Page 105 of Dear John

Chuckling to myself, I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath. I was so cold and tired. I couldn’t remember a time I’d ever felt so rundown. The hunger was bad, but the dryness in my throat was almost worse than the cold.

“When we get out of here, I’m getting one of those beds that has heating pads around the feet.”

“You could just turn the heat really high.”

“I don’t ever want to have cold feet again.”

I was suddenly upright as he put me on the cold floor. I was about to protest when I saw him slipping his shoes off and then his socks. “What are you doing?”

“Here,” he said, grabbing my foot to slip his sock onto my foot. Then he surprised me even more by putting his extra-large shoes on my feet.

“What about you?”

“We’ll take turns,” he said, pulling me back against him. “Besides, you have less clothing on.”

I wiggled my toes slightly. It wasn’t super warm, but there was a definite difference. “Thank you.”

“Get some sleep,” he grunted, his voice gruff.

I pulled the tree skirt tighter around me and pressed my body to his. “IKE?”

“Hmm?”

“What if we don’t get out of here?”

He didn’t answer, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear what he would say. Would it be painful? Would I feel my stomach slowly eating me as the hunger pains took over? Or maybe dehydration would kill me first? Would anyone ever find us?

“It’ll be like going to sleep,” he finally said.

“What if I don’t wake up?” I asked, the fear creeping into my voice.

“I’ll make sure you wake up.”

I knew he couldn’t promise that, but soon, I drifted off to sleep, trusting that he would help keep me alive for as long as possible.

?

I was alone and freezing,but it wasn’t the cold that woke me up. I rolled over and squinted into the dark. IKE was by the door, going at it again with that piece of wood, slamming it against the metal. From the looks of it, he’d been doing it for a while. How had I slept through that?

I pushed to a sitting position, finding it harder to do than I ever thought possible. It was slightly warmer, but not by much. Getting to my feet, I kept the tree skirt wrapped around my body and shuffled in IKE’s large shoes over to where he stood, staring at the damn door.

“How long was I asleep?”

He sighed, squeezing his hand shut before gripping the wood again. “A while.”

That was clear as mud. “Do you want me to give it a try?”

He turned and quirked a smile at me. “Sure. Give it a whack.”

I didn’t care much for the teasing in his tone. I dropped the tree skirt and pulled up the sleeves on the jacket, then grabbed the wood in both hands. As I swung back and slammed it into the metal, I cried out as vibrations tore through my limbs in the most uncomfortable way.

“Holy crap. How could you do that more than once?”

He snagged it from my grip and rested it against the wall. Even in the darkness, I could make out the tiredness lining his face. Had he slept at all? Or had he stayed awake like he said he would?

I took his hand in mine and walked back to the cardboard, pulling him down with me. “Warm me up.”

“If you insist,” he teased, wrapping his body around mine. He shifted his hips suggestively and I rolled over to glare at him.

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