When I woke up again, Mason was there. His fingers clasped mine. I didn’t have the strength to clasp his back. At first, I assumed I’d only nodded off for a few moments and that he hadn’t yet left.
But then he said, “I’m sorry it took me so long to get back here. I barely slept last night. That guy’s been lingering outside my room. It’s got me completely paranoid.”
I was paranoid too. What if that guy came into my room? What if Mason didn’t visit me again for days? I also worried about my temperature. How high was it? At what point did the brain start to fry?
He let go of my hand and slid a plastic container through the hole. Inside were some pale pink disks, the size of half-dollars, and a handful of white pills. “That’s the pain reliever from the migraine I had during my second week here, and some antacids from that stomach bug I got. I took a couple of the pain pills. They didn’t kill the migraine, but they definitely helped. I didn’t touch the antacid because it smelled like mint and I have an allergy. Next time I get abducted and sick, I’ll remember to specify: non-mint antacids. Live and learn, right? Do you have some water?”
I reached for the bottle and popped a pain pill into my mouth. I drank it down, desperate for relief.
“I think you’re supposed to let the antacid dissolve in water.”
“What if I puke up the water?”
“Silly rabbit. That’s the whole point of an antacid—so you don’t puke. I need you to get better.”
“And what if I don’t?”
“Don’t think like that. You will get well, and as soon as that happens, we’re out of here. I’ve found us a way out, but you’ll need your strength for climbing, jumping, scaling…”
“I’m scared,” I admitted, able to hear the fear in my voice: a deep and scratchy wobble.
“I’ll stay until I know you’re okay.”
“I don’t want you to get caught.”
“I care more about you than I do about getting caught. Hopefully, between the antacids and the pain pills, you’ll get some relief. If not, I’ll demand you get help. I’ll bust down the wall, even if it means sacrificing myself.”
I tried to break the antacid with my fingers, but I didn’t have the strength. My muscles quivered. My joints ached. I popped the disk into my mouth and crumbled it with my teeth, then spit the pieces into the water and watched them dissolve—like a snowstorm, only pink. I drank the liquid. It smelled like peppermint but tasted like liquefied chalk.
Mason placed his hand, palm open, through the hole. “I’m going to stay here while you sleep. Just in case.”
“In case…?”
“Don’t worry. Just focus on getting well.”
“No. Tell me.”
“Nothing. It’s just, like I said, I had the pain med, but I never tried the antacids. I’m sure they’re fine, just like the capsules were fine. But I like to be extra cautious, okay?”
Not okay. My heart filled with panic.
“Look, if he’d wanted to drug or poison either one of us, he could’ve done so a hundred times over by now. I mean, think about it—the guy prepares all of our meals.”
I was too tired to talk. And so, I curled up on the floor, with my hand pressed in his palm, closed my eyes, and waited for the effects.