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I had to be strong. I couldn't dissolve into tears when I saw Chance. He looked just like he did on the computer screen. He seemed to be sleeping soundly. I laid my head on his chest and verified that he was breathing. The sound of his heart beating in my ears was wonderfully soothing. I could have happily stayed that way for hours, but I knew that wasn't possible. I kissed his forehead, then nuzzled my cheek into the crook of his neck. With my lips next to his ear, I said, "Chance, it's Everly. We'll find a way to get you out of here." I nearly screamed when he squeezed my hand. It was probably just a voluntary thing, but it gave me a small hope that he might be conscious. I bent my lips back to his ear. "We're in a South American jungle. They want to run tests on Cassie and me."
"Time to go," Blank said from the door way.
"I love you, Chance," I said, bending down to kiss his lips. He squeezed my hand again as I pulled it from his. I took in everything I could about the room as I was ushered out to where Gracie Layne was waiting. Tattoo appeared with Cassie, and we all headed down the hall to an unlabeled door. Tattoo knocked. I heard Dr. Braun call out from inside. Tattoo opened the door and motioned for us to enter.
Braun's office was large, and sparsely furnished. Three straight-backed chairs sat in front of the desk. "Please, sit," he said. He handed a thick folder across the desk to each of us. "We have taken the liberty of compiling detailed medical histories for each of you. Please take them back to your rooms and review them in detail. Katrin will collect them from you when you go to the dining room for lunch. Please note anything that is incorrect or missing." Turning to Tattoo, he said, "Take them to the lab and then return them to their rooms."
Katrin was waiting for us in a room with tile floors and stainless-steel tables. She took blood samples from all three of us. "You're a jack-of-all-trades around here," I said as she jabbed me. "I'm not sure I'll want to eat any more of your cooking after this."
"I'm not the cook. We hire locals for that."
"Good to know. Thanks." That simple reply was a big win for me. If there were locals, then there must be a native village somewhere close by. They might have a radio or some form of transport.
We were escorted back to our rooms. I did a quick review of my file but sat flipping through it as I thought about escape plans. We'd decided that we needed to be more cautious about staging things for the cameras so our captors didn't get suspicious.
It had been an eventful morning. I was still fighting my emotions from seeing Chance. I wanted to believe that he was conscious, but I realized I might be misreading things.
After nearly an hour, I walked down to Gracie Layne's suite. "Ready for a cup of tea?" she asked.
"Definitely. Is there a pitcher or something we can use to make sweet tea?""
"There's a pitcher, but I think the only sugar we have are those little packets."
"It'll take more than we have of those to make proper sweet tea. Let's ask Katrin for sugar at lunch."
There was a knock on the door and Gracie Layne opened it for Cassie.
"How was your visit with Jared?" I asked Cassie, handing her a cup of coffee.
"He was sleeping, but his breathing and heartbeat were strong. I pulled up the bandages on his arm, and it looks like it's healing. His fever was gone."
I made my way into the bathroom and closed the door behind us. "Did you get any sense that he was conscious?"
"No. I think they're keeping them drugged."
I explained what I thought had happened with Chance's response to me. "When I visit Chance tomorrow, I'll check his wounds and also ask him to squeeze my hand twice if he's awake. I should have thought of that today, but I was just so relieved to be able to touch him that I was fighting to keep my emotions in check. I think tomorrow will be easier."
Cassie agreed to run the same test with Jared. If either of the guys were conscious, it would change our escape options.
We knew where the cameras were located, so we sat at the table so our bodies shielded the paperwork in front of us. "It's pretty scary that they could gather all this personal information about us," Gracie Layne said.
We thought we could pass information back and forth on paper, but I couldn't make it work. "Let's take a walk before lunch."