Chapter 73 — The Jungle
Cole woke up to silence.
Not the peaceful kind.
The heavy, suffocating kind.
For a moment he didn't understand where he was. His vision blurred, his ears ringing like metal being struck again and again. Something warm trickled down the side of his face.
Blood.
His head throbbed violently as fragments of memory slammed back into place.
The truck.
The ice.
The crash.
Cole forced his eyes open fully.
Dark green leaves towered above him. Massive trees. Tangled vines. The smell of wet earth and gasoline.
They weren't on the road anymore.
The truck had flipped halfway down a slope in the middle of dense jungle.
Broken ice containers lay scattered everywhere. Blocks of ice had shattered across the mud. Cold mist still rose from them.
Cole tried to move.
Pain exploded through his ribs.
He sucked in a sharp breath, clutching his side.
"Damn…"
Bruised ribs. Maybe cracked. Head injury. Dizziness. But nothing fatal.
He could still move.
Which meant one thing.
Care.
Cole's head snapped to the side.
She was lying only a few feet away.
Half under a broken crate.
Completely still.
Her skin looked pale under the faint morning light filtering through the trees.
"Care."
His voice came out hoarse.
No response.
Cold fear crawled up his spine.
Cole forced himself onto his hands and knees. Every movement sent knives of pain through his chest, but he ignored it.
He dragged himself to her.
"Care."
Still nothing.
The doctor in him took control instantly.
He pushed the crate off her and rolled her gently onto her back.
Her skin was freezing.
Her lips had turned faintly blue.
Cole felt his chest tighten.
"No… no no no…"
He pressed two fingers against her neck.
Pulse.
He waited.
Nothing.
His heart dropped into his stomach.
He leaned closer, listening.
No breath.
For a second the world stopped.
The jungle sounds faded.
The wind disappeared.
All Cole could see was her lying there.
Lifeless.
A terrifying calm filled his mind.
Training took over.
"Okay," he whispered, voice shaking. "Okay… we're not doing this."
He tilted her head back.
Checked her airway.
Clear.
His hands pressed against her chest.
"Come on, Care…"
He started compressions.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Each push hurt his ribs, but he ignored it.
Thirty compressions.
Then he sealed his mouth over hers.
One breath.
Two breaths.
Her chest rose slightly.
"Come on… breathe…"
Nothing.
Cole started compressions again.
The jungle echoed with the dull thud of his hands pressing against her chest.
His breathing grew heavier.
Blood from his head dripped onto the mud.
"Don't you dare do this," he muttered.
Thirty compressions.
Two breaths.
Still nothing.
His vision blurred.
His arms shook.
But he didn't stop.
He couldn't.
"Care… listen to me."
His voice cracked.
"You don't get to die here."
More compressions.
"After everything we survived?"
Another breath.
"After the damn freezer truck?"
Another push.
"You're really gonna let some stupid jungle finish you?"
His hands trembled harder.
"Not happening."
Thirty compressions again.
He leaned down for the breaths.
Suddenly—
Care's body jerked.
A violent cough burst from her lungs.
Water and cold air rushed into her system as she gasped sharply.
Cole froze.
Her chest heaved once.
Then again.
Breathing.
Actual breathing.
Cole let out a broken laugh.
"Yeah… that's it."
He leaned back slightly, exhaustion washing through him.
But relief hit harder.
She was alive.
Still unconscious.
But alive.
Her body trembled violently.
The cold hadn't left her.
Cole looked around quickly.
The ice blocks scattered everywhere were still lowering the temperature around them.
If she stayed here, hypothermia would finish what the crash couldn't.
He needed warmth.
Now.
Cole forced himself to stand.
Pain screamed through his ribs, but adrenaline kept him moving.
He dragged Care away from the truck wreckage, pulling her across the muddy ground toward a small clearing.
Rain clouds gathered above the jungle canopy.
Great.
Perfect timing.
He searched the wreckage quickly.
Broken wood from crates.
Fuel leaking from the truck.
A torn cloth.
It would work.
Cole gathered the wood with shaking hands.
He poured a small amount of fuel over the pile.
Then struck a spark using metal from the truck battery and a shard of steel.
The first spark failed.
Second spark failed.
His hands shook too much.
"Come on…"
Third spark.
A tiny flame caught.
Then spread.
The fire slowly came alive.
Warm orange light flickered against the dark green jungle.
Cole rushed back to Care.
Her breathing was shallow.
Her body still shaking uncontrollably.
He removed his jacket immediately and wrapped it tightly around her.
Not enough.
He removed his shirt too.
Wrapped it around her legs.
Still not enough.
Cole cursed under his breath.
Only one option left.
He pulled her closer to the fire and carefully lifted her upper body against his chest.
Then wrapped his arms around her tightly.
Sharing body heat.
Her freezing skin pressed against his warm chest.
Cole leaned his head back against a tree.
"Stay with me," he whispered.
Hours passed slowly.
The jungle grew darker as clouds gathered.
Rain began falling.
Heavy.
Cold.
The fire struggled but Cole kept feeding it broken wood.
His body temperature slowly dropped too.
He was soaked from rain.
His ribs burned.
His head pounded.
But every few minutes he checked her pulse.
Still there.
Weak.
But steady.
Animals howled somewhere deep in the jungle.
Branches rustled nearby.
Cole's eyes snapped toward every sound.
But he didn't move.
He couldn't risk leaving her.
Time crawled.
Night fell.
The jungle became a world of shadows and noise.
Cole's body trembled from cold now.
But every time his eyes started closing—
He looked down at her face.
Pale.
Fragile.
Breathing softly.
"Not today," he murmured again.
Hours later—
Faint light touched the horizon.
Dawn.
Cole blinked slowly.
His vision swayed.
He checked her pulse again.
Still there.
Then—
Care's breathing changed.
Deeper.
Stronger.
Her chest rose more steadily now.
Cole let out a slow breath.
"You stubborn girl…"
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"You really came back."
Relief finally hit him like a wave.
His body sagged.
Every muscle screamed from exhaustion.
He hadn't slept.
Had barely moved.
Just watched her breathe through the entire night.
The moment he knew she was stable—
His strength vanished.
Cole leaned back against the tree, eyes closing slowly.
His last thought before darkness pulled him under was simple.
She's alive.
And that was enough.