Page 62 of Deceptive Lies

How had this ever seemed doable?

As Willow forced her body to take the next step, the one after, and the one after that, it felt less and less like she was capable of walking through the desert and back to a town or village.

Not just much less.

Impossible.

But as impossible as it felt she didn't have a choice.

One thing she knew for certain was that if she couldn’t walk any further then Cooper would carry her until he collapsed from exhaustion.And if it came down to it, he would sit there with her in the desert under the blazing hot sun until she died.

Until he died.

That wasn't something she could allow to happen.

So, she had to keep walking. Had to keep finding strength she was sure she didn't have. Had to keep putting one foot after the other.

Sweat poured down her back. She’d tucked her broken arm inside her long-sleeve T-shirt, but it did little to stop it from throbbing with each step she took. Her head thrummed with a constant pounding headache that was likely a mixture of the head injuries, dehydration, and exhaustion. Even breathing hurt. If her ribs hadn't been broken before, the crash would have fractured them, which meant even if she stopped moving and could make the rest of her body rest, she had to keep breathing which meant she was never free of that pain.

After going on three weeks now since she’d been kidnapped, Willow barely remembered what it felt likenotto be in pain.

It had consumed her for weeks and all she wanted was one tiny little break from it.

Only instead of getting a break, things just seemed to keep getting worse.

When Cooper rescued her from that little underground cell, she’d been naïve enough to believe that everything would be okay. They’d lay low, pretend to be tourists, let the dust settle a little, then get out of the country and return home. She’d write her article, Professor Mahmoud would be arrested, and she’d move on to her next story.

Naïve.

But not a mistake she’d make again.

Not after they’d been caught, tortured, almost died, and were now left to wander in the desert in the scorching heat. There was no way she would ever again be naïve enough to just believe that things would work out.

When her foot struck something, likely one of the many rocks lying beneath the layers upon layers of sand, Willow didn't have the energy to catch herself before she fell.

Her good arm cartwheeled, but it didn't help her regain her balance.

Instead, she landed hard.

Pain shot up her knees and into her legs when they struck rock, and she slumped forward, her bad arm getting squashed between her body and the ground as she toppled over.

A muted cry fell from her lips, and she would have been able to hold in her tears, only Cooper was right there. Crouching beside her, he gathered her up, righting her then sinking down to sit beside her, settling her between his spread legs and guiding her head to rest against his shoulder.

All she wanted was to keep walking. She didn't want to be the weak link and didn't want Cooper to lose his life because of her.

That’s the only reason her tears fell.

They weren't necessarily tears of sorrow, although she was sad thinking that this was how Cooper’s life might end. It was more from frustration. She’d come to Egypt to do the right thing, it shouldn’t end this way.

It wasn't fair.

Sure, she knew life wasn't fair, she’d learned that lesson a long time ago when she stood at her front door and watched grown men beat her dad to death. But this was going so far beyond fair that it was hard to comprehend.

Willow wanted to have the strength to walk out of there and do what she’d set out to do, and now she was forced to confront the reality that she might not be able to do it.

“It’s okay, honey,” Cooper soothed, his hands gently stroking up and down her arms.

It wasn't though.

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