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“Not even a little bit,” I admitted. “But maybe I can figure it out.”
He sat and watched me as I layered the palm fronds to form a mat on the sand. When I was about halfway finished with that, he walked down the beach and returned with some large logs, which he used to prop up an a-frame against a tree. We covered the frame with palm fronds as well, and when we were finished, we had a small but cozy-looking shelter.
Jake took out a water bottle and held it out to me.
“Do we need to ration this?” I asked.
He shook his head. “There’s a stream over there,” he said. “I could see the mouth of it when I was on the plane. As long as we boil the water before we try to drink it, we should be fine.”
I nodded. “So we’ll have as much to eat and drink as we need for as long as we’re here, then.”
“If nothing changes,” he said.
I crawled into the shelter. It was still early—the sun was high overhead—but I felt as if I’d done a full day’s work.
“You alright?” Jake asked me. “Not feeling sick or anything, are you?”
“Are you still worried about injuries from the crash?”
“I’m going to be worried about that until we get off the island,” he said. “You might as well get used to it.”
“Well, no, I’m fine. I’m just worn out. I think I’m going to take a nap.”
“Finish that water first.”
I frowned.
“Don’t make that face,” he said. “You can’t let yourself get dehydrated out here. That’s the most dangerous thing that could possibly happen. You need to make sure you get enough to drink.”
“I don’t want to finish off all the water.”
“I promise you we’ll be able to get more. Please drink that.”
I nodded and allowed myself to gulp down the water. If I was honest, I was completely parched, and it did feel good to quench my thirst.
When the bottle was empty, Jake held out his hand for it. “You rest,” he said for the second time that day. “I’ll go fill the bottles up.”
This time, I intended to obey his instructions. I lay back on the palm fronds.
We might have been stranded here, and this might be a survival situation, but I was pretty proud of myself for succeeding in catching a fish and making this shelter.
What was more, I could tell Jake was proud of me too.
I was surprised by how much that meant to me.
Chapter 17
JAKE
Theweatherstayedniceas the sun went down. I took Olivia’s spear down to the water to try my hand at fishing, but I had no success. I’d have to get her to teach me her tricks later. She was asleep right now, and I wanted to let her stay that way as long as possible since last night had been so rough on both of us up there in the cave.
She stirred as I came back to the shelter and rolled over into my arms. “Hey,” she murmured. “We rescued yet?”
“Not yet. Looks like it’s gonna be another night here.” I rubbed her back gently. “You can go back to sleep.”
“Mmm, no, I’m awake.” She tangled her legs up in mine.
I cupped the back of her neck. “You’re sure you’re okay?”
