Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74035 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74035 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
She nods. “If I knew how to shoot—”
“We’ll fix that.”
“Promise me?” She holds my gaze. “I want you to promise me, Dario, that once we’re out of here and find… some sort of… normal again, that you’ll teach me how to shoot.”
She reaches me and kneels beside me. I squeeze her hand. “I promise you, baby. Promise.”
Her eyes flutter shut and she kisses my bruised and bloodied fingers.
“Thank you.”
The next few minutes are spent with me biting down to keep from screaming out loud and her pouring antiseptic on my open wounds. It hurts like a motherfucker, but I don’t want her to feel any worse about it than she has to, so I make myself swallow down the need to scream.
She’s a gentle and tender nurse. I close my eyes and let myself enjoy this brief moment of role reversal—me being the one in need of help, and her being the caretaker.
It’s then that I realize for the second time that night… she could run. And easily. I’m in no position to give her chase or to even know where she went. If she took off now, she’d have the best chance of getting away with it she’s had since we got here.
But she doesn’t. She doesn’t try to get away from me. She only doctors my wounds like a gentle nurse and stays right by my side.
In a short time, sleep overcomes me. She’s bandaged every wound she could after disinfecting them as thoroughly as possible.
“Tell me,” she whispers. “I don’t know much about these things, but I’ve figured out a few things.”
I close my eyes, drifting in and out of sleep.
“Mmmm?”
“So, for starters, I don’t think coyotes normally attack humans?”
“Correct.”
I take in a deep breath and release it slowly.
“What would make a coyote attack?”
“Few reasons,” I whisper, my voice sounding strangely distant. “First, if you’re on what they consider their terrain, they could get territorial. But we’ve been here for days and this is the first I’ve seen one, so I’m going to assume that wasn’t the cause here.”
“Okay. Go on.”
“Second, they feel you’ve attacked their young.”
She frowns. “Haven’t seen any young, and that was a male coyote.”
“How do you know?”
She rolls her eyes. “Because my mama taught me about the birds and the bees, and that was most definitely a male coyote displaying his wares.”
“Greeeeaaaat,” I mutter. “So that’s probably out of the question.”
“Right.”
I blow out a breath. I feel as if I’m half-conscious, in and out of reality, as I talk “And finally,” I say on a wheezy breath, “the coyote could be rabid. Rabid coyotes are much, much more likely to attack than for any other reason.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.”
“So we need to get you some help.”
I nod. I don’t much care. All I want is some sleep right now. “Eventually.”
She’s on her feet, but she seems as if she’s living on another planet. I can’t reach her if I tried. I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.
I close my eyes. I need a nap. The blanket of darkness falls over my eyes. Vivia’s voice becomes distant. I wonder why she’s troubled. I wonder why it sounds as if she’s crying.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Vivia
Dario’s in and out of consciousness. If he were bit by a rabid animal… I stare at the door to the cabin as if it will give me the answers I need, but all I hear is the lonely howl of wind.
I have to get help.
I don’t know much about first aid, but I do know that if someone’s bitten by a rabid animal, it’s important to get emergency medical care. Crucial, even. If we don’t, there’s no telling what could happen to him.
I stare at the phone, unable to use it. I can’t call out since I don’t know the password, and I’ve been obviously blocked from making outbound calls. I try a few random passwords, but I’m only one try away from locking the phone for an hour, so that’s useless.
I bite my lip and stare at Dario. His cheeks are flushed and his breathing’s grown rapid. A deep, gnawing feeling of dread claws at my belly. Something is terribly wrong, and I have to help him, but I don’t know how.
I can’t run for help, because I don’t know where we are or how to get there.
And then a little voice whispers at the back of my mind, tempting me. Beckoning me.
Run.
You could… run. Not for help, but to escape. It’s what I planned on doing from the very beginning, but now that the option’s upon me… I can’t do it.
No. I can’t leave him, sick and unable to do a damn thing to help himself, alone in the woods with no lifeline.
I can’t run for help, either, for the same reason I can’t run to escape.
We have to reach someone, and it has to be now.