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“When is Jesse coming home?”
“Tomorrow. He didn’t have good cell reception, so I haven’t heard from him the last couple of days—” I tell her when my ringtone cuts me off. I look at the caller ID, and it’s Jesse’s dad.
“Hey, Dan, what’s up?”
“Ace, are you alone?” His voice sounds strained.
“No, I’m with my friend, Angie, at the coffee shop,” I tell him.
“I just got a call.” His voice breaks, and I hear a strangled sob. He clears his throat, and something sharp stabs my side. I bite on my lip. “Fuck.”
“There was an avalanche yesterday,” he tells me.
“What—” I begin, sucking in a breath. Please, God, no, not again.
“They don’t know if he—” Dan doesn’t finish his sentence.
I let the phone drop from my hands. Angie grabs my shoulders. “Honey, what’s going on?”
Another sharp stab slides through me. “Fuck.” I topple over, about ready to throw up. This isn’t happening, this isn’t happening. I keep repeating those words over and over in my head.
Angie grabs the phone, listening to whatever Dan is saying on the other end.
I start to hyperventilate. Another sharp pain shoots through my body, and something warm trickles down my leg. Damn, I must have knocked my tea on my clothes.
“Ace, look at me. Are you okay?” Angie asks, clutching my hand.
I break out in sweat, and everything starts to dance in front of my eyes. “I don’t feel so good.” I cry out again. Fuck. I stare at the tea still standing on the table in front of us. I can’t believe it. I need to go home and wait for Jesse.
“I need to go,” I say, standing. My thoughts are a mess. I’m crying and shivering at the same time.
“Ace, what are you doing?” she asks, the phone still plastered to her ear.
I look down, and my jeans are red with blood. “I think I need to go,” I grit out through clenched teeth, toppling over, while dizziness takes over.
It doesn’t take the ambulance long to take me to the local hospital. Before I know it, I’m ushered into a private room with a view of the mountains in the distance. The doctor comes in to check on me and assures me the bleeding was nothing to worry about.
I read another text Dan has sent me. Jesse is officially missing in an area where it’s not easy to get to. They did get a distress call through, but with below zero temperatures and night falling soon and the changing weather, they don’t know if the search and rescue mission needs to be postponed.
I look up from my phone when my parents barge in. “Honey,” Mom says, wiping my hair out of my face.
“Any news?” I ask, sitting up, my voice sounding hollow. She shakes her head, and there are tears in her eyes. This brings back so many memories, but I’m numb. “If the son of a bitch kills himself on that goddamn mountain, I swear to God,” I say, and cringe when another pain stabs my side.
“You need to relax, baby,” my father says soothingly.
“You relax, Dad,” I bite out, and he flashes me a watery smile.
“The father of my children may be hurt, or buried under an avalanche, and I’m pissed as hell for letting him go,” I yell, biting on the inside of my cheek.
“It’s okay to cry,” Mom says softly.
Shaking my head, I tell her, “I can’t. I’m not going to cry because it would mean—” I stop talking when Dan walks in.
He shakes my father’s hand and kisses my mom on the cheek before taking my hand in his.
“Any news, Dan?” I whisper.
He shakes his head. “No, not yet. He’s strong, kid, he wouldn’t go up there without the right protection. Gibb is on the phone in the waiting area, trying to get more info.” His soft Virginian drawl soothes me instantly because it reminds me of the man who has my heart.
