❝ Sheep abide by the herd complex; safety in numbers. When all are the same, no one can be singled out.
A fox among sheep is able to infiltrate the herd only a handful of ways: under the veil of dusk, or by clothing itself as the prey, shedding i...
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JONAH WASN'T SURE how long he'd been out for, estimating by the lack of daylight, possibly a few hours. Opal's face was replaced with the ceiling of an ambulance, which bright lights burned his retinas, and the running water of the lake, with sirens.
"Hey, it's okay." He was met with his mother's soothing voice and glassy eyes. Her clammy hand held his tightly; she squeezed it reassuringly.
"Where is she?" The words came out more as a rasp, as if he hadn't drunk anything for days. In an attempt to clear his throat, Jonah coughed, though it was more of a wheeze.
"What happened?" Jonah struggled to sit up, his head immediately falling into the pillow when vertigo bound him onto his back.
"You need to lie down," his mother told him calmly. Placing a gentle hand on his forehead, she moved a few stray hairs out of his face.
"The girl I was with; Opal. Is she okay?"
"She's fine, sweetheart. They have her in the other ambulance." Jonah relaxed at this.
"I need to say thank you." He made an effort to leave the bed again; the blanket fell to reveal his bare chest. This time, his mother pushed him back down.
"No, you need to rest. Jonah, you passed out after leaving the river; you have hypothermia. The only place you're going is the hospital." Her tone was soft, but her message strict, leaving no room for argument. "That, and you broke your nose. How on Earth did that happen?" she groaned.
"I fell into a tree."
Chuckling, she shook her head. "Of course you did." Her amusement didn't last for long. It was nothing but a temporary distraction; a small weight removed from the deadlift of reality.
"Don't ever do that to me again," she whispered. "I was so scared when I got that phone call from a stranger telling me something had happened to you."
"I'm sorry." A lone tear rolled down Jonah's cheek from the realization at the proximity of his dance with danger brought him to death. He hadn't been scared like that for a long time. "I love you, Mum."
"I love you too, Jonah." She smiled, her own tears liberating themselves from her eyes.
The following day, Jade came to visit him from his hospital bed, her excuse being that their mother would allow her the day off school if she agreed.
"Oh, so you're still alive, then," was her disappointed remark and the first thing she said since she had last seen him, but Jonah knew his sister's dissatisfaction with his survival was only a well-rehearsed mask. Their mother had divulged to him, prior to her appearance, about the meltdown Jade had on hearing of his condition and almost flat-lining close call with Mother Nature.
