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It took everything just to stay awake long enough to hear him say that, and then I did.
22
LORENZO
Shit,shit,shit.
Shit!
We were inbigtrouble now. She couldn’t even walk, and her hands were going to get infected in no time—without some kind of antibiotic salve, I couldn’t get the dirt out of her wounds.
If we moved as slowly as we had just getting here, we would never get away from storms or predators. Not to mention that if we didn’t find a doctor to check out her ankle, it could be more permanent damage, too.
It was all my fault.
I should never have pushed her until she came out here with us. I should have let her live in her bubble, let her be the person she was instead of taunting and teasing her. The game we’d played wasn’t worththis.
The rain came down in sheets but it was just rain. There was barely any thunder, and the storm wasn’t electric like the last two had been. Did that mean the helicopters might stay out looking for us?
Damn it, I didn’t even know if helicopters were out there, searching for us. All I knew was that no matter what we’d done so far, it hadn’t worked. We’d tumbled down the mountainside not once but twice now. I had no idea where we were, but we were in a bad place.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to keep it together. Celine was everything to me, but she deserved more than this. What did it say about our relationship if it started off with such hell?
My mind spun, running over every way I could get us out of here. I didn’t have a lot of options, and that grated on me.
Even if there was a search party out there, helicopters looking for us, under this ledge, they weren’t going to find us at all. I’d found this place to take shelter from the rain but that hid us away from the rest of the world, too.
I was aware of how incredibly small we were against the wrath of Mother Nature, and the longer we were out there, the slimmer our chances became that we would be found. Especially now that Celine was so seriously injured.
When the rain stopped, it was still daytime. The clouds had made it so dark, but when they drew away again, the last rays of sunlight shone through, touching the tops of the trees with gold. It set the forest alight, and the sight would have been beautiful if I’d been in the mindset to appreciate it.
I had to get help. I had to make a plan to get Celine to safety, to some medical care, to a warm bed and a lot of rest. The only way I was going to be able to do that was if I looked for a way out of this mess without her. I couldn’t bring her with me—we could barely move—and I couldn’t let her die out here.
The fact that was on my mind made my blood go cold. We were that far—I was starting to think that death was the alternative to being rescued. I’d officially burned through my positive mindset, and I had nothing left.
Nothing but determination.
Celine slept deeply. She was in so much pain, her brows were knitted together even as she slept, and she moaned from time to time. When I pressed the back of my hand against her forehead, she was hotter than she should have been. She was already burning up.
Fever was a bad sign. Her body was fighting something, and it needed help to win out over whatever it fought.
That solidified it for me.
I shrugged out from underneath her, careful not to wake her, but she slept like the dead. I shivered at the saying and pushed it out of my mind. I put the pack underneath her head like a pillow and covered her with the blanket. I had no way of leaving her a note until I thought of her phone. I took it out and typed a note on her screen, hoping she would find it.
Gone to get help.
I hoped to God I would actually find help and that I wouldn’t just go in circles the way I felt like we had until now.
I silently crept out of the shelter, down the ledge, and headed into the trees. I found a rock and marked the trees as I moved along. I hadn’t done anything like this before, but I had to find my way back to her. Until now, we hadn’t moved unless it was together.
Worse had come to worst.
I moved further and further. Every time I marked a tree, scraping off the bark with the rock, I checked my phone for signal.
No bars.
I worked my way through the forest—scratch, no bars, scratch, no bars. I did it until it was so dark, I could barely see my hand in front of my face. I had to go back. Staying out here when it was this dark was looking for a wild cat to eat me. Cats were all nocturnal, and they could see at night when I couldn’t.
