it was only smart to wait rather than end up stranded.
Logic says this is the right moment to try again, but she can’t bring herself to agree.
“You said the weather’s fine, but it looks like rain to me. I can feel it. We don’t need to get caught in a storm,” she argues.
“There ain’t a cloud in the sky and the sun’s trying to blind me. Can you…can you stop cleaning for a minute so we can talk?”
She huffs, ringing out the rag even though it’s not wet. “What is this? Why are you coming at me? You think I don’t want to find my daughter? It’s all I want, Wyatt. It’s all I can think about. I can hardly function anymore.”
Her words come out biting and angry, so much harsher than she intended. It surprises her, considering she’s bitten her tongue for years around Vincent. Never been brave enough to snap at him. Wives are to be eagerly submissive. That’s how she was raised. To do otherwise would have earned her any number of punishments sanctioned by the group.
She has no fear of Wyatt lashing out, and that loosens her tongue. Funny how bold she is given the smallest bit of safety.
“I’m not trying to come after you, just don’t understand what’s happening here. I can walk to the car, and if push comes to shove, I can get away from one of them.”
“Unless it’s a runner. A slow one, sure, but your leg wound is barely closed. You’re fresh off a fever, and—”
“She’s not dead.”
“Don’t say that when you can’t promise it,” Addison gasps, dropping the dust rag to the ground. He landed on the exact reason she can’t go. Now her lower lip won’t stop wobbling. “It’s been so long. Too long. If we find her, I’m afraid she’ll already be one of them. I can’t handle that. I can’t. I won’t survive seeing her like that. I don’t think that I could…you know…”
“It would be worse to let her wander the earth in that state. I would do it for you if you couldn’t.”
His practical yet gentle words feel like acid on her heart. Especially when she knows that he’s right. It’s hard to look at him when she’s not as good at hiding her feelings as she thought.So, she slumps onto the sofa with her head in her hands. He may be ready with words of encouragement, but her sudden hiss of pain distracts him.
“What is it?”
“Nothing. Only a cramp. It happened the first time, too. It’s the stress.”
