The Courage Tree - Diane Chamberlain [115]
As they entered the woods, Janine could hear a truck engine cough to life and knew that Valerie and the trailer were leaving. How did the woman feel after an unsuccessful search? Janine wondered. Would images of Sophie haunt her dreams, or could she simply put this week behind her and move on to the next search with the hope that it would have a happier ending?
She and Lucas didn’t speak as they hiked toward the stream. This area had been searched over and over again, and so they didn’t bother looking for clues as they walked. Janine was certain that Sophie was farther out than any of the searchers had imagined. They didn’t know what a fighter her daughter could be.
She felt some disappointment in Lucas. Not just that he was anxious to get out of the woods and go home to Vienna tonight, but that he’d given her so little support with Valerie. Whether he was willing to admit it to her or not, she knew he thought Sophie was dead. He was lagging behind her as they walked, and she could hear him breathing hard. At this rate, he’d never make it all the way to the cabin. His heart was not in this. Maybe she should have simply sent him to the motel and had him come back to pick her up later.
They were only a hundred yards or so into the woods when Lucas suddenly stopped walking.
Janine turned to look at him. “What?” she asked. “Did you see something?”
Lucas shook his head. He drew in a long and labored breath, scaring her, and she walked back to him quickly.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m not feeling well. I’m going to have to go back.”
Holding on to his arm, she studied his face. In the shadow of the trees, his skin took on an unhealthy yellowish cast. His face was damp; perspiration ran from his forehead into his eyes.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I need to sit down.” He looked around as if searching for a chair.
“There’s a tree stump just ahead,” she told him. “Can you make it over there?”
He shook his head again. “I’ll just sit right here,” he said, lowering himself to the forest floor.
“Does your chest hurt?” she asked, wondering if he were having a heart attack.
He shook his head.
“Where’s your water bottle?” she asked.
“It’s not with me.”
“Maybe that’s your problem,” Janine said. “You’re dehydrated. Here.” She reached over her shoulder to pull her own water bottle from her backpack and held it out to him.
He brushed it away with his hand. “No,” he said. “I don’t want any.”
She lowered herself in front of him. There was a deep crease between his eyebrows.
“Are you in pain?” she asked.
“Muscles are cramping,” he said. “And I’m just…weak. Nauseated.”
“Would you please drink some water?” She held the bottle out to him again. “You’re probably dizzy because—”
“I don’t want it,” he said with some genuine anger, and Janine drew away from him.
She stood up and shrugged herself out of her backpack. Inside it, she found a handkerchief. Squeezing water from her bottle onto the cloth, she ran it over his hot, damp forehead and the back of his neck. He shut his eyes as she dampened the cloth again and wrapped it around his right wrist. Reaching for the splint on his left wrist, she began unfastening the Velcro.
Instantly, Lucas opened his eyes and grabbed her hand. The handkerchief fell to the ground.
“I won’t hurt your wrist,” Janine said. “You’re arm is so hot. You’re perspiring…. You’re soaked under the splint. Let me take it off and put some cool water on you.”
He stared at her a moment, the look in his eyes blank and a bit scary. Slowly, his eyes fell shut, and Janine reached for the Velcro again.
“Janine…” His voice trailed off, and she knew he was too weak and tired to fight her.
Carefully, she unfastened the splint, not wanting to manipulate his wrist in any way. He was always so protective of it. She removed the splint, rested Lucas’s hand on his knee, then picked up the handkerchief from the ground and wet it again with water from her bottle. Lifting his hand, she gently turned it to place the handkerchief