“The green light.”
“Aaron’s helmet lamp.”
“I thought it was you.”
The words hollowed me out.
“What?”
“In the dark.”
His face crumpled.
“I saw green. I thought you’d found me.”
I covered the back of his neck with my palm.
“I’m here now.”
“I tried to whistle.”
His chest shook.
“I couldn’t get enough air.”
He attempted the signal.
Two short, broken breaths.
The third failed completely.
I answered.
Two clear notes.
One long.
Noah collapsed against me.
The sob that came out of him began somewhere deep enough to shake both our bodies.
“I thought I was going to die before I told you I was coming home.”
I closed my eyes.
“You came home.”
“I didn’t know you when I got there.”
“You still came home.”
His arms locked around me.
The workshop disappeared.
The accident disappeared.
Caleb and Owen disappeared.
