“No need to thank me. I’m just glad I can be here for you all,” he replies as he walks back over and sinks down onto the loveseat, tossing an arm around Jane’s shoulders. She leans her head against his chest, grabbing his hand before smiling up at him with devotion-filled eyes. She’s proud to call him hers.
I see it so plainly, and my heart tugs, happy that she has that in her life and praying that my forever is coming home. Bitsy and Amy make their way into the room. Bitsy jumps up into my lap and purrs as she makes her circles and gets comfy. Amy whines at my feet, sensing my distress. She nuzzles my knee, and I reach out to pet her head. She huffs and licks my hand then jumps up between Holly and I to lay down. She settles her head right next to Bitsy, giving her a quick lick before looking back up at me.
“He’ll be okay, Amy. He’ll come back to us.”
At one, Brynleigh’s phone rings, making me jump awake. I hadn’t even realized I’d nodded off. I immediately grab for my phone, too.
“It’s Mark!” She fumbles to answer, her hands shaking. “Mark? Are you guys okay? Hello? Hello? I can’t hear you… Damn… I lost him. He didn’t sound right, guys.” She tries to call back, but there’s nothing. It doesn’t go through. We all look at each other.
“Go get ready girls. We’ll get on the road.”
Chapter 26
Colin
Igroan as I slowly start to move my fingers and toes, carefully testing out my limbs to make sure nothing is broken. Thankfully, we only fell about ten feet. It hurt, but I was pretty damn scared it was going to be a much longer trip down.
Trystan.
“Trystan! Where are you?” I grapple for my flashlight that’s two feet or so away, dreading the sound of nothing but wind howling and thunder booming. Nevermind the steady pour bringing in water around us.
“Come on man, say something! You okay?”He hasn’t answered you already, so, no, he’s probably not all smiles.I shake my head, my teeth knocking together from the cold and adrenaline coursing through my veins. Did I pass out? I haven’t heard Mark.
“Mark! You there?!” I holler, panic settling in. I’m not sure how I landed, so is Trystan to my right or left? Did Markfall in too?Fuck!I frantically start shining my flashlight left and right, searching for one or both of my friends. My light finally settles on a boot. There’s Trystan.Shit.
“Trystan!” I make my way to stand, feeling a tad woozy. Yup, pretty sure I passed out. I feel around my head; no blood, but a pretty good goose egg on the back. My pack is still hooked on my back. I shrug it off so I can move faster to Trystan.
He’s lying on his back, and his left arm is bent at an unnatural angle, visibly broken.Shit.
“Trystan, buddy, I’m here. Wake up.” I feel his pulse, looking at his chest to thankfully see it rising and falling at a steady rate. He’s got blood across the side of his head. I lift his lids to check his pupils, and they react and he squints, groaning.
“Oh, thank fuck! Trystan, your arm is broken. Be careful trying to move. Does anything else hurt? I start lifting his shirt to check for crazy bruising.
“Shiiiiiiitttttt…” Trystan groans out again, clearly feeling the pain settle in.
“Talk to me, bud.”
“Mark?” he grits through his teeth and hisses as he starts wiggling fingers and toes.
“He’s not down here with us. I already looked. We both were out cold, so he’s probably going for help. Oh thank you, Jesus!” I glance up at the sky, feeling a smidge of gratitude. “He at least was the one with the keys. What else hurts?” I stand to grab my pack, unhooking the sleeping bag I thought to roll up last second to throw over him to keep him warm. I reach in and pull out my first aid kit to see what all I have in case we need it. Dude, I’m glad I bought the one with flare sticks and a flare gun in case our batteries die.
“Phones. Do either of our phones work?” Trystan stutters out, but it’s hard to hear him over the storm. Thankfully, the ravine is giving us a little protection. I look around with myflashlight again and notice the water has gotten deeper. That’s not good. I grab my phone. It’s eleven-thirty nine. I think we left the tent about an hour ago. I guesstimate our trip through the woods. Trystan and I have probably been down here for about thirty minutes or so. Maybe. Assuming Mark is okay and he found the trail right away, he’s probably just making it to the truck to call for help. He’ll still need to find a signal, so we’re likely going to be down here for another hour or more.
“No service. Which pocket was yours in?”
“Jacket pocket, broken arm side.” He tries to reach for it.
“Nope. Don’t move fast. Better yet, just don’t move. I got it. damnit, it’s cracked good. Let me see if it even does anything.” I push all the buttons. Nope. It’s fucked.
“It’s fucked, man. Is that sleeping bag helping any?”
“Yeah, thank you. I’ve been slowly wiggling things. My legs work. My back is sore, but I feel it all. My neck’s okay.”
“Okay, good, because we might have a problem.”
I look around us, and our little island of rocks is starting to disappear.
“What do you mean?”