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  Adam puts his hand on her shoulder.

  “Adam,” I say, grasping his hand. I squeeze it tightly and whisper, “Thank you.”

  He gives my hand a strong squeeze and says, “Anytime.”

  I smile at him over the embarrassment I pretend to not feel. If it wasn’t bad enough that the guy groped me, they all saw.

  “You’ll be happy to know they’re gone.”

  “Who were they?”

  “Traffickers, running drugs through the island. They happened to see you and Kellan and followed you home. But don’t worry. They won’t be bothering us again.”

  I swallow the hard lump in my throat and say, “Good.”

  “Grant and I combed the island this morning and it’s all clear now.”

  “Thank God,” Mia says.

  “Grant’s with Jason and Dr. H at the village. He radioed a half hour ago and said they didn’t have any run-ins with anyone. Everyone there is fine.”

  “And Carlita didn’t have her baby. So, that’s good too.” Mia smiles.

  I exhale a heavy breath and inhale one that’s clear of worry. “That’s a relief.”

  “Where’s Kellan?” Adam asks.

  “He’s sleeping. I don’t think he slept much last night.”

  “That’s understandable.”

  “Where are you two headed?” I ask, noticing the open backpack on the counter.

  “To the clinic. You want to join?” Mia asks. “Might be a nice distraction. Adam’s a great teacher. You might learn a thing or two.”

  “I came here for security detail,” he says. “How did I become a medical professor?”

  “You’re very well rounded.” Mia smiles at him.

  “That actually sounds like something I might be interested in, but can I take a raincheck?”

  “Sure.” Mia gives me a small, understanding nod.

  “You thinking about changing careers?” Adam asks.

  “Maybe,” I say, ignoring the troubling thought that I might never get the chance. Last night was a reminder that the danger I’m faced with is real. It’s inescapable, even here. And when Marc finds out that I’m alive, he’ll try to kill me. I know too much. I’ve seen too much. And now, everyone I care about is in danger too.

  Chapter 12

  Makayla

  “Mia?” I call from the front of the small clinic. I look around the space, recalling the days I spent here—my first days on the island, before I discovered its magic. Before I discovered Kellan.

  That was only six weeks ago, but it could be a lifetime for how much it’s changed me. It reminds me of when my parents died. You don’t go back from something like that. You can’t. So you fortify yourself and wait to become...something different...someone different...like a caterpillar inside its chrysalis. I don’t know what, or who, I will be at the end of all this, but I’ve been fortified by a man who’s wrapped himself around my heart and seeped into every cell in my body. I’ll never be the same again.

  “Makayla,” Mia says, smiling when she sees me. “Are you ready for your lesson?”

  “Yes,” I say studiously. I’ve been helping at the clinic for the last couple of weeks now—once I was finally feeling comfortable enough to be away from Kellan for a few hours. And Mia was right. It’s a great distraction. I’ve learned all sorts of medical terms and she even taught me how to do stitches.

  I follow her to the back of the clinic. “Where’s Adam?”

  “He had to help Dr. H at the village this morning.”

  “Carlita?”

  “She made it to thirty-nine weeks, but the baby is breech, so they were going to try to get it to turn. I’ve seen it done before. It’s not easy.”

  “You know, my mom was an obstetrician. She delivered thousands of babies.”

  “Have you thought about becoming a doctor?”

  “I’ve thought about it.”

  “Maybe you could follow in your mom’s footsteps.”

  “I don’t know...I’ve never even seen a birth.”

  “I’d say Google it, but you’ll have to wait until you get home.” She smiles. “I know, why don’t you ask Dr. H if you can assist with Carlita? He said I could.”

  “You’re in actual medical school,” I remind Mia.

  “The villagers are used to more rudimentary practices when it comes to medicine. The fact that you’re a woman qualifies you to help with a birth.” She laughs and hands me a stack of empty notecards. “Come on, let’s get started.”

  With no patients from the village to look after, she takes the opportunity to teach me every new medical term she can think of. And, like any good student, I scribble the terms and definitions diligently. Before long, I’ve filled the entire stack of notecards with words like Laparotomy and Atropine.

  “You seem quiet today,” she says suspiciously. “Trouble in paradise?” She gives me a knowing glance.

  I shake my head and laugh quietly. “No. Kellan is...wonderful.”

  She studies me for a long second. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

  I press my lips together and nod. “Yes,” I answer quietly, “I am.”

  She smiles at me, but when I don’t return one, she asks, “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know.” I shake my head uncertainly.

  “What don’t you know?”

  “I don’t know if it’s real. Or if it’s normal to feel like this. Kellan is...my life support. But life off the island is a big unknown. I’m so in love with him it feels like it’s hard to breathe sometimes. And the thought of it ending when we leave here is suffocating.”

  “Why would it end?”

  “Because this isn’t reality, Mia. This place...him. It’s like a dream. But the incident we had with our unwanted visitors a few weeks ago was a wakeup call.” I swallow hard and say the words I don’t want to admit. “Sooner or later, this will all be over. And he’ll be gone.”

  “Makayla, I know you’re scared about the future. You have every right to be. Your life is a big question mark right now. So is your relationship with Kellan. And that feels scary, I get it. But that’s true for anyone. Relationships are complicated, especially very intense relationships that are built on trauma,” she says pointedly. “But none of us knows what the future holds. Life doesn’t follow a straight line. It’s full of sharp turns and corners that we can’t see around. But maybe, if you trust the road you’re on, instead of worrying about it, it will lead you to where you’re supposed to be.”

  “With Kellan?”

  She shrugs. “Maybe. Or maybe he’s just part of your journey.”

  I exhale a strangled sigh. I don’t want to follow a road he isn’t on.

  “Thanks, Mia.” I force a small smile.

  “Okay,” she says seriously. “Now that I’ve given you all that sage advice, I need you to do something for me.”

  “What?”

  “I need you to answer a question. But you have to answer honestly.”

  “Of course. What is it?”

  “Promise?”

  “Yes, Mia. I promise. What is it?”

  She raises an eyebrow and asks seriously, “Is he big?”

  “Mia!” I shriek.

  “Oh, come on! He’s so tall.”

  I drop my red face into my hands and mumble, “I can’t believe you just asked me that.”

  “You have to answer. You promised.” Her eyes are wide and animated. “He is, isn’t he?”

  “Mia,” Jason calls from the front of the clinic, saving me from Mia’s inappropriate questioning.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” she says, winking at me as Jason walks into the room.

  “Dr. H just radioed. He and Adam need your help at the village. Carlita is having her baby.”

  Mia gasps and grabs my hand. “Oh my God, you have to come,” she says excitedly. I shake my head uncertainly, but she tugs my hand and pulls me behind her. “You’re coming.”

  Jason smiles at us. “Come on, I’ll drive you.”

>   * * *

  I hear the blood-curdling cries echoing across the small village as soon as we exit the Jeep, and my skin pricks with concern and uncertainty.

  “Mia, maybe it wasn’t a good idea for me to come. I should wait here with Jason.”

  “Stop it. If you want to be a doctor one day, you need to see what it’s like.” She pulls me behind her and we’re greeted by Gus and a younger man as we enter the village. Carlita is Gus’s niece. I assume the other man is her husband.

  “Hola, Mia. Rapido, rapido,” Gus says, gesturing to a small house, and we begin to run. He gives me a strained smile and shows us inside the house, where Dr. H and Adam are flanking either side of the small bed Carlita is lying in. Her cheeks are flushed beneath her olive skin and her hair is looped in dark, wet curls that are sticking to her sweaty forehead.

  “Good,” Dr. H says, looking up at us. “I’ll need you both.”

  My heart races with nervous anticipation.

  “The baby is still breech,” Adam says. “We tried to turn it all morning, but her water broke and then she went into labor.” His tone is serious and his face is filled with concern.

  I remember my mom telling me that it’s dangerous to deliver a breech baby, because the head can get stuck. It usually requires a C-section.

  “What can we do?” Mia asks.

  “Wash your hands first,” Dr. H says, pointing to a washtub.

  We wash our hands, scrubbing them meticulously with the available soap.

  “Come stand here,” he says to Mia. “Makayla, switch places with Adam.”

  I stand next to Carlita, who offers a weak smile. I try to give her a reassuring smile. “Hola, Carlita.”

  “She’s almost fully dilated, so we only have a few more chances to flip him,” Dr. H explains.

  “It’s a boy?” I ask.

  “Not necessarily, but it’s a big baby, so it’s likely,” Adam answers.

  Dr. H looks at us and says, “After her next contraction, I’m going to give you both instructions. And I need you to follow them exactly. Can you do that for me?”

  “Yes,” we both answer.

  “It’s important that we put the right pressure in the right places so we can lift the baby’s bottom and feet out of the pelvis, and turn the head down.”

  Carlita grabs my hand and squeezes it hard as every muscle in her body appears to tighten. She closes her eyes and lets out a loud, painful cry that pierces through me and settles in my bones. I put my other hand on hers, letting her squeeze mine as hard as she needs to. “It’s okay, Carlita, you’re doing great.” I put my hand on her forehead and push her hair off her face. Mia holds her other hand and we offer words of comfort as she struggles through a long, hard contraction. When it finally eases, her muscles relax a little.

  “Now,” Dr. H says, pointing and positioning our hands in various places on Carlita’s round stomach. He puts my right hand over my left and pushes my fingers firmly against her right side. Then he places Mia’s hands on her left side. “When I tell you to, I want you to push very hard. It will be uncomfortable for Carlita, but you can’t let up.”

  “Okay,” I say over my pounding heart.

  Adam places his hands at the bottom of her stomach and Dr. H reaches over the top of the round bulge. “Okay. Now,” he says, and I push hard, while he and Adam move and manipulate Carlita’s stomach, contorting it into an unnatural position that makes Carlita scream.

  “It’s hurting her,” I say, unable to contain my concern.

  “Don’t stop pushing,” Dr. H orders.

  Carlita screams again.

  “Should we stop?” I ask, feeling my hands shake against her clammy skin.

  “If we stop, the baby will likely die,” he grits, using his forearm to push her stomach further. “Almost there,” he says.

  “The butt is out of the pelvis,” Adam groans, pushing it up toward my hands.

  “Makayla, lift your hands,” he says to me, and I do.

  “There!” Dr. H says, and he and Adam share a relieved look.

  “Carlita, tu bebé está en la posición correcta ahora,” Dr. H says to her. “It’s in the right position now,” he says, smiling at us.

  She gives a brief, exhausted smile, but another contraction hits and her face twists up. She pulls her knees up and groans.

  “Okay, she’s fully dilated and I can see the top of the baby’s head,” Dr. H says. “It’s time for her to push.”

  Mia and I hold her hands while she groans through the push, and Adam helps lift her shoulders off the bed.

  “Push, Carlita, push!” we encourage.

  “The head is out,” Dr. H says calmly, and my heart beats wildly.

  Mia smiles at me with wide eyes, but I see something flash across Dr. H’s face that knots my stomach. Something’s wrong.

  “Adam,” he shouts, and Adam goes to the end of the bed and stands by his side.

  “Shoulder dystocia,” he says, and Dr. H nods.

  “We have to turn her over.”

  He speaks to Carlita in Spanish, while Adam explains, “The baby is big and its shoulders are stuck, so we need to turn her over. We’ll have better luck getting the posterior shoulder out that way.”

  I feel my face screw up, but I follow Dr. H’s instructions and help Carlita get on all fours. She screams through another contraction, while Dr. H and Adam work to get the shoulders out for what feels like hours.

  Finally, I see a small arm, followed by a pink, slippery baby with wet black hair and a long umbilical cord that Adam quickly cuts. He helps Dr. H wrap the baby in a white linen blanket and it lets out a loud wail that brings tears to my eyes. I exhale the breath I was holding and help turn Carlita over onto her back.

  “It’s a boy,” Dr. H says, and we all beam as Carlita reaches for her baby and cries quiet tears.

  I look at Mia and she gives me a small, relieved smile. “Holy shit, that was intense,” I say to her, once we’re outside. “If I wasn’t sure before, I am now. I want to be a doctor.” Watching Mia and Adam the last few weeks, seeing Carlita give birth. If I make it out of this alive, I want to be an obstetrician, just like my mom. I nod over the tight feeling in my throat. “I can’t believe my mom did that all the time.”

  “She must have been a pretty amazing woman.”

  I bob my head and smile. “She left some pretty big shoes for me to fill.”

  Mia widens her eyes and wraps her arm around my neck. “You’ll make a great OB.”

  I wrap my arm around her waist and drop my head to her shoulder as we walk. “Let’s see if I can get into med school first.” I laugh and then sober, thinking briefly about the bigger obstacle. Let’s see if I survive Marc Spencer.

  Chapter 13

  Makayla

  The sweet smell of flowers clings to the humid air and the sun shines brightly in the cloudless blue sky reflecting on the lagoon. It’s been weeks since Kellan and I have been here...the last time, we were being watched. But I think we’re both finally comfortable coming back to our secret spot. I inhale a deep, cathartic breath and listen to the beautiful, high-pitched calls of the island birds that remind me of the Costa Rican phrase pura vida. I’ve come to treasure moments like this, even as an uncertain reality awaits me. Right now, in this moment, everything is pure and clean, and exactly right.

  Kellan takes my hand and pulls me into the calm, clear water.

  “It’s so still today.” You can easily see everything on the ocean floor.

  “Look.” He reaches beneath the surface and pulls up a bright blue, skinny-armed starfish that’s sprawled limply across his palm.

  “It’s so pretty.”

  He puts it in my hand and its long arms stretch across my fingers, tickling me as it moves. We watch it for several seconds, then I lower my hand beneath the clear water and let it sink back to the ocean floor.

  Kellan dips below the surface and swims a short distance, before resurfacing with a large crusty oyster. He hands it to me and says, “I
’ll be right back.”

  “Where are you going?” I shade my eyes and watch him jog to the shore and reach inside his backpack. I look down at the crusty shell and run my finger over the edge where the two sides come together.

  He jogs back into the water with his knife. “Careful,” he says, taking it from me, “the edges are sharp.” He sticks the pointed end of his knife between the two shells and pries them apart.

  I wrinkle my nose as he rolls his finger over the slimy creature inside. “What are you doing?”

  He pulls out a small, shimmering white bead, and my mouth falls open.

  “Is that a pearl?”

  “I think so.” He places it in my hand and I marvel at it.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  “Just like you,” he says, placing his hand on my face, and I look up at him with adoration. He dips the oyster shell in the water and washes away its slimy contents. The cleaned interior is opalescent just like the pearl. “You can keep it in this,” he says, handing it to me.

  I touch the smooth, iridescent surface and it shimmers in the sunlight. “It’s perfect.” I place a quick peck on his shoulder, careful not to drop my precious gift, and wade through the water to put it away, wondering how something so beautiful could come from something so ominous.

  I hurry back into the water, eager to show Kellan just how much I love my gift, but he’s holding his fists out when I return.

  “Pick a hand,” he says, and I eye him curiously.

  I tap his right hand and he uncurls his fingers, showing me another small white pearl.

  “You found another one?” I ask excitedly.

  “Yeah.”

  I grab his shoulders and jump up, and wrap my legs around his waist. I hug him tightly and he whispers in my ear, “I would give you all the pearls in the ocean if I could.”

  I close my eyes and pray that I never have to be without him.

  I lift my head and take the tiny pearl, wrapping my fist around it tightly, and he presses his salty mouth to mine. He gently tugs my lips between his.

  “You’re going to make me drop my pearl,” I mumble.

  We spend the rest of the afternoon playing in our crystal blue pool, lying on the sugar-soft sand and soaking up the sun.