Chapter 8
After sending the text, Frederick set his phone down. His knuckles had turned white from how tightly he had been gripping it, and guilt clouded his eyes.
By nightfall, I still hadn’t regained consciousness.
Meanwhile, Colette could no longer keep her composure. She called Frederick, her voice dripping with self–pity as she whined, “Freddie, my stomach hurts so bad. Are you still at the hospital? Can you come home and take me to see a doctor?”
“Enough!” Frederick snapped. “How long are you planning to keep up this act? Colette Reeves, if anything happens to Anastasia, I won’t forgive you!”
Having said his piece, he hung up. Then, he buried his face in his hands, stricken with anguish.
Later, the doctor stopped by my room on his rounds. He advised Frederick to keep his distance. After all, no one knew what kind of radiation I’d been exposed to or whether the contamination was still active.
Even so, Frederick ignored the warning and refused to leave. He stayed by my side for two whole days. Then, the symptoms started.
It began with waves of nausea, but he dismissed it. He’d always had a weak stomach, so a lack of appetite was nothing out of the ordinary.
Then one day, he collapsed at the foot of my bed.
When Frederick came to, he was in a hospital bed of his own. The doctor told him the early signs of radiation poisoning were already showing and that he needed immediate treatment.
Once again, the doctor subtly urged him to stay away from me.
Right then, shouting erupted in the hallway.
Colette had arrived at the hospital. She burst into Frederick’s room and threw herself into his arms, sobbing, “Freddie, are you okay? Are you hurting anywhere?
“How could Ana be so heartless? She knew she’d been exposed to radiation and still hid it. She even got close to us on purpose! She’s dying, and now, she’s dragging us down with her!”
Frederick simply stared blankly at the ceiling.
She was right. I was dying, and it was all his fault. If he hadn’t fallen for Colette’s lies and left me in those mountains, I never would’ve been exposed to the radiation.
I feared pain more than anyone I knew. Yet, when I was hurt, I hadn’t made a sound.
And I’d always been afraid of the dark. That was why Frederick couldn’t comprehend how I had managed to survive five months alone in the wild.
He shut his eyes, the weight of his guilt suffocating him.
