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Nothing really registered, though she could tell they were moving quickly.

She closed her eyes and let herself drift to sleep.

When her eyes opened again, she was warmer.

And not alone.

“Hello?” The words squeaked out at a whisper.

“It’s me, Becks. Josiah.”

She could feel the warm, solid mass underneath her hand move and vibrate with the words.

Was Josiah in bed with her?

And what was the pinch in her arm?

“You bumped your head when you fell in the lake. They wouldn’t let me jump in after you. It took longer than we wanted to get you out.”

Was that a kiss against the top of her head?

And skin?

Bekah closed her eyes. “Where are we?”

“In the bed in my room,ourroom.”

“And my clothes?”

His hold on her tightened. “We had to take most of them off on the boat, but did our best to preserve your dignity. I took my shirt off and held you under one of those tin foil warming blankets. You were so cold. They got us back here as quickly as they could and brought you up here. Gen helped get the rest of the clothes off and put something back on. You’re wearing a pair of her shorts and a tank top. I’m wearing athletic shorts. They gave you some warm saline. You’ve woken up a couple of times and your temperature is up, so they took it out.”

“I don’t remember waking up.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. You were pretty out of it.”

She felt him take a deep breath and blow it out.

“I’m supposed to call them when you wake up.” His voice rumbled underneath her cheek. “But I’m kind of enjoying this.”

“Me, too.” The words surprised her as much as they likely surprised Josiah.

She hadn’t expected to enjoy being snuggled up next to someone anytime soon. To be fair, she hadn’t expected to have the opportunity for an exceedingly long time, but that was beside the fact.

“Are you warm?”

Josiah’s question forced her to take more of an inventory of herself. “My toes are cold, but no more than normal. I don’t feelwarmnecessarily, but I’m not really cold either.” An involuntary shudder ran through her.

He chuckled and a different kind of warmth spread through Bekah. “I still think we’re going to stay here for a while until you’re a bit warmer yet.”

She closed her eyes and nestled closer to him. “I think that sounds lovely.”

Even before she finished, she could feel herself starting to drift.

The next time she awoke, it took Bekah a few seconds to realize what was different.

Josiah was gone.

Pushing down so she could lever herself up on her elbows, she saw him at the door, talking quietly to someone on the other side. He was more fully dressed than he had been before. She laid back down and rolled onto her side, snuggling deep under the covers. Assessing her physical state, she realized she felt almost overly warm.