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“Oh God. He’s hallucinating. I don’t know what to do, Melody. Tell me what to do,” Cyrus cried.
“I’m sorry…didn’t want…to hurt…you…”
And then everything went black again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Cyrus
“I’ve got to get him some medication,” I told Melody, trying to tamp down the panic rising inside me.
“You need to get him to a hospital.”
That was definitely something I should do, but I also knew Crow, knew he didn’t trust anyone and how bad his experiences with the outside world had been. I worried what would happen if they tried to take him to the hospital. My mind flashed back to the way he’d nearly broken that guy’s hand, how his wrists had been bruised from the handcuffs. He would hate me.
But he would be alive.
That was the most important thing.
“I have to…I have to try something else first.” He was sleeping again now, though I didn’t know how long that would last. Sometimes it was brief, others it was hours.
The past two days had felt like the longest of my life. I hadn’t gotten any sleep, my mind unable to shut down, my worry for Crow a heavy weight that just kept growing.
I could call Officer Paulson. He’d given me his number, but I worried what Crow would do if the police showed up on his property.
“Can you meet me?”
“It’s dangerous to drive the truck down the mountain now. Not from as high up as he is.”
“I know. I can take the snowmobile.” A plan was forming in my head, one that was dangerous and probably stupid, but I needed to do this. I needed to be there for Crow, to give him what he needed without taking him off the mountain he loved so much.
“You’ll get lost.”
Shit, that was true, but… “Wait. What if you turn your location on for me? I can use my phone to follow directions to get down the mountain to you. Only drive up as far as is safe for you, and then…then I’ll make sure Crow’s is turned on for me too, so I can make my way back up to him.”
“He has a phone?”
I ignored that because it wasn’t important, not right now. “I’m so sorry, Melody. I hate that I’m asking so much of you. I didn’t even spend time with you when you asked, and now I’m… I love him.”
“It’s okay. You can make it up to me. What do you need?”
I gave her a list of medications and asked her to also get a humidifier, pulse oximeter, and a few other things. We would be fucked if he needed antibiotics.
“Are you sure this is a good idea, Cyrus?”
No, I absolutely wasn’t, but I didn’t know what else to do. I had to try and help Crow while keeping him home before I did anything else. “No, but it’s what he would want. If…if something happens to me and I don’t make it down, you have to call 911 and find a way for them to get up here and help him. Promise me, Melody.” She didn’t answer for a moment, and I begged, “Please…”
“Yes. I promise, but nothing better happen to you. I’d like to actually be able to hang out with you sometime.”
My heart swelled. Her unwavering friendship, without even really knowing me, meant the world to me. “Thank you…I don’t know what to say. I’ve never known someone like you.” Never had a friend like her. Tranquility wasn’t perfect, but it had brought me Melody…it had given me Crow.
“Thank me by not dying and then buying me lunch when you come back down the mountain.”
“Deal.” I chuckled, feeling anything but light.
We made plans. Melody would go to the store and then find a safe place to meet me. When she was there, she would text, and I’d head down. Cell signal was spotty on the mountain. That was a big concern, but I told myself that wouldn’t happen, that it would be okay because we deserved this. Crow deserved to get better, and I couldn’t lose him. I would die if I lost him.
It felt like an eternity before Melody let me know she was on her way up. Crow was still sleeping. I made sure the location on his phone was on and scribbled a quick note to tell him where I was before kissing his cheek. His skin was still on fire, the fever raging on.
