eastern mountains and
ed overnight. Her shoulder throbbed in time wi
d herself
s to the river. She had drunk half
wa
knew someth
but the heat beneath her skin was different, wet, feverish. She
ect
that turned septic. He'd soaked in hot water and iodine and refused to see a
ine. No hot wa
otics, if she
s from her current location. She had memorized the route before s
wa
appeared
tacked. She fell to her knees beside it and
a waterp
ibiotics. A clean shirt. A pair
ry. They caught in her th
ss and sat naked in the fading lig
e days to re
washes and beneath rock overha
otics work
had dropped. By the third,
ot think
next step. The next mile. T
tar. His voice, rough and warm, singing corridos
body in the pit. His g
think about
Rio Grande on
er. The water moved like syrup under moonl
the edge and
oulder. A dead man in her grave. A bag of sup
not un
t need to
eded t
ed into t
der than s
ove her head with her good arm and pushed forward. The current tugged at her leg
s, her wounde
er grip on
de her. She grabbed it , caught
ound the b
ept m
sed at the
grass. She lay there with water streaming from her b
as in
was
know if sh
the river
re that she h
left everything she loved i
her palm to
. Em
her skin. Smaller than a hea
not know
she
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