Page 23 of Protecting Josie
He caught it without a word and smiled as he read the package. He held it up for Josie to see. “MRE. This one’s meatballs in marinara sauce. It’s pretty close to a hamburger.”
Josie hadn’t been feeling all that hungry. She’d gone so long without food that she’d simply forgotten what it felt like to feel anything other than empty. But when she heard the word meatball, her mouth started watering. Suddenly, she felt almost sick with the need to eat.
“Easy, Spirit, I’ve got you.”
She watched Nate open the plastic bag, feeling like a feral dog might when presented with the possibility of real food. She wanted to snatch it out of his hands and stuff everything in her mouth as fast as possible. Her hands shook with a need for the calories she’d been denied for so long.
“Start with this,” Nate said, holding something out to her.
Josie blinked. It was yellow and rather sickly looking, but she’d recognize it anywhere. Bread. She reached for it, not caring that her hands were filthy. That she was shaking.
“Fuck—wait.”
She didn’t want to wait! But Josie took a deep breath and did as he asked. She wasn’t an animal, even if she’d kind of acted like one back in that cell.
“Give me your hand,” Nate ordered.
She held it out and watched as he used a wet wipe to slowly and methodically clean as much of the dirt off her fingers as he could.
Frowning, he said, “It’s not good enough, but we can’t spare the water to wash right now. I’m sorry.”
He wassorry? Josie’s eyes filled with tears. No one had taken such good care of her in her entire life. He had to be hungry too, and he was hurting; she’d seen the results of the torture he’d endured. And here he was, tending to her hands as if she was made of glass. It was too much.
Emotions she’d pushed back to the recesses of her mind rushed forward. Swaying, Josie closed her eyes, trying to keep her tears at bay.
“Come here,” Nate said, seeming to understand how close she was to the edge. Ofcoursehe did. It was as if he could read her mind. Knew what she was thinking and feeling.
She cried then. For the first time in a very long time. She’d cried the first week she’d been taken, but after that her tears seemed to dry up. Now they returned with a vengeance. Even as she cried though, no sound escaped her. Her chest heaved with sobs, and yet not one squeak left her lips.
When she was done, Josie felt as if she weighed a thousand pounds. She was so tired, she could barely lift her head.
To her surprise, Nate smiled down at her. “Feel better?” he asked.
Josie shrugged. She wasn’t sure how she felt.
“Right. So…should we try this again? Start with the breadstick as I get the meatballs ready.”
He held out the bread, and Josie took it in her muchcleaner but still grubby fingers and stared at it for a moment, before opening her mouth and taking a small bite.
“Go slow,” Nate warned. “It’s been a while since you’ve had carbs, and you don’t want to throw it up.”
No, she didn’t want to do that.
At any other time, the bread would probably be gross. It was a little hard, and whatever preservatives had been used to make it edible made it taste slightly off…but it was also the best thing Josie had ever eaten in her life.
She closed her eyes as she forced herself to chew slowly and not swallow the bite whole. It was as if she could actually feel the bread making its way down her throat to her stomach. She opened her eyes and looked at Nate. He was staring at her with an expression she couldn’t interpret.
Josie wanted to stuff the rest of the bread in her mouth before anyone could take it away, but instead, she held it out to Nate.
“I’m okay. You can have it,” he told her.
She shook her head and held it closer to his mouth. To her surprise, he didn’t grab it. Just leaned close enough to take a bite.
“Oh my God, that is so good,” he said with his mouth full and a small smile.
“If you guys think that shit is good, youhaveto be half starved,” Tate said from across the cave.
Josie had forgotten he was there. She’d forgotten about everything but the food and Nate.
