“Yeah,” he replied, sliding his good arm around her waist, pulling her to the front of his body. “It’s going to work.” He gave her a devilish grin. “But only if you kiss me.”
At first, she gave him a single raised eyebrow, one that said,Are you serious right now?Then her expression shifted into something light and playful as her gaze drew down to his lips. “I’m sure you’re right. We better not take any chances.”
Tilting his head down, she met him halfway, her lips soft and ready as they pressed into his. Closing his eyes, he gave in to the sensation, his tongue doing a delicious slide into her mouth, and he groaned his approval, forgetting all about his shoulder. A light zapping and heat bounced across the atmosphere surrounding him, a feeling of absolute weightlessness filling his head. She was his anchor, and he wasn’t letting go as he continued exploring her eager mouth with his own.
This was similar to what he experienced the first time he kissed her, when he snuck her into the small wall nook outside the campus coffee shop. He knew immediately this was a woman he needed in his life. Someone to ground him when he lived in a dream world, someone who’d push him when he needed it, and someone who would fight like hell for him when he couldn’t do it himself. He thought maybe their next wedding vows should include a new addendum. For richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, whether normal size or very, very small, Trey would love herforever.
“Damn,” he said when they finally broke apart, smiling with his eyes closed so he could hold onto the hope a little longer.
Her warm breath teased his skin. “Yeah,” she replied in a light tone.
There was a tapping on the glass partition of the booth. He finally opened his eyes to Catalina’s warm brown ones. Together they turned their heads and were face-to-face with the woman who had found them and an older, balding gentleman in glasses.
“We’re back,” Trey said.
Chapter 29
Sasha
Sasha wanted to scream in absolute giddiness, and so she did. It worked. It! Worked! Fill the air with confetti in the shape of exclamation marks because it had mother effin’ worked!
The experience of seeing them normal size was similar to being obsessed with an Instagram influencer and then having the surreal experience of seeing the person in the flesh, like one couldn’t believe the information their eyes were transmitting to their brain.
“Can we come out now?” Trey asked loudly through the glass.
“Oh my goodness, yes, of course!” She and Dr. Cutchin backed up, opening the booth door for them. This was amazing. She could actually talk to them, ask them what the experience was like and what they had gone through. As a scientist, she had a lot of questions buzzing through her head. What did things look like? How did they get into the dining room? The two rooms weren’t very close to each other, and doing some rough math in her head, she imagined it would have taken them several weeks to make the trek. Shewanted to hear it all.
Catalina helped her husband step from the booth, his face straining from pain.
“Oh my God,” she said, rushing to them. All her questions would have to wait. “Let’s get you out of here and get you help.”
Dr. Cutchin handed the couple extra-large company hoodies, swag that had traveled with the team. The garment swam on Catalina, the hemline hitting her above the knee. It fit Trey better, but he was only able to get his good arm through one of the sleeves. The other side was draped over his bad shoulder. They’d have to figure out the shoe situation later.
Dr. Cutchin’s phone beeped with a notification. Checking it, his face turned serious. “You should leave now. The sooner, the better.”
“They know?” she asked. How could they already know?
The group rushed from the room, making their way through the hotel.
“Zack is already here in the country. They must have already connected the security cameras in the room. I’ll stay here and see if I can talk to them,” Dr. Cutchin said. “I’m assuming you’re going to the hospital?”
Sasha nodded, using a hand to flag down a passing taxi once they’d made it outside. “Thank you.”
Trey, Catalina, and Sasha squeezed into the back seat of the taxi, this trip a lot less comfortable with three full-sized adults rather than only her. She called out that they needed to go to the hospital quickly.The driver took one look at the two other passengers, who looked like they had gone through a battle, and jammed his foot on the gas pedal without a second thought.
“Wow,” said Trey, staring out the side window as though amazed. “This is even better than traveling by iguana. Well, maybe not better, but at least faster, right, Cat?”
His wife only responded with a knowing smile before looking at the scenery outside the cab.
They were soon delivered to the hospital, and after a short explanation, the couple was put through a preliminary set of exam questions by a doctor. Inventing a story on the fly was not something that came easily for Sasha. She stuttered and stumbled her way through a lie about how she found these tourists after they had become lost on a jungle hike.
“You were hiking in the jungles of Belize by yourselves? Like this?” the young doctor asked, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion while studying their insensible wardrobe.
“Whoa. No way! We’re in Belize? I know where that is. I read up on the place,” Trey said.
Catalina gave him an amused, patient smile before telling the doctor, “In addition to an animal attack, he also hit his head really hard, so he might have a concussion.”
The physician nodded before peeling back the bandage to inspect Trey’s shoulder injury. “And what kind of animal attacked you?”
