“You were in the desert, remember?” he says, cocking his head. “You’re lucky a passerby found you while driving along the road. She called us.”
Us?
I look around and notice the medical equipment, the badge on his shirt … and then I hear the sirens above me.
I’m in an ambulance. A real ambulance. With real people.
“We’re lucky she made you drink from her water bottle, or you might’ve died.”
I try to swallow, but everything hurts, and it’s so hard to comprehend what’s going on.
It feels like minutes ago, but I know now that isn’t true. My mind is playing tricks on me. Just as it did when I thought I was dying … when in fact I’m being saved.
Rescued by honest and good people bringing me to the hospital.
A hospital in a real city where I’ll finally see the real world again.
Where I can see my parents again and hug them.
Where I can … go home.
Without Cage.
Because he’s still stuck inside that compound, probably screaming out my name, not knowing when and if I’ll ever come back.
I grasp the shirt of the man who’s sitting in front of me and say, “Cage …”
“What?”
A tear wells up in my eye as I realize the task that lies ahead. “I have to save him.”