Chapter 10 – Emma
CHAPTER 10
EMMA
B arely two hours had passed since Nathan and I robbed armed drug makers. We barely escaped with our lives, and all we had to show for it was some rubber tubing… Oh– and some winterfresh chewing gum. That irony wasn’t lost on me since I’d been brushing my teeth with a frayed stick for the last two days.
Strangely, I already stopped shaking from my most recent brush with death. I didn’t know if it was a good or bad thing that I’d become so numb to all the stress.
Ce qui sera, sera.
Under all the pain I felt, the hornet stings, my worn-out feet... my nethers were now sore too. The thought reminded me of Nathan and brought a smirk to my face. Some sentimental part of my brain kept trying to convince me there was more to him than just hot, steamy jungle sex.
He's completely up-front and honest. I like that.
I wondered why he was so reluctant the night before. He said he wasn’t boyfriend material, that he was a shitty person when it came to relationships, and that he didn’t have the best track record when it came to women. Did he say all that because he's a military man and gone all the time or something else?
The only reason I rationalized ignoring all his bright red flags – I mean, how often does a man straight up tell you he's a bad idea – is that I'm not looking for anything serious.
While some part of me can't wait to get a big plate of Jelana’s dumplings and a hot bath, another part of me dreads being dropped off in Puerto Rico and saying goodbye to him.
My hunger, exhaustion, and dehydration may cloud my judgment. But still, the last few days have left me feeling more alive than ever.
I recalled all that I'd been through; I jumped off a twenty-foot rock into a lagoon without hesitating. I’d snuck into a cartel's drug barn and escaped alive, cooked and eaten bugs without puking, survived being shot out of the sky by a MIG, and faced my worst fear–dying in a plane crash, all while a corrupt politician's been gunning for me and my client's death.
I feel on the edge of being someone new.
Hell, maybe I already am.
There's so much I assumed about who I was and what I was capable of that just doesn't make sense anymore.
Was I supposed to just go back to my tedious, unchanging hampster wheel of a life, living vicariously through my clients' drama while having none of my own, and just forget about all of this… forget about him ?
An odd-looking bush caught my eye. I wouldn’t have thought twice about it, except that the fruit blooming in the middle reminded me of an enormous upside-down pinecone. It was a little bit funny because the plant next to it was shaped like a bird’s head with its mouth open, and it looked like the bird was holding a pine cone in its beak. Odd what your brain does to pass the time when you don’t have a phone to distract yourself.
“Come here for a sec.” Nathan waved me up. “Would you walk up front for a bit? Just… keep heading in that direction.”
He pointed and I shrugged but did as he asked. Maybe he was feeling gassy and wanted to lag behind to have some time alone. I tried not to think about my aching back or the wasp stings still throbbing that might still have stingers needing to be picked out.
When we passed the red flower that looked like a smiling starfish, I was positive we’d gone in a circle.
“Nathan, I think we might be lost.” I looked back at him.
“We’re not lost.” His lack of hesitation made me second-guess myself, but only for a second.
“I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this tree before.” I pointed to the happy starfish flower. “So unless–”
“We went in a circle on purpose.” He cut me off.
I dropped my arms to my sides. “Nathan, my feet are killing me. Why the hell are we walking in circles?”
He glanced down at the ground between us and nodded for me to follow his gaze. There, in the soft earth, a perfect paw print showed.
“Holy hell.” I crouched to look closer, stretching out my hand to compare the size. “Is that from a dog? We don't have bears...”
“A cat,” he said flatly.
“A cat?” My eyes widened and I looked up at him. The print was almost as big as the palm of my hand. A chill ran up my spine. “You mean a big cat… like a lion?”
“No, there aren’t any lions here.” He rubbed the back of his neck, looking back the way we came. “Something smaller… A leopard maybe. Still big enough to ruin our day.”
“Oh.” I swallowed hard.
“I circled once because I wasn’t sure.” He let out a heavy sigh. “You can kinda get a sense of what's out here just by listening to the place, and something's been off for about a mile. Didn't want to scare you before confirming, you know?"
“Well, I appreciate that.” Putting my hands on my hips and looking between the trees where we'd just walked from, I tried not to let my fear show. “So is this one of those situations where if the thing attacks, you play dead?”
“No.” He chuckled, widening his eyes. “If it shows itself, make yourself look as big as possible. Don’t look it in the eye, but don’t run. Clap your hands and yell. Don’t act like a prey animal, or it’ll charge.”
“And if it charges?” My mouth went dry at the thought.
“You fight.” He looked me in the eye. “Fight like hell and protect your head and neck.”
I nodded, and we pressed on. Nathan didn’t say another word until the sound of running water caught our attention. A few more feet, and we came to a winding river.
Thank goodness. I dropped to one knee and started washing my face and arms. The cool water thrilled my senses. I cupped my now clean-ish hands and took a long, greedy drink.
“If we cross over, do you think it’ll stop following us?” I looked up at Nathan who stood with his arms crossed, keeping his eyes on the trail behind us.
“Nah, leopards can swim.” He looked down at me and smiled. “But if we build a raft…”
“A raft?” I laughed, staring slack-jawed at the stream that wound along the bank. “The water is flowing in exactly the opposite direction of where we want to go.”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “And if we weren’t getting tailed by a furry killing machine, I’d say we should keep going, but under the circumstances, our best bet might just be to ride this out all the way to the coast and follow the beach back to the plane.”
My head spun and my vision went fuzzy.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I braced the heels of my hands against my thighs, hanging my head upside down to get blood flowing back into it. “I don’t suppose there’s an option C, is there?”
“I mean, I could try to kill it, but I’m at an evolutionary disadvantage.” He shrugged.
“No.” I groaned. “I didn’t mean that, I just… really want to get out of this jungle.”
“Well, at least on a raft, you won’t have to walk for a while.”
Some part of me wanted to pout, but the man did make an excellent point. That wry smile of his was so damn cute, that I couldn’t help but smile back.
“You’d better make that burger a meal with a milkshake when we get to Puerto Rico, Captain.”
“And an extra side of onion rings.” He pulled me into a hug and I melted against him. “I’m getting you out of here, Doc. I promise.”
I knew he could only do so much to keep that promise, but it still made me feel better to know he would do everything he could to keep me safe. That I did believe.
It was damn near impossible to find logs that were the right size and shape we needed. We started with four long ones, lying parallel to each other, and two shorter ones to lay crossways at each end. With Nathan’s knife being the only tool at our disposal, he got to work cutting notches to make the logs fit together.
“This looks more like a lounge chair than a raft.” I held out my hands to demonstrate that it was only about twice as wide as my hips.
“We don’t have time to make a big one,” Nathan explained. “Just something to keep us above the water long enough to get away from whiskers out there.”
"You named it? Why would you name it, Nathan?"
"Whiskers. Blondie. Doc. Make's 'em less intimidating when they get cute names, you know?
"Mr. Whiskers it is then." I skeptically replied.
Looking down at the holes that had formed in both knees of my designer slacks, I leaned against a tree with the intention of ripping them into a new pair of capris. I had no idea that the deadliest animal on the island was just under my feet.
A fer de lance coiled into an S shape, hissed, and rattled, but I was already too close to avoid its reach.
Time slowed as its shiny pink mouth opened, exposing two curved needle-like teeth.
I tried not to move, thinking any motion would startle it, but it launched itself up at me anyway, the flash of movement too fast to comprehend, much less avoid.
A loud clop sound made me yelp as Nathan’s knife met the snake. I jumped away, blinking, unsure of what had happened, until I saw the snake pinned to the tree, its mouth closing as the life drained from it.
“Fuck me!” I hugged myself and walked in a circle trying to rub the crawling feeling off my arms. “How did you? What the–”
“You okay?” Nathan stood up and rushed over to me “I just about lost you with that one!”
I reached down and rubbed my calves just to be sure the snake really had not connected with my legs. “Oh my God, I’m so sick of this fucking place.”
If Nathan’s aim had been off by even an inch, his knife would have been buried in my shin bone. But after having seen a documentary or two on what a snake bite can do, especially if you don’t get to a hospital immediately, I was nothing but grateful for his steady aim.
"I guess I owe you free therapy for that one. I'm afraid I'm the one who's gonna need it though, Nathan."
Falling once again into the comfort of his arms, I scanned the trees for the cat who belonged to the track we’d seen as he gave me a gentle squeeze.
Saint Lucia is one of the tamest, smallest jungles in the world. Yet every square inch of it wanted to kill us.
That leopard could be watching us right now, and we wouldn’t even know. The thought made me shiver, but it was all the more reason to double down on surviving. The only way for me to make it through any of this was by being tougher than everything trying to sting, bite, or consume me.
It definitely helped, having a big strapping SEAL as my own personal protector. Using vines like twine, Nathan taught me how to tie a clove hitch and a square knot to lash the long logs to each other. He demonstrated how the shorter logs would run horizontally at each end and how to make sure each one was secure.
I must have gotten it wrong a dozen times, but when I finally pulled that first knot tight, I suddenly felt utterly empowered, like I wasn’t just dead weight to the man trying desperately to keep me alive.
With a renewed sense of determination, I tied another knot… and another. I kept going until my fingers were red and raw and then I tied a few more.
We're going to get out of this, and we'd do it together.
Thankfully, I got another chance to turn my slacks into cutoffs because the heat was relentless. By the time the raft was finished, it was dark and the last couple knots were tied by the light of our fire.
“Hungry?” Nathan carefully pulled the wide, flat rock away from the flames and presented the cooked snake.
“Oh, hell yes.” I cuddled up next to him. “I never thought I’d be so excited to eat a reptile.”
“I mean, it’s basically chicken.” He handed me a three-inch section. “Just watch out for little bones. They’re like needles.”
Taking a delicate bite, I chewed slowly, wrinkling my nose at the gamey flavor as Nathan laughed.
“That good, huh?” He teased.
“I don’t know what the hell kind of chicken you’re used to eating, but that’s nothing like chicken.” I licked my lips and took another bite, pulling out the tiny fish-like bones. “If anything, it’s like… calamari… without the breading… that’s been sitting in my freezer for a year.”
Nathan’s brow furrowed and he poked his bottom lip out, looking down at the gray half-tubes of meat on the rock. “I guess it could use a little salt, but I didn’t think it’d be that bad.”
“This thing’s still trying to kill me.” I pulled a pointy bone out of my mouth and tossed it into the fire. “Only because you called him a freezer-burned octopus.”
“Oh, right, blame the victim, pshh.” I smiled as I chewed another bite. “It’s better than crickets.”
“No, you already hurt my feelings.” He raised his eyebrows and turned his nose up. “See if I cook for you again anytime soon.”
“Awww, don’t be like that.” I leaned on his shoulder and he laughed, putting his arm around me. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize to me, apologize to the snake.”
He assured me the cat wouldn’t come near a fire in the middle of the night, but he still insisted on staying up to keep watch. With a full stomach, I laid my head in his lap and slipped almost seamlessly into sleep.
Nathan and I walked hand in hand along the beach, the soft sand warm beneath our feet. We strolled toward a quaint little cottage with a white picket fence nestled amid tall sand reeds, exuding charm as the sun set behind it. The picturesque white house beckoned a sense of peace and belonging—it felt like home.
In the gentle breeze, a swing set let out a soft, melodic squeak, adding to the serenity. I glanced down and felt the gentle swell of my pregnant belly, a new life blossoming within me. A strange, sparking sensation leaped through my body, and with a sudden clarity, I realized I was carrying our child.
The revelation filled me with an unexpected and profound reassurance that everything in the world was exactly as it should be.
Feeling someone was watching us, I looked towards the house, expecting to see a child or neighbor. A large cat with an orange and black dotted pattern stared dead into my eyes through the window. Its yellow, slitted eyes narrowed and its whiskers vibrated with a silent, distant growl.
I felt a delicate stir in my belly.
Looking down again, my belly was significantly larger now. The movement must have been a kick from my baby! I brushed a tear away from my eye, overwhelmed with joy.
I looked past my belly to my toes, wiggling with excitement, a huge paw print between them in the sand.
I stirred, feeling Nathan’s hand rubbing my shoulder, pulling me back to the waking world. I rolled over to find the sky alight with the first blush of dawn and remembered that this… all of this … was just a dream. A dream that, sooner or later, I’d have to fully wake up from.
“You okay?” He frowned. “You sounded like you were having a bad dream.”
“No,” I sniffled, not even realizing I was crying, until I wiped the tears from my eyes. “It was a nice dream. I think.”
The words had barely left my mouth when I realized I must have thoroughly lost my mind. Dreams are something from your subconscious that you can’t control. I sat up and shook off the haze, still off-kilter from how real every detail had felt.
No… Regardless of what society expects, and regardless of what my cave-woman brain thinks I want, I would not choose such a simple life for myself.
As we put out the embers of the fire and prepared to shove our little raft into the river for its maiden voyage, I reminded myself of how hard I worked to get where I was in life. I don’t need white picket fences and babies with a man I barely know. My life is good. I like it the way it is.
I repeated it a dozen times until I almost believed it to be... almost true.