We finished off the food that the Mama Iranian had given us. We had been in the cave too long, and I didn’t want to give any hint away of our location. The terrorists had been hot on our trail the entire time, and I had every reason to believe they were somewhere nearby. These people would never give up. They would find us or die trying.
I hated to do it, but eventually, I went out long enough to refill our canteens. When I returned, I fixed the screen to the cave entrance again. I got an eerie feeling while I was outside. I felt as though there were eyes on me, but I wasn’t sure if it was man or beast.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, apologizing for the thousandth time. “I should have been more careful. I had seen you sweep the caves before and knew exactly why you did it. I let my tiredness overrun my brain. I put us in danger. I promise that I will never do that again.”
I pulled her into my arms. “Baby, I’ve told you. This isn’t your fault. First, I didn’t sweep the cave, and I didn’t pull you back out of it when you went in. Plus, the snakes are sneaky. They could be hiding anywhere, even in the daytime when we are out walking. It is only by the grace of all that is holy that we haven’t been bitten by snakes before as we walk by bushes, rocks, fallen logs, and other hideouts that snakes favor.”
I wasn’t sure that she was convinced, but she laid her head on my shoulder. She was asleep again in about two seconds. Finally, around dark, her fever broke. The swelling in her leg had gone down. I hoped that with a walking stick, we would be able to move out in the morning.
We were leaning against the cave wall talking quietly when I shushed her. She fell immediately silent, and I felt her body tense up next to me. I wasn’t sure if the thudding I heard was her heart beating or mine. Both of us were working very hard to control our breathing and to not make a sound. There were voices just outside of our cave. Slowly, I pulled out my gun and motioned for Elise to get behind me, in case they came in.
Someone brushed by the twigs I had used to cover the entrance but didn’t seem to notice that it was a cover. The voices slowly moved away, although they were never completely silenced. We both waited, the tension weighting the air like a wet, woolen blanket. I knew one thing—they would never take either Elise or me alive.
10
Elise
Iwas so tense that I was shaking. I heard the men walking around and talking for what seemed like hours. Finally, though, they left. We both breathed a sigh of relief, although neither of us was completely certain that the men had left the area.
I took care of my business toward the back of the cave and then crawled to our blankets. Despite my fear, I pressed up against Jared and was instantly asleep.
It was crazy how magical fear, mortal danger, and constantly being on the move were. Never in my entire life had I been able to simply fall asleep as soon as I laid down. Plans, to-do lists, and other information floated around in my head, sometimes for hours. However, after only a couple of days on the run, I could fall asleep easily. It was just like turning off a light switch.
Although I slept heavily, I was fairly certain that Jared didn’t get any rest whatsoever. He was vigilant, listening for the people to come back. I was honored that he would lay down his life for me. Now, I was certain that it wasn’t just a job for him. He would do it because he cared for me. I just wish I knew how much. Did he care for me like a casual girlfriend, a good friend, or did he love me in some capacity? However, I was not brave enough to ask him, fearing the answer.
Waking up before dawn again, I noticed that Jared had huge bags under his eyes. His face looked ashen and pale. I wondered how long a man could go without sleep before his body gave in, and he simply collapsed. He told me that he hadn’t heard anything all night, so he was fairly certain that the men had moved on. Unfortunately, he didn’t know where they had moved on to, so we didn’t know if we were going to be pacing them, outrunning them, or catching up to them. We would have to be extremely careful.
I stood up and was able to put most of my weight on my leg. I would be hobbling a little bit, but I assured him that I was fine and I wouldn’t hold us up. I just hoped that I could live up to my promise. My leg was throbbing and burning, as I imagined it would for a good long time. However, now was not the time to succumb to any weakness. I would rather die than let something like this stop me.
Jared squeezed my leg some more, apologizing when I winced. There was still a tiny bit of infection, but my leg was definitely healing. That was a great sign. I really didn’t want to lose my leg because of this so-called adventure. He put some more antibiotic cream and a gauze bandage on it, and he gave me some medication for pain.
“I would really prefer that we could stay another day or two to give your leg a chance to heal. However, under the circumstances, I think we need to move, even if it’s a little more slowly than normal. Not only do we have the terrorists nipping at our heels, so to speak, the Iranian government tends to be extremely unfriendly to Americans in their country, even if we didn’t come here voluntarily. We could spend years, if not the rest of our lives, in a nasty prison. It would take divine intervention to get us out of an Iranian prison. That is definitely not on my agenda,” he laughed, trying to make the dire situation we were in slightly less stressful. I had to say that he was not succeeding. However, he got an “A” for effort.
“I understand. I will do my best not to slow us down,” I told him.
“Do not overstress your leg. I don’t want you hurting it anymore. If we have to stop early for the day, then we will do so.”
I nodded, completely determined not to slow us down or force us to stop early.
We quickly gathered up our supplies. I insisted on carrying my backpack. Jared stuffed as much into his as he could. I protested, but he shushed me with a kiss.
About an hour into our day, I thought that I had fallen into the depths of Tartarus. Every step sent sharp, burning pains from my ankles up to my brain. My entire body was throbbing from the intensity of the agony. I simply breathed in and out. I concentrated on breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. Because of my stubbornness and pride, I was determined not to show any weakness in front of Jared. He had kept saying how proud he was of me because of my strength. I wanted him to be proud of me.
But, by the third hour, I could no longer stand it.
“Jared, I’m sorry to ask, but I think I need a walking stick,” I said, softly, not wanting my voice to carry.
“No need to be sorry,” he said, stopping dead in his tracks.
He pointed to a nearby log. “Sit,” he said.
I gladly obeyed his command.
Jared quickly located a suitable stick that was the right height and would hold my weight for a long time. It was also the perfect shape for a cane. He grabbed a sweater out of the bag and wrapped it around the top, so the wood wouldn’t be rough on my hands and so I wouldn’t end up with splinters.
After testing it out, I decided we were good to go. I was able to move a lot easier and faster with the help of the walking stick. Unfortunately, it wasn’t fast enough.
Jared stopped abruptly and held up his hand. He listened intently, then motioned for me to follow him. I moved as quickly and quietly as I possibly could, my heart thundering in my chest. I was surprised that our pursuers hadn’t heard the throbbing muscle trying to escape from my body.