Page 57 of Almost True
He studied me for a moment before nodding. “Okay. Just let me know when you’re ready.”
A few minutes later, I rallied and shoved my water bottle in its spot. Aidan’s hand appeared in front of my face before I could haul myself up, and I gratefully took it. He pulled me up and gave me a soft smile. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yes. Just needed a rest.”
But oh, what lies. What horrid, monstrous lies I told. Another half hour and I felt shaky and weak. We arrived at a small waterfall and all I could think about was walking straight into the little pool of water, or covering myself in the icy mountain runoff and curling up on a cool rock.
I considered telling Aidan how bad I was feeling, but at this point, we were more than an hour into the hike. I was fairly certain we’d be coming up on the halfway point any minute now, so going forward made more sense anyway. Instead of tipping him off to my currently climbing internal temperature and the way my eyes felt a little too big for their sockets, I convincinglyoohedandaahedover the little spot, and we pressed on.
Another twenty minutes and I’d gone inside myself. I’d managed only a few grunts and mumbled “Mm-hmm” and Aidan had been glancing back at me more often.
“Let’s stop right here and have a snack,” he said, pulling his pack from his shoulders and reaching for me as I neared. “Maddie, you feel warm.”
I swayed where I stood and he helped me ease onto the wooden bench set to the side of the trail. If one were to sit on this bench, one would see a glorious view of the mountainside, then farther out to the mountains beyond, and all the way to the horizon. But if one were currently burning up from the inside out, one would hardly be able to see beyond her hands.
He sat next to me and removed my backpack, forcing my water into my hand. “You need to drink this.”
I did as instructed, taking a drink and finding my throat soothed by the cool water. I hadn’t even fully registered it hurt, but sure enough, when the cold liquid was gone, it hurt. His hand came up to my forehead, and he swore under his breath.
“You’re burning up,” he said, concern painting his features. “How long have you felt bad?”
Guess the question of whether I did wasn’t worth asking. If I looked anything like I felt, the answer would be clear. “Been off since I woke up, but it’s gotten worse as we’ve climbed.”
His frown deepened and he smoothed some hair off my forehead. I’d long since ditched my hat. His cool fingertips felt so good, I nearly groaned.
“I’ve got some pain reliever in my bag. Do you want to take it? We’ll eat something and get going. We’re actually over the halfway mark and should be hitting the downhill soon.”
“Okay.” I had no other comments other than the fleeting thought that maybe he could tie a little rope around me and lead me down so I could keep my eyes closed. They felt so heavy.
“Take this.”
He dropped two small pills into my palm and waited while I took them. If I ever needed a test to gauge my trust in him, blindly taking pills without a thought would be one of them.
Wincing as I swallowed, my shoulders sagged. Aidan’s large, cool hand cupped the back of my neck. His touch felt so good and I leaned into it, my head falling back enough that he now cradled it.
“Maddie, what hurts?”
The tenderness and concern in his voice made my heart twist. Good grief, he was too good. “Um, everything? My throat. My bones? My head. My eyeballs.”
He huffed. I cracked an eye open to see amusement laced with frustration. “Okay, eat this and then we’re leaving. We need to get you down this mountain and to the doctor.”
My stomach rolled at the thought of eating anything, but I saw the logic. I forced down a few bites of the banana but couldn’t take much more. All the while, he kept a hand on me—my neck, my shoulder, patting my leg and saying things like, “That’s good. Great job. Can you do one more bite?”
Sometime between minutes and a small eternity later, he packed up our stuff, shouldered my bag, too, and helped me stand. My legs were wobbly, and I immediately wanted to cry.
Crap.“I think I’m really sick,” I said, sounding pathetic even to my own ears.
“I think you are, too. Let’s get you home.”
Soon, we were off. His arm locked around me and held me close. I trudged along, eyes fighting to stay open, until he said, “I think I’m going to need to carry you.”
Thankfully, he did. First, on his back, until all I could do was drape myself over him, and eventually in a full-on bridal carry the last fifteen minutes because whatever this was, humiliatingly, meant I had no energy to even hold on while he did all the work.
And every step of the way, despite how exhaustion pulled at me and everything hurt, I knew he’d get me down safely. I hated that he had to do this. With Aidan, I knew I was in good hands.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE
Aidan
