Page 102 of Fade (Fighting Fate)

I didn’t know how long I lay like that on the floor. Wesley didn’t move either. I hoped like hell he was still alive. Too much time felt like it had passed to be real, but then I heard more noises, and a bucket appeared in front of my face. I sighed as a soft hand caressed my forehead.

“Come.”

Forcing my eyes open, I found a girl’s face staring back at me. I couldn’t be certain, but I thought it might have been the same girl I’d seen in there before.

She tugged on my arm. “Come.”

I tried to shake my head. Come where? I didn’t understand.

“I help,” she said, tugging again.

Using every ounce of energy I had left, I shifted my body, trying to let her help me. Together, we moved to the other side of the cell, where the cloth that was my bed lay. Urging me back down, she propped my head up with some towel and went to retrieve her bucket.

I watched her wring the cloth out before bringing it up to wipe my face. The frown on her brow held deep concentration and sadness. “Sick,” she said. “Very sick.”

Yeah. It seemed that way to me too.

When she was done, she held out a little cup with some brown liquid inside. Pressing it into my hand, she gestured with her hand to drink. “Take,” she said. “Help.”

Under normal circumstances, there was no chance in hell I’d drink that shit. But I was beyond caring. I hurt, and I wanted it to end. Even if it meant it killed me.

Raising the cup, I threw it down, grimacing when the liquid burned all the way down my throat.

Dropping my head back again, I let go, all my energy used. The girl watched me for a while, slowly dabbing the cloth over my face.

“Mali,” she said. I opened my eyes. She pointed at her chest. “Mali,” she said again.

The fuzziness in my brain was trying to tell me something important, but I couldn’t decipher it. Eventually, I figured it out. Her name was Mali. Taking a deep breath, I tried to place my hand on my own chest, but failed. “Daniel,” I said, my eyes barely opening. “I’m Daniel.”

Between blinks, I saw her look over her shoulder, watching for the guards. She leaned forward, carefully wiping the cloth through my hair. “You free Yazidi girls,” she whispered.

In my haze, I almost missed it.

My focus sharpened. “Yes. I did.”

She locked her gaze on mine for a long while. Then she nodded. “I help.”

I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but I prayed it meant she was going to help me get the hell out of here.

Chapter 55

Amy

Deployed time: 26 weeks

MIA: 16 weeks

From: Amy Benson [email protected]

To: Daniel Stephenson [email protected]

Date: Fri, October 7, 2016 at 4:48 PM

Subject: Angel

Daniel,

Today our little angel turns one month old. She is still the most beautiful little thing I have ever seen. Every day she continues to grow, ounce by ounce. She barely needs the machine to help her breathe anymore. She’s a little fighter, just like her Dada.

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