Chapter 62 – Jace
JACE
“Just…just sit with me, please?”
Bonnie’s words replay over and over in my head, and I hug her thighs tighter, my head resting in her lap. Closing my eyes, I imagine her hands running through my hair like she used to do to Charlie and I when we were younger.
I exhausted myself searching every millimetre I could reach with my hands and feet, both inside and out of the bars we’re trapped behind.
I barely had the energy to cross the couple of feet to sit down beside Bonnie when I finally gave into her pleas. Her body had immediately leant into me, and despite my struggle to take on her weight in my current state, I didn’t say a word, just glad to feel her beside me.
When I could barely hold myself up, she pressed her lips to my temple and insisted I lie down. I resisted at first, determined to push through. She wasn’t able to take a break and lie down, so why should I?
Then I passed out.
When I woke up, I was crushing her into the metal bars behind her, all while she struggled not to make a sound. She wanted me to sleep; despite the pain it was causing her.
I couldn’t risk doing that to her again. So reluctantly, I shuffled down, lying my head in her lap and pressing close so I could still share some of my body heat with her.
But I’ve been wide awake since, and as the minutes or maybe hours - I really can’t tell - have passed, I’ve come to accept that the arsehole who trapped us in here really isn’t going to wake up.
I really did kill him.
And it may have been the biggest mistake of my life.
Because despite the fact that my head hasn’t stopped pounding, growing in intensity by the minute, and the constant ache of my ribs, not to mention the cuts, scrapes and other wounds that no doubt litter my body, my injuries aren’t our biggest concern right now.
It's not even that my teeth stopped chattering a while ago, my body giving up trying to generate body heat by shivering.
Winter is a few weeks away, the days are still warm enough even if the nights are cold. Not that any of that warmth reaches us here. It’s fucking freezing, especially given that fucker stripped me of my clothes.
I probably should drag myself over to his body and steal his clothes, but not only do I not have the strength and energy for that, I really don’t want to wear his clothes.
Bonnie is thankfully fairing a lot better than I am, at least her body is still shivering, still generating body heat and I huddle in even closer, sharing what little I have with her.
Still, the cold isn’t the biggest concern that has crept into my mind and refused to let go.
No, our biggest problem is time.
We have no way of telling how much time has passed down here in the dark. We have no way of knowing how long we’ve been here. How long since we last ate. How long since we last had something to drink.
I haven’t said anything yet. I don’t want to scare her, but when she pressed her lips to mine, I could feel that they were chapped. I’ve also heard her licking her lips and swallowing around nothing.
I killed the only person capable of giving us water. By killing him…I may have killed us both.
“Bonnie?” I break the long silence, worried that she hasn’t said anything in a long time, and desperate to hear the sound of her voice.
“Yeah?” she answers weakly, and worry overrides concern at how hoarse her voice is.
“Do you think,” my voice trails off, exhaustion pulling at me. “Do you think they’ll find us in time?”
There's no doubt in my mind that they will find us. I know Mitchell and Charlie won't stop until they do.
But they’re running on a timeframe they aren’t even aware of.
Three days.
That’s how long the human body can go without water under good conditions.
How long do I have? What affect will my injuries or whatever he injected me with, have on that time limit?
“They have to. I don’t want to die down here, Jace,” she confesses, and I don’t have the heart to tell her that it likely won’t be her that dies down here.
Her chances of surviving until they find us are significantly better than mine.
I know they are. I even prefer it. But…what will it do to her if she’s forced to sit in the dark while my lifeless body lies on top of her?
I should get up, move so that if it comes to that, she’s not trapped beneath me. My eyes sting at the thought, and my chest hurts in an entirely new way.
I don’t want to leave her.
I don't want to die down here either.
Please, Charlie…Please find us in time.