Page 67 of Second Chance Serenity

Caleb grabs a backpack and sticks his Bible inside, then slings the bag over his shoulders, retrieves a lantern and his shotgun, and stands by the door.

“I can carry you,” Silas offers, gesturing to my feet.

I start to refuse, insist that I walk, but then I actually push to my feet and feel the ache shoot straight up through my body. “If it won’t be too much trouble?”

He doesn’t answer, just scoops me up as Lance and Elijah lift Michael from the bed, keeping him draped between the two of them.

He grunts, but remains unconscious, and my heart sinks. Is he going to make it? What if the moving is too much?

“I’ve seen him survive much worse,” Bianca tells me with a tight smile. “He’ll pull through.”

Dear God, please let her be right. Don’t let us have come this far to fail now.

CHAPTER 21

Michael

The beeping of machines is the first thing I hear as I come awake. Next thing I notice is the dryness of my mouth and the bone-deep ache throughout my body. I feel like I got hit by a truck. And then it backed over me. Oxygen blows into my nose, and as I open my eyes, I have to blink rapidly until my vision clears.

The room is fairly dark, though the light pouring in through a crack in the curtains illuminates Reyna curled up on the couch, a blue blanket draped over her body. Her red hair is splayed over the white pillowcase, and I’m struck at the sight of her.

Alive.

Well.

Sleeping.

I glance around the room, trying to figure out just how I got here, and where here is. Are we still in Florida? Did Caleb get us out of the swamps? How do I not remember? There’s a board across from me with the nurse currently assigned to me, and right above it, Doc Harding is scrawled beside the assigned doctor.

Doc? Are we back in Hope Springs?

I scoot up, trying to be quiet about it, but the bed squeaks, and Reyna shoots up, her eyes wide and full of sleep. “I’m sorry,” I manage. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s fine.” She wipes the sleep from her eyes and stretches. “How do you feel?”

“Okay. Are we back in Hope Springs?”

She nods. “We got here last night.”

“How?”

Reyna stands and walks toward me, her movements slow and pained, then sits on the edge of the bed. Having her so close soothes my soul. Especially when she reaches out and brushes some hair off of my forehead. I close my eyes, her touch a salve for my brokenness.

“Your team tracked us down in the swamps. Then Caleb led us out as Lance and Elijah carried you.”

“Is Caleb okay?”

“He’s fine. We said our goodbyes, and he went home.” She smiles softly. “We wouldn’t have made it out without him.”

“No,” I agree. “We wouldn’t have.” I take a deep breath. “Carried me—I was that bad?”

Her eyes fill with tears. “I thought you were going to die, Michael. You were so pale. And your fever—” She sniffles. “Because of the accident, you had a concussion, three fractured ribs, a collapsed lung, and then there’s the gunshot wound. You almost died.”

“But I didn’t.” I reach out and take her hand. “I’m sorry I failed you. It was my job to keep you safe, and you ended up having to protect me instead. That’s now how it’s supposed to be.”

Her brow furrows. “You did protect me. Because of you, I wasn’t grabbed outside the party. Because of you, we made it to the swamps.”

“You’re the one who pulled me out of that room,” he tells me. “You’re the one that got us to the swamps.”

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