Chapter Eleven - Jane I didn't want to close my eyes because I felt that I wouldn't wake up if I did. I fought against my eyelids while Remy ripped his t-shirt into two pieces and pressed his palms against me. I screamed, feeling the inside of my leg compared close to what I assumed was Hell. Remy's dark eyes looked worried but he tried to reassure me with a small smile. Sarah's cry from the hut rattled the back of my mind. I hadn't realized I'd come upon the wolves while peeing until I noticed a baby. I walked toward it, hearing it's baby howl when the mother stepped out from behind the tree and then the daddy. It was scarier than the plane crash. At least during the crash, I assumed I would die instantly—this, I knew would take me on a journey through Hell and back. Fear coursed me, and I ran as fast as I could, bare foot through the woods and back toward the camp. Branches, roots and only God knew what else tore at my feet but I pushed through it. I should have jumped into t
Chapter Twelve - RemySeven entire days and no search party, no sign of a helicopter or airplane. Jane looked like death lying underneath a half-ass hut with her leg propped up and the color slowing draining from her face.Taborie sat against a tree, trying to sharpen a rock into an arrow in case the wolves came back. Sarah's playing wasn't the same anymore. She ran and chased butterflies, now she sat in the dirt, no energy, drawing pictures beneath her.I tried to get my mouth to say good things for Jane, but my heart screamed to get her help. I couldn't leave Taborie weak and defenseless to protect the girls. We agreed for me to go tomorrow, hopefully I'd find something and not get lost.Jane asked me to kiss her. At first, I thought it was pity, but I knew she wouldn't lie about her feelings. This wasn't the time to lie. The truth came at these moments because it was the only sane thing to hang onto anymore.I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand, smearing dirt and sweat agai
Chapter Thirteen - Jane"Wake up."Wolves surrounded me, cornering me against the edge of a cliff overlooking the mountains. Red eyes hunted me, waiting on me to move so they could tear me apart for their dinner."Wake up!"I scurried backwards, rocks tumbling over the edge toward the rocky bottom. This is it, I'm about to die. All the brutal days with no food and soul sucking heat meant nothing because it's all ending now."Wake the hell up! Please, Janey!"The wolves stood with their heads high, teeth reveal underneath bloodstained lips. I was out of moves—nowhere to go. The only choices in front of me where to fall to my death or be eaten alive. I wasn't sure which one sounded worse."Janey!"I gasped, sitting up in my bed, bracing my palms against the mattress to ground myself from the dizziness. Sunlight shown through the slit from my blackout curtains in my bedroom and blinded my view."Janey."Remington sat on his shins beside me, concern all over his face while he searched my
Chapter Fourteen - Remy"You look happier today."Adrianna stood by the server stand and stared, chewing her gum like it offended her."I agree," Mrs. Johns said from the door where she locked it. "Did you finally take my advice and go out with a girl?"I tried to keep my face neutral, not wanting either one of them to pry into my life. If Jane and I decided to stay together and try to make it work, we wouldn't tell Mrs. Johns right away. I couldn't imagine having that conversation so soon, especially so soon in our relationship. I didn't want Mrs. Johns to think I was jumping into bed with her, because that wasn't the case.I wanted her to know I'd take care of Jane."A guy can't be happy?" I asked counting my tips.Mrs. Johns snorted. "Not you, apparently," she said.I shot her a look. "Maybe it's my amazing new job that I'm enjoying."Adrianna laughed. "Yeah, right. I know you were about to spit in that guy's food tonight that called you over ten times—it's a girl," she said, grabb
Chapter Fifteen- JaneIt'd been over a week when I felt my insides turn against me. The vomiting went on for hours at a time. There was no secret my leg was infected. My skin began to turn blue and purple well into my thigh and toward my knee.The chills came and went, leaving behind sweat and shivering that lasted for hours at a time. The dry heaving hit the hardest with an empty stomach. Remington didn't leave my side. He sat underneath the hut, watching me hurt with a pitiful look on his face, because for once there was nothing he could do to save me.Taborie woke feeling better two days after eating the wolf meat. That'd been hard to watch him ache and hurt, too."You can leave her, Remy, I'll watch her."Remy shook his head, lips pressed into a tight line that made him look mean. "I can't leave her here," I heard him whisper. "Why the fuck is this happening to her?""You told her we were gonna get out of here no matter what, I'm fine, now get your ass to the trail so we can get h
Chapter Sixteen - RemyThe doctor escorted me toward the lobby where Taborie slept. We'd waited for her to wake up for two days. We took turns sleeping, but I didn't get much. Every time a nurse walked by, I'd ask about her status with no luck.Now she was awake and blaming herself for Sarah's death.When everything hit her — I saw, the lifelessness take over her eyes. She looked like a zombie—but in this case, it rooted from the inside.Taborie stirred after a while, sitting up, he palmed his forehead and glanced at me. His long hair pulled back into a half ponytail, and he looked better than I felt. They'd checked us out, and besides dehydration on everyone's part, Jane had the worst of it.When they fed us, I felt I could eat the entire hospital's cafeteria but only ate half of my plate before I felt full."She woke up," I said."How is she?"I shook my head.He frowned. "Not good, huh?""She remembered Sarah almost immediately."It'd been Hell seeing Jane lying on Sarah, their fin
Chapter Seventeen - JaneStephanie clasped her hands together and squealed. "You look great."My dress was floor-length but tight around my waist to draw attention to my curves.I hadn't been shopping for clothes in years. Seeing myself in the mirror, I felt like the person I once was. When Stephanie called about a dinner at my aunt and uncle's house for graduation, I didn't really want to go.The last graduation celebration hadn't turned out the way I wanted it to. Then she showed up with this dress and I felt giving into the desire to go. "Can I bring a date?" I asked, looking at the clock on the wall. Remington got off over an hour before but I hadn't heard from him.I didn't pretend we made anything official or he couldn't go to his house, but he normally text me. Stephanie played with the end of her braid, and made a face."It's just a little gathering; you don't really need a date."That was her way of saying Remy didn't need to come.I dropped my hands from straightening my dre
Chapter Eighteen - RemyI glanced at the bruise on my face and sighed. The loser got me good. I decided not to go to Jane's after work since I'd been in a fight.I didn't want her to think I was falling down that road again. That wasn't the case this time. I went straight home, turned off my phone and slept. I was tired on the inside. It'd been a long time coming to be with Jane, now someone else stood in our way, and it didn't make sense why he was so adamant on getting her.Would there always be an obstacle for us? Was she really not mine to hold after all? Jane was beautiful, but I'd never go after a girl that showed no interest in me for years. What was that about?I called in sick to work, not wanting Mrs. Johns to see this fresh bruise. The icepack I put on my eye took most of the swelling down by the next day, and I felt good enough to grab supper at the diner.My refrigerator was empty, so I planned to tell Mrs. Johns I'd been sick to my stomach and hit my eye on the porcelain
Chapter Twenty-One - JaneRemington hollered from downstairs for me to hurry. He needed to understand it wasn't as easy to pick out what I wanted to wear as it was for him.He looked good in everything.I bounded down the stairs, twirling my way into the living room. "I'm ready, da-umn," I said. Remington pressed his palms to the back of the sofa, his dark eyes raking me of every piece of clothing I took forever to pick out. "You look damn good," he said.I twirled a piece of hair around my finger and winked at him. Things were different than they were but in a good way. It'd been three years since Mrs. Johns passed, leaving us with the restaurant and her house. I couldn't stand the thought of living in the house Lucas grew up in, so we let my mother move in, because she'd lived in that rundown shack for far too long.We owned the restaurant but let my mother's best friend manage it because we trusted her and knew she'd take care of it. Not that we didn't stop by to eat every other nig
Chapter Twenty - Remy"Hanes, you got a phone call."I felt in my pocket for my phone, realizing it wasn't there before I climbed down the ladder from the roof.My boss handed me his work phone, and made a gesture for me to wrap it up. Roger was a no-nonsense kind of man. It'd been a good few months since I started, but I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize my position."Hello?""Remington.""Jane, baby, what is it? You know my boss gets pissed when I'm on the phone—,""Mrs. Johns is in the hospital about to die."My hammer fell to the ground. Die? Was she sick? Has there been an accident? "What? How do you—,""She called me and asked for us to come see her quickly." Jane's voice broke at the end. She must not have long."I didn't even know she was sick, what's the matter with her?""I don't know, but we need to go see her now.""Okay, which hospital?"I flew from the outskirts of Dallas toward the Baylor Scott & White Medical Center uptown. Jane met me downstairs in the lobby an
Chapter Nineteen - JaneTwo weeks went by when Remy received the call that he got the job. He applied for a local roofing company not long after the fight with Steven.He assumed Mrs. Johns' hated him, I didn't think that was the situation, but I couldn't blame him for not going in, because I hadn't been to see her either.Remington gave up his apartment in the name of savings so that we could get out of the slums, and he moved in with me. It felt foreign to have him there with no guilt or fear of someone finding out.Or the guilt of Lucas.It still hit me occasionally when I was alone that Lucas might be looking down, but for some reason, I didn't feel like he would mind. I was happy, that was all I wanted for him, and I hoped he wanted that for me, too.Stopping at the entrance to the brick building in front of me, I glanced up at the ceiling length glass windows and took a deep breath.I didn't want to go inside. I'd been trying my hardest to keep away from spilling my guts about t
Chapter Eighteen - RemyI glanced at the bruise on my face and sighed. The loser got me good. I decided not to go to Jane's after work since I'd been in a fight.I didn't want her to think I was falling down that road again. That wasn't the case this time. I went straight home, turned off my phone and slept. I was tired on the inside. It'd been a long time coming to be with Jane, now someone else stood in our way, and it didn't make sense why he was so adamant on getting her.Would there always be an obstacle for us? Was she really not mine to hold after all? Jane was beautiful, but I'd never go after a girl that showed no interest in me for years. What was that about?I called in sick to work, not wanting Mrs. Johns to see this fresh bruise. The icepack I put on my eye took most of the swelling down by the next day, and I felt good enough to grab supper at the diner.My refrigerator was empty, so I planned to tell Mrs. Johns I'd been sick to my stomach and hit my eye on the porcelain
Chapter Seventeen - JaneStephanie clasped her hands together and squealed. "You look great."My dress was floor-length but tight around my waist to draw attention to my curves.I hadn't been shopping for clothes in years. Seeing myself in the mirror, I felt like the person I once was. When Stephanie called about a dinner at my aunt and uncle's house for graduation, I didn't really want to go.The last graduation celebration hadn't turned out the way I wanted it to. Then she showed up with this dress and I felt giving into the desire to go. "Can I bring a date?" I asked, looking at the clock on the wall. Remington got off over an hour before but I hadn't heard from him.I didn't pretend we made anything official or he couldn't go to his house, but he normally text me. Stephanie played with the end of her braid, and made a face."It's just a little gathering; you don't really need a date."That was her way of saying Remy didn't need to come.I dropped my hands from straightening my dre
Chapter Sixteen - RemyThe doctor escorted me toward the lobby where Taborie slept. We'd waited for her to wake up for two days. We took turns sleeping, but I didn't get much. Every time a nurse walked by, I'd ask about her status with no luck.Now she was awake and blaming herself for Sarah's death.When everything hit her — I saw, the lifelessness take over her eyes. She looked like a zombie—but in this case, it rooted from the inside.Taborie stirred after a while, sitting up, he palmed his forehead and glanced at me. His long hair pulled back into a half ponytail, and he looked better than I felt. They'd checked us out, and besides dehydration on everyone's part, Jane had the worst of it.When they fed us, I felt I could eat the entire hospital's cafeteria but only ate half of my plate before I felt full."She woke up," I said."How is she?"I shook my head.He frowned. "Not good, huh?""She remembered Sarah almost immediately."It'd been Hell seeing Jane lying on Sarah, their fin
Chapter Fifteen- JaneIt'd been over a week when I felt my insides turn against me. The vomiting went on for hours at a time. There was no secret my leg was infected. My skin began to turn blue and purple well into my thigh and toward my knee.The chills came and went, leaving behind sweat and shivering that lasted for hours at a time. The dry heaving hit the hardest with an empty stomach. Remington didn't leave my side. He sat underneath the hut, watching me hurt with a pitiful look on his face, because for once there was nothing he could do to save me.Taborie woke feeling better two days after eating the wolf meat. That'd been hard to watch him ache and hurt, too."You can leave her, Remy, I'll watch her."Remy shook his head, lips pressed into a tight line that made him look mean. "I can't leave her here," I heard him whisper. "Why the fuck is this happening to her?""You told her we were gonna get out of here no matter what, I'm fine, now get your ass to the trail so we can get h
Chapter Fourteen - Remy"You look happier today."Adrianna stood by the server stand and stared, chewing her gum like it offended her."I agree," Mrs. Johns said from the door where she locked it. "Did you finally take my advice and go out with a girl?"I tried to keep my face neutral, not wanting either one of them to pry into my life. If Jane and I decided to stay together and try to make it work, we wouldn't tell Mrs. Johns right away. I couldn't imagine having that conversation so soon, especially so soon in our relationship. I didn't want Mrs. Johns to think I was jumping into bed with her, because that wasn't the case.I wanted her to know I'd take care of Jane."A guy can't be happy?" I asked counting my tips.Mrs. Johns snorted. "Not you, apparently," she said.I shot her a look. "Maybe it's my amazing new job that I'm enjoying."Adrianna laughed. "Yeah, right. I know you were about to spit in that guy's food tonight that called you over ten times—it's a girl," she said, grabb
Chapter Thirteen - Jane"Wake up."Wolves surrounded me, cornering me against the edge of a cliff overlooking the mountains. Red eyes hunted me, waiting on me to move so they could tear me apart for their dinner."Wake up!"I scurried backwards, rocks tumbling over the edge toward the rocky bottom. This is it, I'm about to die. All the brutal days with no food and soul sucking heat meant nothing because it's all ending now."Wake the hell up! Please, Janey!"The wolves stood with their heads high, teeth reveal underneath bloodstained lips. I was out of moves—nowhere to go. The only choices in front of me where to fall to my death or be eaten alive. I wasn't sure which one sounded worse."Janey!"I gasped, sitting up in my bed, bracing my palms against the mattress to ground myself from the dizziness. Sunlight shown through the slit from my blackout curtains in my bedroom and blinded my view."Janey."Remington sat on his shins beside me, concern all over his face while he searched my