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If I’d had full use of my body, we probably could've made it. But between the pain searing up and down my leg and the pounding in my head, the best I could do was a pathetic little hobble. Even that was reliant on Lucky to keep me upright.
"Lucky—" I began but not surprisingly, he cut me off.
"Shut up and keep moving," he growled. I'd never heard him like that. I'd seen his strength and confidence over the past several weeks, but a tiny part of me had still considered him a kid playing an adult’s game. But there was nothing childish about the man next to me.
I didn't remember anything about the blast after the helicopter had exploded. One minute I'd been throwing myself at Lucky and the next minute I'd found him lying on top of me. I'd worried that I'd somehow not managed to protect him with my body, but when I'd called his name and he’d looked at me with those beautiful brown eyes of his, I'd known he was okay. Not much else had made sense. Then he’d mentioned the fire cutting off our retreat and I'd known there would be no way I could make it to safety. I'd wanted so badly for him to leave me so he could save himself, but admittedly, there was a tiny part of me that was relieved to not have to face this terror alone. It was like Lucky had once said, we understood that death was always at our door but none of us actually relished it.
"We’re not going to make it in time," Lucky yelled above the roar of the fire. "We need to head north, up the pass."
I knew he was right but the idea of trying to make our way up increasingly impassable terrain seemed like an impossible thing. "The warming hut," I managed to get out. The small stone structure just over the pass would offer us protection from the cold weather we'd likely encounter the higher we got. Since the winds were blowing south and the vegetation became sparser at the top of the pass, we had a good chance of outrunning the flames.
Lucky made a grunting sound and quickly turned us so we were headed north. My lungs felt like they were going to explode while at the same time my head felt light, but I continued to push forward. Every step Lucky took, I took one as well. I lost track of time, but it seemed at least an hour later before Lucky slowed our pace. I was leaning on him more heavily now, though there was nothing I could do about it. I felt dizzy and sick to my stomach and prayed I wouldn’t lose the contents of my stomach right there on the trail.
"I think it's safe to stop," I heard Lucky say, but I couldn't find the energy to open my eyes. I wanted to argue and tell him that we needed to keep moving so we could reach the warming hut before night fell and the temperature dropped dramatically, but no words would come. When Lucky helped me to sit, the pain in my leg ripped me from the near slumber I was falling into.
"Sorry, sorry," Lucky murmured as he helped me prop my back against a tree. I forced my eyes open only to see Lucky looking stricken as he examined my leg. "You're losing too much blood," he whispered. The fear and helplessness I heard in his voice had me reaching my hand out to him.
"Come," I said softly, though my voice didn't really sound like my own. We'd inhaled a lot of smoke, but fortunately we'd reached an elevation where the air was cleaner.
"No," Lucky responded. "I have to stop the bleeding." His voice was frantic and high-pitched as his fingers hovered over what looked like a pretty good leg wound. Surprisingly, it didn't really hurt much, but I supposed that was probably due to how cold I was. It wasn't a good sign. But seeing Lucky so distressed made my chest hurt.
"Lucky," I breathed. He looked up at me and paused, then something shifted in his gaze and he moved so he was sitting next to me. When I put my arm around him, he leaned into me and wrapped his arm around my chest. There was a long beat of silence, but when I dropped a kiss to his head and whispered, "It's okay, sweetheart," Lucky let out a muffled sob. It was followed by another and another. I felt his tears soak through my shirt.
"I thought you were gone," he said as his fingers curled into my side. "I thought I'd lost you."
"Never," I said without thinking. I skimmed my fingers over the back of his neck. I hated that it took so much of my energy to provide such little comfort. "Gotta keep moving," I managed to say even as sleep tried to claim me.
