Axel tossed and turned in his sleeping bag. It had been three days since they left home. Everything had been going well until earlier that evening when he suddenly started feeling heavy, painful cramping in his stomach.
After hours of pushing past the pain or calming it with basic care, he felt unable to move. A fever had set in, and he knew he needed help.
Granger offered to shift and run back home to see if he could at least bring Bell back with him.
That had been hours ago.
Axel considered trying to shift, trying to run home on his own. But something told him that would only make things worse.
He didn’t know how long it went on. He was in and out of consciousness. At one point, he was too weak to move or even open his eyes. But he could still hear.
“No more loose threads.”
Axel didn’t understand what the words meant. But he was pretty sure it was Granger’s voice.
***
