Love Unspoken

Quinn shot Alexander a look and asked again, "Are you missing an arm or a leg or what?"This is property © of NôvelDrama.Org.

"I dunno. Can't feel a thing," Alexander mumbled, barely audible.

"Then how do you even..." Quinn's voice trailed off, switching gears, "What now? I can't shove this tiger off you."

The tiger had to be at least 450 pounds, and she could barely budge its paw.

Alexander shut his eyes and muttered, "Just leave it. It's kinda warm."

"Alexander..." Quinn called out.

Her earlier sadness morphed into pure frustration.

"Let me chill for a sec," Alexander said weakly. If the forest wasn't dead silent, Quinn might've missed it.

Quinn went quiet, giving him a moment.

After a bit, she dashed back to the cave, grabbed some water, and carefully fed it to him.

"Feeling any better?" Quinn asked again.

Alexander had just closed his eyes for a moment. Hearing her, he opened them and said, "Nope."

Quinn pressed her lips together, saying, "Then keep resting."

Alexander shut his eyes again, but not even two minutes later, she piped up, "Why didn't you answer when I called you earlier?"

Alexander sighed, "Chill. I'm all in one piece, no missing limbs. Not dying yet. Can I rest now?"

Feeling a bit exposed, Quinn turned her head away, staying silent.

She was genuinely worried Alexander might kick the bucket. She couldn't see his injuries and feared he might just drift off and never wake up. But his words calmed her down a bit. She let him be and stayed by his side quietly.

An hour ticked by before she spoke again, "Alexander, you good now?"

No response from Alexander.

Quinn freaked out, patting his cheeks and checking his breath. It was so faint she could barely feel it.

"Alexander, Alexander," she called, shaking his face. "Wake up. Don't sleep!"

Alexander didn't open his eyes but groaned, "Stop. You're gonna give me a concussion."

Hearing his weak voice, Quinn quickly pulled her hands back and asked cautiously, "You okay?"

"Not really," Alexander replied.

"What do we do?" Quinn asked, worried.

"Just don't move me," Alexander said.

Quinn awkwardly pulled her hands back, found some firewood nearby, and added it to the fire to make it bigger.

She kept a close eye on Alexander, occasionally checking his breath. When she couldn't feel it with her fingers, she leaned in to listen.

Suddenly, Alexander's eyes snapped open, startling her.

"Even now, you still wanna mess with me," he teased.

"No, I was just checking if you were dead," Quinn shot back.

Alexander sighed. The next second, the tiger on top of him shifted, and Quinn jumped, falling to the ground.

She pointed at the tiger, but before she could say anything, Alexander pulled his hand out from under the beast. He grabbed the tiger's head and turned to Quinn, "Come help." Quinn was stunned, but quickly got the hint. She rushed over to hold the tiger's head, and together, they managed to lift half of its body.