“When I was in and out of it.”
His jaw tightens. “You had a high fever. You weren’t making much sense.”
I wait, hoping he’ll say more, but he doesn’t.
There was more. I know there was. But my only memories are fragments, blurred at the edges, like something half-lost.
Charlotte… I’m so sorry.
You don’t get to leave me out here.
Stay with me.
I look away from him, focusing on the trees instead, unsettled by the way my pulse has started to pick up—for reasons that have nothing to do with fever now.
Maybe I imagined it.
Maybe, for one delirious moment, I wanted to believe that losing me would matter to him.
The thought is embarrassing.
By the time the familiar stretch of shoreline comes into view, I’m more tired than I want to admit.
Seeing the camp again should feel simple. Instead, it feels like I left this place as one person and came back as someone else.
Dane sets me down. His hand lingers at my elbow a second longer than necessary, making sure I’m steady before he lets go.
He’s different now—attentive and careful. Like I matter in a way I didn’t before. And for the first time since I left, I let myself consider that maybe coming back won’t be as bad as I thought.
“Do you want to wash up? It might help you feel better.”
I glance down. My clothes are stiff with sweat and dirt, and the sour trace of fever still clings to my skin.
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
The thought of sinking into cool water is suddenly all I want.
The path curves toward the lagoon, the trees thinning as the sound of water grows louder. The freshwater pool we use forbathing is fed by a narrow stream spilling down from the rocks above, hidden in the jungle and separate from the ocean.
Dane slows at the edge of the clearing. “Will you be okay if I leave you here?”
I look toward the water, sunlight catching across the surface. “I think so.”
He studies me for a moment. “You’re sure?”
I grin a little at his concern. “I’m sure.”
He hesitates, like he’s still weighing whether it’s safe for me, then nods. “I’ll be at camp if you need anything.”
He turns to go, but pauses before disappearing into the trees. “Wait a minute.”
A moment later, he’s back—just long enough to set something on the flat rock near the water.
A towel.
He doesn’t mention it. Just leaves it there and walks away.
I watch him disappear through the palms.What’s gotten into him?
