Page 119 of Blue Arrow Island
“Is that why you wanted to study medicine?”
“She was definitely an influence. She was a single mom from the time I was five, and there were times I had to hang out in the staff lounge for a few hours because she couldn’t get a sitter.”
It’s hard for me to imagine Marcus as a little boy. He doesn’t seem like he was ever silly or carefree.
“Can I ask what happened to your dad?”
I feel his scoff beneath my cheek. “He was a deadbeat who did us both a favor when he took off permanently.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. My mom taught me everything I needed to know about being a man. She worked sixty hours a week and never missed one of my football games.”
I sit up straight so I can see his face. “Sounds like she was a great mom.”
A hint of a smile quirks at the corners of his lips. “The best. She made me volunteer a few hours a week in the hospital day care from the time I was ten. I changed diapers, helped kids learn to read, and rocked sick kids to sleep. And as soon as I hit high school, every time I left to do something with friends, she’d ask me if I was ready to be a father. Of course I said no. Then she’d give me this look and tell me to remember that when I thought about having sex.”
I can’t help laughing.
His smile grows and he shakes his head. “I was a virgin until I was nineteen, thanks to Nat Wells.”
“Wells? That’s your last name?”
“Yeah.”
“So who was the lucky woman when you were nineteen?”
“Her name was Nicki. We met in a freshman history class.”
Jealousy toward someone I don’t even know burns hot in my chest. I change the subject before he tells me anything more about it.
“Have you seen Flavius today?”
“Nope. But I don’t think he’s far.”
The rain gets lighter and I stand up. “We might as well get back at it.”
“Yeah.” He’s too tall to stand up fully beneath the rock overhang, so he steps outside of it.
I can’t sleep more than a couple of hours a day. Somehow, my body knows we’re exposed and it won’t fall into a deep sleep. As long as I get enough water and some food every day, I feel okay.
Marcus has adjusted to his aromium. He has an erection most of the time and he still looks at me like he’s starving and I’m dinner, but he seems to be able to focus on the search, too.
It’s late afternoon, the heat at its peak for the day. My feet are sore from constant wetness and walking, but all I can do is let them air out once a day and try to dry my socks and shoes.
“I have to use the facilities,” I say, walking toward a grouping of trees nearby.
He busies himself checking supplies, staying in earshot but not watching. I’m crouching behind a massive tree when I see movement in the corner of my eye.
My heart drops to my stomach. It’s a jaguar, slowly stalking in my direction. My mind freezes; I can’t remember what to do when a jaguar is near. Should I run? Play dead?
It takes another step, dropping its head slightly. I stand and pull my pants back up, calling Marcus’s name without screaming it as I zip and button my pants.
A jaguar mauled that Rising Tide guy to death, and he was surrounded by people with aromium. I apologize to the universe for my thoughts about our search conditions being tough.
My sore feet and sunburned scalp don’t compare to getting my throat ripped out by a jaguar.
“Marcus,” I say, a little louder this time.
