Page 19 of Hunted (Desert Island Duet #2)

Chapter thirteen

Darla

S oft murmuring penetrates my mind, where I’m currently floating on a cloud, thinking about nothing. It’s kind of nice, but those incessant voices get louder and louder until I start to recognize them.

“I don’t want to wait any longer! Go get the doctor, she should have woken up by now.” It’s Weston’s grumpy voice I can hear. What’s he so upset about? What doctor? This must be part of my dream.

“Just give her a little more time. She’ll come around,” Kingsley tells him softly.

“Are you sure she’ll like them? Maybe it’s too much?” Bower’s the one to speak this time.

Kingsley laughs as he replies, “I mean, it’s definitely too much, but she’ll love it. It helps distract from the cold white walls.”

White walls? This is a strange dream.

“Can you shut the fuck up for two minutes?” Weston barks, making me flinch. The voices go silent, and I start to float back up to my cloud. “Baby?” Weston whispers so softly, I almost don't hear him, but something in his voice has me descending again .

Although I can't see anything, it’s like my body starts to come back online.

I start to feel things around me. There’s something in my nose, and both my hands are being held.

Someone is rubbing their thumb over the back of my hand, and on the other side, someone’s stroking my arm.

I feel a sheet or blanket over me, far lighter than any blanket I’ve ever made.

A soft beeping reaches my ears, a steady pulse in the background.

“Zee?” Weston prods again. He’s on my right. I try to turn my head towards him, but I can’t tell if I moved or not. “Can you hear me?”

“Mmm…” I manage a tiny noise, which is followed by all of them saying my name in surprise.

“Good girl. Now why don’t you open your eyes for me?”

I try to open them, but they don’t respond, and I groan in frustration. It comes out much louder this time.

“She’s in pain! We need to up her meds!” Bower exclaims, and I try to shake my head. I’m not in pain, I’m just so tired. Like my body is struggling to come back online.

I take a deep breath and try again to open my eyes. I think about all their faces and how handsome they all are… About how much I love to look at them smile down at me as I run my fingers through their beards.

Finally, with great effort, a sliver of light reaches me, and I start to blink, my eyes adjusting to the harsh light. “That’s my good girl,” Weston whispers, and I turn my head to the dark blob I think is him as my eyes adjust.

As soon as he comes into focus, my face drops. “Oh no…” I grumble, reaching for his face.

“What’s wrong?” he asks in alarm, grabbing my hand and placing it against his cheek .

“You shaved.”

He blinks at me a few times, then the others burst out laughing. His lips twitch as he watches me. “You don’t like my face anymore, baby?” He gives me a mock pout, pulling a smile from me, which he mirrors with one of his own.

“I love your face with or without a beard,” I tell him honestly with a rasp.

“Here,” Reece pulls my attention to the other side as he offers me a cup of water with a straw. He helps hold it as I take a sip. The second it touches my tongue my eyes go wide in surprise. I pull back and look in the cup.

“Ice…” I whisper. “I forgot how cold drinks could be.”

“Is it too cold?”

“A little,” I tell him honestly.

“I’ll go get some without ice,” Kingsley says. I finally lift my head and take in the other two.

“You got new clothes,” I say, tilting my head, wondering where they got them. I read the words on the front of each shirt and somehow, I know they picked these out specifically for me. It warms my heart.

That’s when I really start to tune into what’s going on. My eyes roam past them to the rest of the space. White walls, a white paneled ceiling, a large glass window…

“We got out,” I whisper, my jaw dropping open as I grip Reece and Weston’s hands a little harder, hoping they will help ground me.

“My search team rescued us in a helicopter and took us straight here. We’re at a hospital in Madagascar.”

I nod, unsure what to say. I never really thought it would happen. Why don’t I remember the rescue? I do remember a helicopter… a flood of me mories hit me, and I glance down at my side, but I seem to be wearing a hospital gown.

I push the sheet down and grab the bottom of the gown and yank it up, just as Weston's hand drops down, right between my legs. I gasp as I look up at him in surprise. Was now really the time for that?

“You were about to flash the whole room; you don’t have anything on under there.” I glance over at Reece and blush.

“Whoops, sorry.”

“You can pull it up now. I’ll hold it in place here.”

I lift it, slower this time, as my core tingles in awareness from his hand being pressed against me. There’s a large bandage covering my side and I gently run my fingers over it. I flinch when my fingers graze over the wound… the bullet hole.

“He shot me,” I whisper, only now fully understanding what happened.

“Yes,” Weston says curtly, pulling my clothing back down and covering me with the sheet again. “And when you’re better, we’re going to have words about that.”

I frown as I look up at him. He looks pissed.

“Am… am I in trouble?”

“Yes,” all of them say at the same time, and I swing my wide eyes around to the others.

“Darla,” Reece says, lifting my hand and kissing the back of it, probably to soften the blow of his words. “What you did was reckless. You are most definitely in trouble.”

The way he and Weston are looking at me makes me feel nervous. I know they’re just mad I put myself in danger, but I hate disappointing them .

I glance up at Bower, who’s looking at me with pinched eyebrows, like he’s not sure what to think. Hoping to get the other two to lighten up a bit, I pull my hands from their grasp and open my arms towards where he stands behind Reece. “Bower? I need a hug.”

His eyes widen in surprise before he practically pushes Reece from his chair and takes a seat on the side of the bed and gently leans down and hugs me. When his mouth is near my ear, he whispers, “You play dirty, Tink. But I can never say no to you.”

I hug him tightly, silently thanking him for always being my light in the darkness. When he pulls back, he gestures to behind where he was standing. “What do you think?”

Along the side wall are dozens of potted plants, many with bright flowers blooming out of them. “They’re so pretty! Where’d they come from?”

“I got them for you, I thought it would help ease you out of jungle life and back into civilization.”

I thank him with a quick kiss before looking back at the plants.

I’d never given any thought to acclimatizing.

Especially since I never planned to leave the island.

But I guess the fact that drinking that ice water was difficult and uncomfortable says there might be more unexpected things that will be hard at first.

What if I cross a street without looking and get hit by a car?

“What? Where did that thought come from?” Bower asks.

“Did I say that out loud?” I ask in confusion, and he nods.

“Oh, I was just wondering what other things, like the ice water, will be difficult. What if I do something wrong?”

My heart starts beating fast in fear, I can hear the beeping of the monitor pick up speed as I try to hold back my tears .

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing you have us, isn’t it?”

I lick my lips nervously as I watch him for any sign of worry. But he just holds my hand in his and waits patiently for me to respond.

Before I can, Kingsley enters carrying a large pitcher of water. He pours me a cup and hands it to me.

“Thank you.” I take a small sip, and when I don’t feel that harsh coolness, I take another. It definitely tastes better than what I've been drinking.

“Take it easy, or you’ll be sick,” he warns, setting the jug down and pulling up another chair to sit beside Weston.

“How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?” he asks, and I take a moment to try and assess myself.

“My side is sore. My head is a little fuzzy and I feel really tired.”

He nods his head. “That’s all to be expected as the drugs are coming out of your system. But if the pain starts to hurt too much, we will have the doctor give you some more meds.”

“Don’t try to be brave about it,” Weston tells me. “If it hurts, you tell us straight away. We don’t want you in pain.”

“Okay, I promise I'll tell you." Glancing around I notice the open door to the… “Is that a bathroom?” I ask in excitement.

“It sure is,” Bower says with a smile. “But you can’t use it for another day.”

“What do you mean? Am I supposed to pee the bed or something?” I ask in confusion.

“You have a catheter in,” Reece states.

“A what?” I ask, looking over at him.

“It’s a small tube they stick up inside you to your bladder, so you don’t need to get out of bed. It’ll come out tomorrow afternoon. It’s after midnight, so technically, that’s today.”

With wide eyes, I turn to look between my legs, slowly lifting the sheet and noticing the small tube running down the bed and off to the side. I lean towards Weston and Kingsley and see a large bag on the floor, full of a yellow liquid.

“Oh my God! Is that my urine?!”

I drop the sheet and cover my face with my hands in embarrassment. “Sweetheart, don’t be embarrassed. It’s better than wetting the bed, don’t you think?”

I pull my hands down my face to look at him. He seems genuine in his explanation, so I just nod, deciding to change the subject.

“So, when can I get out of here?”

“A couple days, at most,” Reece answers.

“Then we’re going back to… San Francisco?” It feels weird calling it home after all this time.

They all exchange glances before all eyes turn to Reece.

He runs his hand through his hair and leans back in his chair. “We were thinking of taking a detour first.”

“To where?” I ask in confusion.

“Kenya. I think it’s about time we all find out what’s actually going on at the charity warehouse.” He turns to me as he adds, “ Your charity warehouse.”

“Mine?”