CHAPTER 43 - ILL
Two months after that day, Georgie remained in my bed with a raging fever. Except, no medic had the medicine we needed. Adam was able to move to the sofa on his own for the first time.
Ever since she fainted, she was unable to walk and barely spoke coherently. Georgie was unlike her usual cheery, talkative self. My heart in many ways was torn at the sight of her. I wanted to hear her speak again. I wanted to take her to the waterfall but how would that be possible if there are ladders everywhere?
We spent each day helping everyone recover, myself included. Relaxing, eating, sleeping and working together like never before. Adam is still recovering mentally, his scars were fading like mine. Eagle gathered up the water bottles from the spare room and the food resources.
Grant sat on the sofa most days giving everyone food with the chef. Adam and I even spoke about the surveillance room. Georgie had no idea that Ryan was working with the Rioters or that he was my fiance. I didn't want her to realise the danger we were in but there's only so much you can prevent. After all, the whole town was slaughtered in front of us. She has lived in a town with no proper sewage systems or running water. Riddled and confined with diseases and illnesses. Her friends- dead. All of them.
No one attacked the bar again when we got the remaining supplies from there now and then. No one came near the Fireplace. It was us and our crew. Preparing for what was ahead. But even then, we had no plan. Recklessness was key. Main priorities shifted. Georgie was more important than anything. That includes my memories. I can't lose myself in this path of mine. I've met wonderful people that I could never replace. The people I never had in my past. Everyone is closer to me now. Except the Upper District. Was it like that before? Even then, it didn't matter.
My family is here. Right in front of me.
I took out the note that I had ever since I got up. I still clung onto that note from my 'saviour' like it was only my hope. All of that felt like years ago or from another dimension or world. Nothing was ever simple after coming out here. I want to see everything. See the places and things I've seen before and see everything that I didn't know. Everything that I could've saved. I could've helped every other kid like Georgie but I didn't. Just how many died? It didn't matter anymore. I will stop this.
For what I know now is something that I never knew back then. And for that, that was more to me than anything. I'm smarter. Braver. And I am prepared to face whatever is next. Hoyt is next. Well, seeing how far he'll go to kill me while we go to this location.
Adam could finally walk and talk properly after two months. But the trauma of the kidnapping stayed with him. I wouldn't blame him. I slept on the floor next to Georgie. We occasionally could hear Adam say things in his sleep. We all knew that while he was asleep, fear took over him when he was on his own. I pulled the covers over his body as he shivered. Adam grabbed my hand softly. He finally gained most of the weight he lost, I looked at him, noticing how his face was illuminated by the night sky, revealing the dark circles under his eyes and his chapped lips. With the right treatment and care, we should be able to go again into the wilderness.
He rubbed his eyes before opening them to look straight at me. My stomach flipped as he smiled.
"Can't sleep?" Adam said.
"Yeah, it's Georgie." I muttered under my breath as I looked up at the ceiling.
"It'll be okay, you know how strong she is." He answered.
"Adam, don't sugar coat it. How bad is it?" I asked.
He sighed as he sat up and touched my cheek, my throat dried up as I thought about losing her.
"Really- really bad." He said softly under his breath, "but she's like you. Strong as ever."
I nodded as I sat next to him, I squeezed his hand for comfort. Adam smiled at me as he looked at everyone else asleep.
"Thank you." I muttered, "we're not going anywhere- not yet."
"I know, we have time." Adam answered as he let go of me, "I don't want to leave her like that. I know my anger can get the best of me sometimes but I care. You made me realise that on the day when I thought she smashed the phone."
"What will you do to stop the anger?" I asked as he faced me with a grin.
"Well, therapy? Doctor Franc." He said as he rubbed his temples before mimicking Doctor Franc and his clipboard, making me laugh until I heard Georgie sobbing in pain again.
We didn't say anything as we rushed to my room and turned on the torch, I shut the door slowly as Adam sat Georgie up carefully and put a cloth into the tub of water we had onto her forehead again. Georgie looked at me as I held her hand before letting go of her to find some painkillers.
"Don't go-" She said in a scratchy voice, my heart felt heavy, wondering if she'd ever recover.
I rushed back to her. My stomach churned, as my palms become sweaty. Tears rolled down my face as I buried my face on her shoulder. Adam watched for a moment before joining us in a hug. Looking up, I felt Adam's and Georgies arms around me, making me feel loved and all sorts of pain. I could have lost them. I can still lose them.
I'll tell him everything I know. I noticed a small tattoo near his neck, it was fading as the days went by. But the more and more I looked at it, I couldn't help but wonder what it meant. When I saw him again for the first time, his face was slightly burnt. Now that burn was healing. But was he healing mentally? Probably not. The more and more you prod into something like a fire, the bigger and wilder it grows. It's more dangerous. Adams' burn was still on his face and so was the tattoo.
We parted from the hug, Adam sat at the end of the bed, as I stood up to grab the torch and a book.
"It'll all be okay," I said with the worst fake smile, I tried to hide my true feelings but I failed, "We'll get through this. Together."
Adam nodded as he flipped open a page to the book I handed him. I helped Georgie lie back down after giving her the painkillers again without her screaming out in pain. She winced as Adam pulled the bedsheets above her shoulders. Georgie didn't smile as she gave in and coughed for a good few minutes before stopping.
"Here's a story about a girl who lived with the riches." Adam muttered as he turned a page, looking at me with a small smile, "she thought she was the only one out there suffering. But there were more and more people like her, fighting to survive. And she met a lot of different people: merchants, lawyers, bodyguards and a child."
Now, I don't ever think that Adam will back down now. Not after that surprise attack. Not after anything. Now, he will show his true colours and I'll do the same. Whether that's good or bad. We're staying here. With Georgie. His true colours are no longer in the limelight. Nor will they ever go back to how it was before and that's okay.
He has changed.
And so have I.
We can't lose her.
"The girl loved all the people she met but she has to go soon. To find the truth about her life and what her family was hiding." I continued as I rubbed Georgies skinny hands.
She looked at me before a sweat dripped down her forehead as she spoke.
"What happens at the end? Does the girl keep the child? And does she stay there?" She asked.
"We don't know that just yet." Adam answered.
"But one day, we will." I said as Georgie fell asleep.