Page 24 of Restoration
I snicker at his last comment but then twitch when I feel a random itch on my foot. “I wish we had bug spray.” When I feel that same tickle, I bend my legs up with a jerk and slap at my ankles.
“What’s the matter?” Edmund asks, sounding intrigued.
“Nothing. Just imagining bugs. I wish our feet weren’t right at the entrance.”
“Would you rather it be your head?”
“No way. I’d rather none of me be exposed to the night air.”
He pauses for a minute, then rolls on his side to face me. “We can rearrange if you want.”
“In what way?” My eyes have adjusted to the dark, but I can still only see the general shape of him.
“We can sleep in the other direction, and you can be on the inside. I don’t mind sleeping on the outside.”
“But you’ll be the one swarmed with creepy-crawlies.”
He chuckles and has already sat up and scooted his towels. “I’ll risk it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure, Autumn. I really don’t care.”
I wish I could see his face so I could assess how genuine his declaration is, but his voice at least sounds sincere. So I scoot farther into the interior of our little hut and lay out my towel in the other direction. Edmund arranges his beside me, blocking me from the entrance and anything that’s lurking out there in the dark.
I sigh as I lie back down. The bottom of our room is polished wood, so it’s hard and unyielding. The towel does almost nothing to soften it.
But we have a cover over our heads, and Edmund’s body is blocking me from everything outside.
It’s better than nothing. It’s better than it could be.
“You okay?” he asks very softly.
“Yeah. What about you?”
“I’m sorry I dragged you into this whole thing.”
“This isn’t your fault. You have nothing to be sorry about.”
We don’t speak after that. I occasionally hear Edmund shifting. His slow breathing.
I really can’t believe this is happening. What on earth has become of my life?
Edmund falls asleep after a while. I can tell when he does because he stops shifting and his breathing gets slower and heavier.
It takes a lot longer for my mind to settle. It keeps whirling with fears and ideas and plans and daydreams of rescue. But finally the swirling thoughts fade into a restless haze and then into sleep.
So I guess we’ve made it through our first day on the island.
***
ONCE I DRIFT OFF, Isleep better than I would have expected. I wake up a couple of times in a hazy panic, jerking my eyes open and one time sitting up abruptly. Each time, I manage to orient myself, assure myself of Edmund still sleeping beside me, and relax back into position.
Eventually I roll onto my side facing him, folding my arms against my chest. Then I can just barely squint and still see the shape of him there.
I honestly have no sense of how effectively he could protect me if we were attacked. He’s not a fighter, and we have no weapons of any kind. But still... I feel safer and more secure with him sleeping beside me.
***