Do I want that? No. If Caleb had to choose between Ryder and I, for someone to get rid of, I would think that Caleb would choose Ryder. I mean, I am his sister after all, but who knows.
As a kid, Caleb never chose me to play on his team for anything. Not even at family picnics put together by our school or church. Not even at family reunions. I was often passed over for someone stronger, some better at sports, or someone Caleb liked more than me.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Caleb loves me. He always has. But when it came to anything competitive, he never chose me. He would always say I slow him down and that would ruin his chances of winning this game. Not exactly what a child wants to her from their younger brother. But still, I heard it all the time. So, I should be used to it.
But I honestly don’t know what to expect from Caleb right now. I don’t know if he would pick me. Even if that is my hope. This is competitive and definitely something he wants to win. But I don’t know if he would take me along with him to the end. Even if that is what he told me before we even came onto the show.
I can see Caleb running this game, if I am not careful, he could be running me too.
“Well, give it a while before you take off.” Rachel says. “If you leave now, it could look much more suspicious.”
“She could always fake a stomachache.” Caleb says.
“I could if I hadn’t already had a picnic day before yesterday. But I think I will wait. I don’t want to draw too much attention to myself.” I say.
***
A few hours later, I have my window. Rachel has taken a walk with William and Zach. Caleb is off talking to Sandra, and Ryder is somewhere with Brad. I am alone in camp and I have my chance. I pull out my note and start trying to find what the note is talking about.
It is hard getting through the thick underbrush by myself. I am not as coordinated as Ryder and I trip and fall much easier. I can’t even count the amount of times I have already fallen. But I continue to make my way round the clearing for our camp, until I come across an area with rock ledges
I scan the surface of the ledges, looking for the three rungs. But seeing nothing. My time is running thin, and I need to do something, So, I start walking in one direction, until I reach the end of the ledges and having not found the rungs, I walk back toward the middle of the rock ledges and look for what looks like three rungs.
Could it be as obvious as a ladder leaning against the rock face? Nope, because as I scan the area, I don’t see one. So, I look closer at the rock faces themselves. Is there something growing on them that could be considered rungs. I don’t see anything. I mean, it would have to be fairly close to the ground for them to be climbed. But I still don’t see anything. I walk up and down the rock face for what feels like forever.
The sun is starting to set, and I am getting worried. If I don’t find this soon, then I have will to hide the clue, and I don’t want to have to worry about someone else finding the clue. Unless someone else got a clue just like I did.
With it getting dark out, I know I need to get back soon. Because I am sure everyone, and I do mean everyone, is starting to get worried about where I am. I will have to think up an incredibly good lie to tell them. But as I start walking back toward the way I came, to see if I see anything there, I spot what looks like three foot holds on the face of the rock. They aren’t natural because even through the terrible grey paint I can see screws in the center of them. The rock face is taller than me, so I will have to be careful. There are more than three-foot holds, but I am sure that the note meant these ones.
I take a few deep breaths because I am a tiny bit afraid of heights. Alright, fine, a lot afraid of falling from something tall. But I start to climb by telling myself that I will not fall and that whatever I find, could mean that I am guaranteed a shot at the million-dollar prize.
After what feels like forever. I am finally able to crawl onto the small ledge of the rock and sit on my but. I look around in the dimming light and spot a little parcel. It is wrapped in the same paper as my note was written on. Thicker than regular, but not notebook paper, hard to describe. Could be faux parchment. I carefully untie the knot on top of the package and unwrap it. In the center of this paper is a necklace with a leather strap for the chain. In the center of it is a rock with the letters S I carved into it. I frown at it, what is this. I look at the paper in my hand and read what it says.
“Congratulations, you found the hidden immunity idol. This idol holds the power to keep you safe from elimination, just one time. You can choose to keep it for yourself or you can share it with someone else. Just keep in mind that this idol is only good for one elimination. This idol is good until there are only five people left in this game. Use it wisely.”
I put the note and idol into my pocket and climb down from the rock. I have been gone too long and I know that people will be starting to get suspicious. I make my way back the way I came, but because it’s practically dark out and I can hardly see, I fall and trip more often.
I find myself falling into thorn bushes hands first. My hands sting with cuts and thorns that I can’t see to pick out. But I don’t slow down. I continue walking. Tripping, if you really want to be technical. But I keep walking.
I don’t let the pain stop me. I just need to get back to camp and see what I can do about getting these thorns out of my hands. I need to get a good look at them and see how badly they are cut. I just hope that none of them need stitches.
Wouldn’t it be funny if I needed to get stitches for the first time on a TV show?
Finally, I see the fire. I walk quickly, tripping only once, before I am in the clearing and faced with the entire team looking at me. Ryder and Caleb both come to my side and look at me. I don’t know what they are looking for, its dark and I am outside the firelight.
“What happened to you? You were gone for so long?” Caleb demands of me.
I take a deep breath. Time to get my lying game on straight. Hopefully, everyone buys what I am about to say.
“I went for a walk. You know how much crowds and people I don’t know make me anxious. I got logs and stumbled around. I fell a few times and tried to find my way back. It took me a while.” I say to him. “I apologize that I was gone for so long. I just got lost.”
I have to admit, I am shocked that the lie came out as smoothly as it did. I mean, I am not normally a good liar. I can’t tell a lie with a straight face if I wanted to.
I don’t know if it’s because its dark or because I have actually have finally told a lie well, that the others buy it, but they do. All of them coming up to me to check on me.
But if you ask me, I think they only did it to show concern for me. I saw a few looks of disgust coming my way, as I am seated at the fire. Rachel is quickly grabbing my hands and pulling them closer to the fire so she can look at them. She is a nurse after all.
“These are bad. You have a few thorns in your hands and a few deep cuts. I can’t tell very well right now if any need stitches, but your hands are torn up.” She says. “I think you need medical.”
I don’t want to see medical. I don’t want to leave camp again to see a doctor. If that is even what happens. I don’t want to have everyone watching as I am tended either.
I already have a target on my back for being gone so long. I don’t need another one because I am viewed as weak. But before I can actually say I don’t want to see medical; Rachel is waving a camera man over to get medical here.
I take a deep breath and try to calm my nerves.
***
After what feels like forever, the doctor and someone else finally arrives. They turn on head lamps before looking at my hands. They ask me what happened, and again I have to tell the lie. Which I don’t actually want to tell a lie. I want to tell them the truth. Though, I did get hurt the way I told them I did.
“You have quite a few thorns embedded in your hands deep. I can’t see well enough to pull them out. Plus, I want to wash your hands in sterile water and see what you are d
ealing with.” The doctor says. “So, I think you need to come with us to the medical tent.”
I take a deep breath. I don’t want to leave camp. What if I don’t come back? What if the doctor says I can’t continue with the game? I don’t want to go out like this. But I also don’t want to continue the game with thorns in my hands either.
Caleb is beside me and Ryder is off to the side behind him. I wish that Ryder were closer to me than Caleb. I know that should concern me, but right now, I just want Ryder to comfort me.
“You need to go with them to get checked out. They can get the thorns that are deep in your hands out, there.” Caleb says.
“Are my cuts bad enough to take me out of the game?” I ask the doctor.
He frowns and looks down at my hands again. “Right now, I can’t say. But just from looking at them, I can say that I don’t think they are too bad and that you have to be medically evacuated.” He looks at his assistant. “But that could change once we get you back to the tent. I want to get a better look. If I decide you can’t continue, then your game is over.”
I want to cry. I want to tell him to go away and that I don’t want him. I don’t want the others to see me led away from camp. I don’t want to give them any more reason to target me then they already have.
The doctor helps me stand and I follow him out of camp. The path from camp is dark. I can barely see. I can only see what the headlamp on the doctor is lighting up. I hate not being able to see.
***
The medical tent is a carport type thing, with a white vinal topper and PVC pipes that make it look similar to a garage. There are lights everywhere, an exam table on one end, and a desk on the other. There are carts and carts full of medical supplies, and small refrigerators that I can’t see into. The whole thing reminds me of a doctor’s office, which I guess is kind of what it is.
I am instructed to sit on the exam table and the doctor puts new gloves on and grabs a few instruments from a cart and comes closer. The assistant has wheeled a cart closer to the table and the doctor hands her the instruments. She organizes them and he looks down at my hands.
“A few of the thorns are deep, I will have to dig them out.” He says. “I have some local to give you, but just know, that it may still hurt.”
If there is one thing I hate, its needles. I hate needles. I panic at the sight of them. I hate getting shots or giving blood. I can’t even watch someone getting a shot. It makes me sick.
The thought of getting shots in my hands makes my heart start to race. I feel like my chest is being squeezed and it’s hard to breathe. Tears wheel up in my eyes and I can’t stop them from flowing over.
“You are afraid of needles, aren’t you?” asks the assistant.
I nod. It’s all I can do. I can’t talk. I can’t breathe, and I can’t stop the tears from flowing.
She steps in front of me and using a tissue, she wipes my eyes. Then, I watch as she pulls out her phone. She starts showing me pictures. She shows me photos of her children. Both twins and both in kindergarten. She asks me questions about my work and about why I chose to teach kindergarten.
She has effectively distracted me, until I feel a pinch and burn in the side of my hand. I cry out and jerk back. She instantly clamps her hands on my arm and turns to me.
“Tell me about your students.” She says. “It’s over now.”
“They are wonderful… They threw me a going away party on my last day of school with them… They made me cards and wished me luck… They all told me that they would try and get their parents to watch the show.” I say, between breaths.
“That must have felt wonderful. To know that your students would do that for you.” She says.
“Yes, it was nice. I love my students… They are the sole reason I chose to teach. I love teaching little minds and watching them grow.”
“Do you have any children of your own?”
I shake my head.
How can I explain that I am twenty-six and have only had one relationship? It’s not every day that I have to think about that. But in the end, I just explain that I don’t have kids and don’t have a relationship. She understands and tells me that she had to think long and hard about having kids.
Another pinch in my other hand has me stopping. I try to jerk away but the assistant does the same thing again. She clamps her hands on my arm and holds it still.
She continues to make small talk with me, as the doctor works. I can’t see him working. I can’t feel him working either. Come to think of it, my hands stopped aching. Whatever was in that shot made the pain go away, well temporarily anyways.
Finally, she steps back and stops all conversation. The doctor takes off his gloves, puts new ones on and starts bandaging up my hands. Once he is done, he takes his new set of gloves off and looks up at me.
“You can return to the game on some conditions.” He says. “Your cuts aren’t so deep that they need stitches, but they are deep enough to need bandaging for the next few days. I will send someone to your camp to change your bandages once a day.”
“Alright, anything to stay in the game.” I say.
“That isn’t the conditions.” He tells me. “The conditions are, that you don’t get them wet, and that you don’t participate in the next two challenges.”
My jaw drops open. I can’t participate in the next two challenges. How am I supposed to keep a target off my back with that? How am I going to win immunity if I can’t play? I mean, I do have the idol, but I don’t want to play it this soon. I don’t want to use it now and not have it later. I just want to play.
“Your hands will heal on their own, but for the next few days, take it easy. If in a few days, we think that your cuts aren’t healing or doing well, we may pull you from the game.” He tells me. “Do you understand?”
I nod my head. “Yes, I understand.”
“Good, I will have someone escort you back to camp.”
SIXTEEN
Ryder
“I don’t want to sit out of the next two challenges. I want to participate. Why? Because I can feel that there is a target on my back. I am weak. I am injured and I can’t participate. Even I would vote for me if I were them.”
Ari Harper
I feel like I have to admit this. I stayed awake just to make sure Ari was alright. Caleb sure didn’t stay awake. Even though he asked if he could go to sleep, which of course I said yes, but still. That’s his sister and he could care less about if she were hurt or not.
That bothered me. I mean, if Ari were Rachel and Rachel was in the same situation as Ari, I would have stayed awake, no matter how tired I was, just to make sure she was alright. I don’t get it. I mean, the whole time Ari was off looking for the idol, Caleb talked about her. How he tricked her into applying to be on the show. How he is surprised how well she is doing in this show, because she isn’t normally the outdoorsy type. If you were listening to it, you would have thought she meant a lot to him, just like I did.
But maybe she does mean a lot to him, but he just doesn’t show it in a way that I would.
I am pulled from my thoughts when I see Ari coming into the clearing. I stand up and look her over as she walks slowly toward me. Her hands are covered in white bandages and she looks so exhausted. I fight the urge to run up to her, because I want to make sure she wants me at this point.
She comes straight to me, like hoped she would. Maybe because I am the only one awake, or maybe because she just really wanted me to hold her. But it doesn’t matter because she comes to me. She drops her head to my chest and carefully wraps her arms around my waist. I just hang onto her. She needs me.
“What did they say?” I have to know.
“As of now, the cuts don’t need stitches, but they will be keeping an eye on them for the next few days. If they aren’t healing properly, then they will have to pull me.” She takes a deep breath, “They had to give me a shot in each hand to numb them to pull out the really deep thorns.”
Get pulled from the
game. That shocked me. Ari is so strong; I didn’t think anything would take her out. But knowing that it was thorns and the fact that I let her go into the woods alone, in the dark, that bothers me.
How can I ever forgive myself for letting her go off alone? How can I ever make it up to her? As I hold her, I feel such guilt. I should never have let her go off into the woods alone. I should never have let her go off in search of the idol without me. Target on our back be damned. I knew better. I just let her talk me out of going with her. I should have pushed more.
“It’s not your fault.” Ari says quietly. “I chose to go alone.”
Is she a mind reader? Or does she know me better than I think she knows me.
“Sure, feels like it. I should have gone with you. You should never have gone alone.” I tell her.
It’s the truth. She shouldn’t have gone alone. She should have gone with someone who could have walked the path before her, to avoid this whole thing. If I had gone with her, I would have gone into the thick of it first, to clear the path for her. I would have made her walk behind me so that I knew she was safe and wouldn’t trip. But that didn’t happen, I stupidly let her go alone, and I will seriously never forgive myself.
But Caleb should have offered to go with her. That was Rachel’s idea, I think. But he didn’t want to go. He wanted to chat up the other players. Something else that rubbed me the wrong way. He didn’t seem to notice that Ari had been gone more than an hour. He only cared enough to talk to the other players.
But he did sit with me for a while before he went to bed. But he didn’t say anything. He didn’t do anything. He just watched the others have a good time, until everyone went to bed. He followed them.
I made a mental note, at that time, to keep an eye out for him. For some reason, I feel like I can’t trust him.
Playing For Keeps (Romancing The Games Book 1) Page 10