Chapter 2

"The extra medicine, I left it all back at camp last night."

"I only kept the ointment Odette needed."

He studied me for a moment, then reached out and touched my forehead.

His hands moved with worry. "Why are you so hot?"

I gave a bitter little smile and pointed at the satellite phone in his pocket.

He pulled it out, glanced at it. "I didn't have time to check my messages yesterday."

Then he took off his own jacket and draped it over me, wrapping an arm around me so I leaned against his shoulder.

I wanted to pull away, but my whole body was drained, and I could only let him hold me.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught Odette glaring at me, hard.

At the hospital, he said a few words to Edgar.

Then he went off himself, supporting Odette to see the surgeon.

It wasn't until I was lying in the hospital bed on an IV drip that he finally walked in.

He picked up the thermos on the table and poured me a cup of hot water.

His hands signed, "Are you feeling any better now?"

I nodded. My head was full of images of him and Odette, close together.

I couldn't hold it back, and it came out. "When did you and Odette get so close?"

His pupils shrank, and then he turned it back on me. "Weren't you the one who kept telling me to look after her?"

My heart lurched. Last year, when Edgar and I went back home to visit Dad's grave, Odette had fallen seriously ill.

She'd been an orphan since she was small, and I was the only good friend she had.

I couldn't get back on short notice, so I asked John to help me look after her.

One thing led to another, and the two of them grew closer.

Later, when the pipes in Odette's place broke, when she bought big pieces of furniture, it was always John she got to help.

And I never noticed a single thing wrong. If anything, I was glad the two of them had become friends.

Only now did it hit me. I was the one who had handed Odette to John with my own hands.

Furious, I threw the blanket in my hands onto the floor.

Beside me, John's lips worked a few times, but in the end he said nothing.

The door of the hospital room was pushed open from outside.

Edgar walked in holding a stack of photos, Odette hopping along behind him on one foot.

John got up without hesitation and went over to help Odette to my side.

Edgar handed me the photos. The moment I saw the first one, my eyes stung.

It was a photo of John and Odette holding each other and kissing at the summit.

Seeing that I said nothing, John shot a glance at it, his face darkening in an instant, and immediately snatched the photos out of my hands.

Odette held my hand, her eyes the picture of innocence.

I lifted my gaze and let it drift lightly over their faces.

One was the brother I'd depended on since we were small, one was the best friend of ten years, one was the man I'd loved for five.

And all three of them had kept the same thing from me.

If I had to choose which one to give up first, between John and Odette, then I chose John.

I gripped the corner of the blanket, my voice trembling faintly.

"John, let's break up!"

The dullness in Odette's eyes lit up in a flash, and she nudged John with her arm.

John caught the tears welling in my eyes, sighed softly, and pulled me into his arms.

"Silly girl, is the fever still not down? You're talking nonsense."

"Just get some rest first!"

With that, he supported Odette and left.

A message flashed up on my phone screen. "Remember what you promised me. I'll come for you in two days."