The Missing by Kiersten Modglin

Author:Kiersten Modglin [Modglin, Kiersten]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kiersten Modglin
Published: 2021-05-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

When I woke up again, the sun had begun to peek over the horizon, painting the sky brilliant shades of reds, blues, and purples. I sat up, taking off the shirt Noah had lent me and rinsing my body in the stream. Ava began to stir, waking James up as well, and I smiled at her when she opened her eyes.

I finished rinsing off, dabbing the water across my skin carefully, and pulled the shirt back over my head. The bikini I’d been wearing for days now had begun to chafe and rub, and I desperately wanted to take it off but had nothing to replace it with. I knew everyone was likely dealing with a similar situation.

“Morning,” I said, when Ava sat up.

“Morn—” she stopped, her face full of confusion. Then, she scrambled to stand and rushed toward the tree line again, emptying the remaining contents of her stomach. The combination of the rising sun and the noise of her retching drew Noah and Harry from their sleep as well, and Harry rubbed a hand over his eye.

“Ava?” James rushed across the clearing, reaching for her. He looked at me. “Do we have any more water?”

“I don’t want—” She tried to speak, but was interrupted by more sickness.

“We don’t have any more anyway,” Harry said, “but we can boil some.”

“Is it the water making her sick?” Noah asked, his voice deep from sleep.

“It can’t be,” Harry told him, reassuring us all. “Not if no one else is sick, too. It has to be something else.” He sat up, his body hunched over in thought. “It could be blood sugar… Are you diabetic? We already asked you that, didn’t we?”

Ava dabbed her mouth, staying still for a few moments as if to make sure she wasn’t going to be sick again. Then, she shook her head. “No, I’m not diabetic,” she croaked out.

At Harry’s question, I remembered the day we’d gotten off the boat, how weak Ava had felt then. We’d asked her the same questions… That felt like a lifetime ago.

“You said you don’t have any illnesses, right? I’m not trying to pry, but if you’ve missed your medicine for a while, that could explain why you’re the only one who’s sick.”

“No, nothing like that. I’m healthy,” she said. “No medicine except a multivitamin I usually forget to take and melatonin to help me sleep.”

“Then what could it be?” James asked, resting his forehead against her temple. “She can’t travel like this.”

“James, I’m fine, I—”

“No,” I agreed. “He’s right. Harry, we can’t have her traipsing all around the island while she’s obviously sick. It could be any number of things: a parasite, dehydration, some weird tropical island sickness…”

“We have to get to the cliff,” Harry argued, his tone soft and understanding. “I hear what you’re saying, I really do. But it’s the only way to see what’s around us and figure out a way out of here. We have to go.”

“Then I’ll stay with her here. The rest of you can go,” James said.

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