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“Good. She said I was smart for letting you swim across the river,” he replied.

Peterson chuckled. “It was cold enough to freeze my?—”

“Ca-Can you two go away? I’m trying to sleep,” she grumbled.

Peterson’s grin grew. “Let’s get you comfy.”

He cradled Jayden in his arms, trying to warm her up while Peterson spread the moss over the rocky surface. Peterson disappeared two more times, returning a short time later with more moss. Once he was satisfied there was enough to provide some cushion and protection from the hard, cold, rocky surface, he placed an emergency blanket on top of the moss.

Jayden moaned in protest when he loosened his hold on her. He brushed her fevered cheek with the backs of his fingers. She twisted her face into his chest, trying to burrow as close as she could to him. He looked up when Peterson bent to scoop her into his arms.

“Peterson’s going to lay you on a bed he made.”

“Co-cold.”

He grimaced and looked at Peterson with a worried frown. She wasn’t shivering as much as before, but she was still shaking. They needed to get some medicine into her.

“Come on, little tigress. Let’s get you closer to the fire,” Peterson encouraged, lifting her as if she weighed no more than a feather.

“I-I like that,” she moaned.

“What do you like?” Peterson asked.

“Being-being a-a-tigress. They-they eat dogs for-for breakfast.”

“You can eat us any time you want,” Peterson teased.

“In your dreams,” she scoffed before releasing a dry, hacking cough that left her weak.

“Oh, we’ve been dreaming it, love. I can assure you—we’ve been dreaming it,” he teased, covering her with the wool blankets.

“That is-is wrong on-on so many… levels,” she retorted before sighing and closing her eyes as the combined warmth of the jacket, blankets, and fire began to sink in.

“Peterson, grab some pain reliever and the water bottle for me. I want to get some in her. The sooner I do, the sooner her fever will come down,” he requested.

Peterson retrieved the first aid kit and handed it to him. He opened it and pulled out a packet of the pain relievers and two cough and cold tablets. He wished he had something stronger, but this would have to do.

“You need to take a look at where she was bleeding,” Peterson said.

“Yeah. I want to get the pain pills in her first. Why don’t you do a perimeter search to make sure we don’t have any surprise visitors,” he quietly requested.

“Sure thing. I’ll bring back more firewood as well,” Peterson said, adding several pieces of wood to the fire before he disappeared into the darkness again.

He gently slid an arm under Jayden’s shoulders and lifted her up far enough to give her the pills in his hand. She tried to push his hand away and turn her face, but he was persistent. She reluctantly opened her mouth and took the pills followed by a sip of water to wash them down.

She was shivering again and softly moaning. He gently laid her back down and tucked the blankets around her upper body. Breathing deeply, he leaned forward, trying to pinpoint where she was hurt.

“Are you sniffing me?” she snapped, forcing an eye open to glare at him.

His eyes lifted and locked on hers. “I’m trying to find out where you’re hurt.”

“It’s my leg. The razor vines got me,” she groaned before sighing. “I didn’t think I’d ever feel warm again.”

He grunted in response. It was probably better if he kept his mouth shut. Sliding down, he gently probed her left leg before touching her right leg.

“Ouch! That hurts!” she snapped, swatting at him and trying to move away.

“I need to take a look at it,” he growled.