Page 58 of Anyone But You

“A snake bit me,” I replied through clenched teeth. Victoria’s brown eyes shone in concern as she gave my leg a once-over.

“D-did you see it? Did you see the color or any markings?”

“It… it was black… that’s all I know.”

Victoria sucked in a deep, shaky breath and ran her fingers through her braids. She had her crisis face on—the same face she’d wear in my office when shit would unexpectedly hit the fan and we needed a resolution stat.

“Okay. Don’t panic. If you start panicking, then the venom will spread quicker.”

“Not panicking,” I said, trying to keep my face expressionless.

“This wouldn’t have happened if you had listened to me,” she insisted.

“I love you, darling, but do you really think this is the time to say you told me so?”

“We need a tourniquet,” she mumbled. I watched Victoria leap into action, ripping a lengthy vine off a nearby tree. She returned shortly and tied the tourniquet so tightly that tears welled in my eyes.

“What happened to sucking the venom out?”

“A myth. We need to return to camp. We’re not far. We should get there in ten minutes.”

“Camp is closer than that.”

“We can’t get your heart rate up. We need to take our time.”

As we continued our trek to the camp, each step became more excruciating than the one before. An unparalleled burning and itching sensation now accompanied the swelling and redness—the pain had increased tenfold.

“Come on, Knox. We’re almost there,” Victoria encouraged as we crested the tree line. She slung one of my arms over her shoulder and pressed forward when my steps became less solid. My head was swimming, and each step seemed to zap away my energy. My eyes caught sight of our hut, and my vision swam.

I…I need to lie down.

I staggered and eventually collapsed to my knees before falling onto my back. As I began to lose consciousness, all I could think about was how I let Victoria down.

18

Silver-Capped Teeth Behavior

Victoria

He’s not getting better.

My eyes stung from unshed tears. They burned and eventually spilled over, landing on his pallid face. It’d only been twenty-four hours since he was bitten, and with every passing minute, Knox slipped further and further away. His breathing was more labored than the breath before, and his soft groans of pain made my chest fiercely ache.

I pressed my ear against his chest, and I was both relieved to feel it heave and terrified.

He’s alive… but for how much longer?

I’d done everything for him that I could. I immobilized his leg with bandages and a splint and tried to keep him as comfortable as possible.

At this point, it’s in God’s hands. But what if he dies? He can’t die here. He can’t leave me alone….

I shook my head, attempting to clear away the dreadful thoughts as if my mind were an Etch-a-Sketch. I wished that were true. I wished I could shake away the moment my world came crashing down—the moment Knox yelped in shock, the moment I witnessed his leg inflame before my eyes, and the moment I realized he’d die if I didn’t get him off that fucking island.

I’d never envisioned us being apart. I planned for everything, but for some reason, Knox’s death never even crossed my mind.

What am I going to do? How can I live without him? If he’s not here to hug me and lie with me in the hammock? Then what? Who’s going to cup my face and shake their head good-naturedly when I drink too much water before bed and have to wiggle out of his grasp to relieve myself? Who’s going to love me the way he does?

I closed my eyes and attempted to make peace with myself, Knox’s impending death, and my future.