Still a good five meters. I have to hurry.
A faint crunching sound.
The ground under my left foot slips away.
The world tilts.
Rock, scree, nothing to grab onto.
I’m falling.
Fuck.
The jolt is so brutal it knocks the breath out of me.
The safety rope!
A few loose stones and clods of earth crash into the depths. I watch them fall, watch them shatter on rocks, plunge into the sea.
Damn it, if Nyla hadn’t forced me to wear the safety harness, I’d be lying down there too.
Shattered.
My heart is pounding like crazy.
‘Are you okay, Jaden?’ Nyla’s voice is shrill.
‘I’m fine,’ I shout, even though nothing is fine right now.
I could have died. Really died. For good.
Nyla saved my life—with her caution, which I’d always thought was over the top.
These thoughts drift through my head like wisps of fog as I keep climbing. More carefully now, because the shock runs deep.
When I reach the rocky ledge, I leave the safety rope clipped to my harness, even though the ground seems stable. Then I open the passenger door. The woman is slumped unconscious over the steering wheel. Her blond hair sticks to her sweat-damp forehead; she’s trembling.
I plant one knee on the passenger seat and lean over her. ‘Hello, can you hear me? Miss? Can you hear me?’
She doesn’t respond.
I carefully tilt her head back and lift her chin slightly so she can breathe more easily. Quickly, I check her breathing and pulse and measure her blood sugar level.
38 mg/dL.
Damn it. I rip open the emergency backpack and yank out the glucose IV, as well as a cannula and disinfectant.
At that moment, a violent jolt runs through the car. A shrill scream pierces the air—Nyla’s scream. The car rocks.
Then I suddenly hear it. That soft, menacing cracking of the rock next to the driver’s door. Another jolt. The car tilts. Metal grinds, the front end pulls to the side.
‘Shit.’ My pulse races, my stomach tightens.
‘Jaden! Get out of there! Now!’ Nyla yells.
My gaze flies to the young woman in the driver’s seat. If I wait with the IV until we’ve gotten ourselves out of the car, it’ll be too late for her.
No. She needs the glucose right now.