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“Zana, I’ll go. Just tell me where they are.”
“No, I have to do this.” Her face was white, but her expression was set. “Do you understand? I sat by and let him do this. I let him starve you all and take away your water and put Santana’s life in danger. It’s my fault she’s in this situation. I have to make it right.”
I took a deep breath, ready to argue, to snap that Zana had been as trapped as the rest of us by Conor’s actions—and then realized there was no point. Because at the end of the day, it didn’t really matter what I thought. What mattered was what Zana felt. And she felt she had to do this.
“Okay. I understand,” I said at last. “Go. But… be quick.”
Zana nodded.
“I will.”
And then she disappeared.
I don’t know how long it took. I only know that it felt like the longest time of my life, sitting there holding Santana’s icy hand, listening to her shallow, fluttering breathing and wondering if each breath might be the last. I was beginning to despair, to wonder if something had gone wrong, when I heard the sound of feet running on sand, far away but coming closer. The person was running, and I could hear the crack of branches as they swiped them impatiently aside. I gently let Santana’s hand go and stood up.
But it wasn’t Zana who appeared in the clearing, face scarlet and chest heaving. It was Angel.
“Lyla,” she gasped. She bent double, hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. “Lyla, I got a signal. I have spoke to someone. There—” She broke off, her breath catching in her throat, making her retch silently into the dirt. “There is a boat.”
CHAPTER 35
“WHAT DID YOU say?”
The voice came from the other side of the clearing, and we both turned to see Zana standing there, a tube of glucose tablets in one hand, a pack of cookies in the other, her face white and shocked.
“Zana,” Angel said, her face splitting with a huge grin. “Zana, there is a boat. I made contact with a boat. We are going to be rescued!”
“Oh my God,” Zana said. She moved to the veranda and then sat on one of the cane chairs as if her legs wouldn’t hold her. “Oh my God. Did you really? Is this real?”
“Yes, it is real. We were cut off when the battery died again, but they knew where we were. They knew the island. They were too far away to come themselves; they are just a small boat and did not have enough fuel to get to us and get back, but they will radio for help. We are going to be rescued!”
She grabbed me and began dancing me around the clearing. I let her pull me around, but I felt strangely numb. Zana, still sitting silent on the wicker chair, looked similarly stunned.
Then she seemed to shake herself back to reality and stood up.
“Santana.”
“Shit.” I pulled myself away from Angel. “Angel, I’m sorry—it’s Santa. She’s not well. We were trying to get some glucose into her.”
We both followed Zana inside the villa, where Santana was still lying on the bed, her face waxen now. Zana sat down next to her and began gently shaking her shoulders. “Santana. Santana, come on, wake up. You need to eat this.” She held the tablet to Santana’s lips, but Santana didn’t do anything, just lolled in her arms, her eyes moving uneasily under her closed lids.
“Crush it,” I said anxiously. “Crush the tablet against her teeth, rub it into her gums, maybe it’ll dissolve in her mouth.”
Zana broke off some fragments and tried to push them between Santana’s lips, but Santana only moved her head away.
“Santa,” Angel barked, making us all jump. Santana’s eyes opened briefly and she focused on Angel momentarily and licked automatically at the chalky-white fragments on her lips. “Santana, don’t fall asleep. Do you hear me?” She moved across, pushing Zana and me out of the way, shoved the rest of the tablet between Santana’s teeth and then held a cup of water to her lips. “Drink this, okay?”
Santana took a sluggish sip, and I heard the slow crunch as she chewed the rest of the glucose tablet and then swallowed.
“Give her another,” I said. I had been reading the packet Zana had left on the bed, and now I held out another tablet. “She needs at least three, maybe more.”
“Don’t like them…” Santana said thickly. “Taste… chalk…”
“Santana, you will eat this,” Angel said fiercely. “I do not want to hear any of this bullshit. You will eat this tablet.” She had been crushing the tablet I’d passed her between her fingers, and now she forced the shards between Santana’s lips. “And you will swallow this water.” She held the cup to Santana’s lips again, and Santana made a face but swallowed obediently like a little child. Her eyes were fully open now, a little glazed, but focused. “And another,” Angel said sternly. This time Santana nodded and took the tablet from Angel’s fingers, chewing it. She swallowed and sank back on the pillows, but this time her eyes didn’t slide shut. I felt the panic dammed up inside me begin to seep away, leaving my knees weak and trembling.
“Jesus.” I thought my legs might give way, and sat heavily on the end of the bed. “Santana, don’t do that, do you hear me? I really thought—”
“It’s not exactly by choice,” Santana said, a little croakily. Some color had returned to her cheeks, and she managed a smile. “But yeah… I should have noticed I was going low. Silly of me not to eat anything last night.”
