Page 79 of Chasing Paradise

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Violet

I was staring up at the tree, hands on my hips, wondering if I would be a better person for the job of climbing the tree.

True, Wick was stronger. But I was lighter.

That said, my littleholding on for dear life over a raging riverescapade from the day before might have weakened me too much.

I honestly wasn’t even hungry. I should have been ravenous with all the exercise. But when you are eating the exact same thing over and over, I guess you kind of lose your taste for it. And when it is your only option, you just don’t want to eat at all.

I’d just knelt down to open my backpack when I heard it.

Not a simple, maybe even playful,Marco Polo.

It was a guttural scream.

I’d never heard anything like it.

I didn’t think; I didn’t stop to consider what I might be walking into. I just turned toward the sound of Wick’s screams and ran.

My heart felt compressed in my chest, like it didn’t have room for how hard it was punching against my ribcage.

Because it wasn’t like Wick had just let out one loud scream. Like he’d fallen. Or got his hand crushed or something.

He was screaming nonstop, the pain so raw it felt like it ripped me open too.

What the hell could have happened to him to make him scream like that?

The sound only got louder as I drew nearer, drowning out anything else.

Until, finally, I broke through a clearing.

And there he was.

He was sitting on the ground, his hands clutched around his leg, his shirt damp with sweat, his face beet red.

“Wick!” I cried, rushing forward. “What is it? What happened?”

Had he broken his leg?

Dread washed through me.

What could we do if he had a broken leg? There was no rescue. He would have to walk out. Or be pulled out.

He was a big guy compared to me, but I imagined if I used the tent to pull him in, I could use my lower body strength to move him. It would be slow going.

“What is it?” I asked, dropping to my knees, trying to pry his hands from his leg so I could investigate the injury. “Okay. I’m trying to help,” I said as Wick continued to groan in pain, sweat pouring down his face. “Did you break…oh.”

His hands finally moved away, revealing his leg.

“Alright. Okay. It’s not that bad.”

It was awful.

His whole lower leg was swollen and red, but it was worse in one spot. And in the center of that spot, a dark dot.

Almost like…a sting? A bite?

---