Writing Lanie - Forbidden Heart Series Book 2

45| Daydreams

Ayden
SAWYER

"Drink this, Nate," I ordered my best friend. He's been extremely annoying and trying to save all of the water for me, when he was the one who needed it most.

Nate groaned and coughed before he opened his mouth. I tilted the bottle and poured as much water into his mouth as he could take. He swallowed and held up his hand to let me know he had enough.

"We need to do something. We aren't going to last much longer like this," I said to him.

I've been bandaging and cleaning his wound for, what I could only guess, has been a week or so. I've gone out everyday looking for more food and water. We were basically in the middle of the fucking desert. I knew our only chance was for me to start going out a little further than I have been . Given the severity of Nate's injury, I wasn't comfortable leaving him alone for that long. 

Yes, I was able to stop him from bleeding out, but all of my medical school training was telling me that he had an infection. And it was only going to get worse before he turns septic. Once that happened, there wasn't much anyone could do for him. 

"I told you to go without me," Nate grumbled. "You never listen to me."

I huffed at him. "Yeah, right. How do you think its going to go if I show up back home without you? Lanie would be devastated."

He coughed a little and I hated the sound of it. "Maybe. But we both know that if you stay out here with me, she's going to lose both of us. You need to be there for that baby, Ayden. And Lanie. She needs you."

"She needs us. I'm not leaving you here. So stop whining about it."

There was no way in hell I was leaving Nate behind. I needed to figure out a way to signal a chopper or something. And if I was able to signal someone, there was a chance it could be the enemy who found us. When we first got stranded out here, I was hoping that our team was going to be able to find us within a day or two. I was not expecting this. When Nate had woken up that first day, he said he spoke to our unit and told them what happened. Unfortunately, the phone died before they could get a good signal on our location. 

I tried to use his cellphone, but the damn thing had no service. Then it died. Everything was fucking dying. Including the two of us, if I didn't think of a way to get us out of here. Nate and I barely had any food left, let alone water. If he didn't die from his injury, he was going to die of starvation and dehydration.

I ran my hands over my face as I thought of Lanie. God, she must be terrified. I tried so hard to think of a way to contact her. It was useless. She's been invading my mind and my thoughts; and it was probably the main thing keeping me going. I needed to get back to her. I needed to get both Nate and I back to her and the baby. I tried picturing what she would look like when the baby started to grow and her stomach would expand. It brought a smile to my face every time. 

I could see her lying beside me while I talked to the baby. Or feeling the baby kick. That's what I really wanted. I wanted to feel our baby kick. I never saw myself as a dad. Not until Lanie handed me that black and white ultrasound picture. It felt like a part of my life just came together; and I owed it all to Lanie. 

I thought about one of the mornings we were in bed together when I was visiting for her birthday...

"Tell me a secret," Lanie whispered as she snuggled up close to me in the bed.