“Wrong.”
“Maybe we should just call it even, huh? Start over?”
“I suppose we can do that.”
“Might as well,” I say, taking a deep breath. “We could be spending the rest of our lives together.”
“Are you proposing to me?”
I laugh.
“I sure hope not,” she says. “I’m not sure I’m ready for that kind of commitment. We did just meet, after all. Officially, anyway.”
“You’re right. It’s too soon. Maybe I’ll ask again later.”
“So, you admit it, then? It was a proposal?”
“I wouldn’t consider such a thing,” I tell her. “I don’t even have a ring. What would your father think of me?”
“My father would have thought you were a low-life thief and would probably ask where you stole the ring.”
“Good point.” I don’t miss how she speaks of her father in the past tense, but I also don’t ask her about it. Not now.
She goes quiet, and I close my eyes. Her closeness and scent are still distracting, but exhaustion eventually takes over, and I sleep for a time. When I wake, I have no idea how much time has passed. There is still only a tiny sliver of grey light at the bottom of the shaft, and it’s not enough to determine if the sun has risen.
For a moment, I listen to Aerin’s steady breathing, hoping my eyes will pick up enough light to be able to see her sleeping face, but they don’t. My shoulder hurts from being in the same position for so long. I try to stretch it a bit without moving too much, but I manage to wake her anyway.
She startles in my arms but then relaxes again.
“Is it still night?” Aerin asks.
“I have no idea.”
She pulls her arm from around me, and I feel her moving around for a moment before I hear the sound of the hand crank flashlight being charged. She turns on the light and blinks a few times.
I shuffle around until I can reach the lower door again. Aerin shines the light for me, but I still can’t get the door to budge, and moving around has caused another problem. A sudden urge tightens my stomach, and I laugh humorlessly.
“What is it?” she asks.
“I have to pee,” I say with another chuckle. “Inevitable, huh?”
“Are you serious?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Can you hold it?”
“Well, yeah,” I say, “but not forever.”
I clench my muscles and grimace as I lie back down in the center of the shaft.
“There’s really no way to get out through the bottom, is there?” she says.
“Not with what we have on us,” I reply. “At some point, I’m going to end up pissing myself. I’ll go ahead and apologize in advance.”
Though I’m making light of the situation, I know we can’t survive cooped up in here forever. If we can’t manage to unblock the opening, we’re going to die of dehydration within a couple of days. My mind wanders to the two small vials on my belt. There’s enough in there for both of us, but such thoughts are still premature.
“Well, shit.” Aerin sighs and shifts around to her hands and knees. She scoots up to the top of the shaft, taking the light with her.