Page 16 of Sawyer’s Mistake

“Jake, wake up! Please!”

If this were one of the books I used to read, this is where he would wake up, look right into my eyes, and tell me everything was going to be okay.

Even understanding how unlikely it was that he would wake up right at this moment, after the beating he’d received, she closed her eyes tight, wishing it to happen. When she opened them, Sawyer was still lying in exactly the same position.

Fine. Time for Plan B.

Before she had the chance to second-guess herself, she threw herself sideways with all her strength. The chair wobbled then finally toppled. She landed hard on her left shoulder. She grunted, unprepared for the jarring impact. The ropes around her arms constricted painfully, detecting her unexpected movement. She lay very still for a moment, breathing through the pain and trying to convince the alien technology that there was nothing to worry about. Finally, the binding loosened slightly.

She shook in pain and fear then proceeded to rotate slowly with the chair, feeling for all the world like a snail. By the time her back was aligned with Sawyer’s body, her left arm and shoulder were on fire.

This had better work. I’m so screwed if it doesn’t.

She squeezed her back against his body, reaching out with her fingers, the only thing she could move. She found the back of his pants. Moved a bit further down. There was definitely something there, but not what she was looking for. She moved her fingers back, searching for his hand.

Every few seconds, she stopped for an instant then kept going. She really didn’t want to trigger another squeezing attack by the ropes.

She pressed her behind against the chair, getting even closer to him while she tried to picture the position he’d been lying in.

But where— there!

She felt his fingers against hers. His skin was warm. She felt tears building up behind her eyes and squeezed her eyes shut, willing them away. An instant later, her hand hit the large watch on his wrist. Her fingers moved blindly, hunting for the button on the side that would activate the tracker. Not so easy when working backwards and lying on her side. Finally, she found it.

Yes!

The ropes tightened against her again. This time, the pressure mounted faster than before. Her wrists were on fire, and she wondered how much more the bones could take before they broke.

“Aargh,” she cried out. “Stop! Please stop!” She realized how ridiculous it was, crying out to a piece of alien technology.

“Saoirse?” Sawyer’s groggy whisper reached her through her pain.

“My wrists,” she gasped. “It hurts!”

She felt Sawyer’s hands on her arms. Just knowing that he was there made the pain more bearable.

“Hold on, let me sit up,” his voice sounded strained. She heard some shuffling and a strange gasping sound every time he drew a breath.

“Stop fighting the ropes, Saoirse,” Sawyer said quietly. “That’s it, relax.” His thumb caressed her arm while his other hand rubbed softly against the ropes.

“What are you doing?”

“These are live bindings. I’ve seen them before.” His voice was pained. “We should be able to trick them intro wrapping around something else, it just takes a bit of time and patience.”

She didn’t know whether he was talking to her or to the ropes. She felt his fingers softly caressing her inner wrist, right where the rope was hurting the most. Then the rope went slack for an instant.

She tried to turn her neck around to see, but the move made the rope tighten again.

“Shhh, stay still, Saoirse. It’s going to be okay,” he whispered. He pulled against the rope lightly.

“Jake? What are you doing?” she asked.

“You’re doing really well. Just relax. When I tell you to, you need to move your left wrist up slowly. There. Now. Very, very slowly.”

She did as he asked, felt her wrist slide past the binding, which had become looser to make space for his stretched hand. She held down a cry of relief.

“Great. Now we’re going to do the same thing with the other hand. I’m moving my hand closer to you,” he whispered.

“No, I can’t do that! Then you’ll be trapped.” She shook her head emphatically, even though she knew he couldn’t see her.