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I frown, suddenly feeling dizzier than when I was walking in circles in the deep dark forest last night.
“Well they can’t have looked too hard,” I say, my voice croaky and exhausted.
Jeffery’s jaw is locked open, his eyes fixed on me. He’s standing opposite me, and I can see the patch of his light blue uniform is wet from where my clothes soaked into his as he rushed me across the ground floor of the office.
It’s only then that I look down and see just how drenched I am.
I’m a mess.
My jeans are dark blue, soaked with rainfall, sweat and tears. The cuffs around my ankles are covered with a thick layer of mud, splatters of sludge of grime from my unwanted adventure covering every inch of my body.
I wince with pain, the sudden heat of the elevator coasting over my frozen muscles. Jeffery won’t stop staring, his eyes surveying the length of my body. They catch on a big tear that has ripped my knee open. It’s throbbing now that I think of it and I can’t help but wonder what my face looks like.
“Fuck,” I groan, a piercing pain ripping through my body so suddenly and unexpectedly it makes me wince and shriek loudly.
I’ve survived a long, dark, lonely night in the mountains. My plan went to shit pretty early on, but determination is a great thing – I pushed ahead, my plan always being that I wouldn’t stop. If I stopped, I wouldn’t get up again.
So I pushed. And pushed. And pushed.
I did everything Colt taught me to when we laid awake at night, talking about life on the mountain. I laid a trail of my belongings, leaving behind everything at short intervals. I snapped sticks with my tired legs, scuffed the muddy forest floor to leave tracks.
Without being there, Colt helped me survive.
His lessons, his knowledge… but most of all… hislovesaved me.
“Hannah!” The deep voice of my brother catches my fading consciousness as my body begins to shiver.
A warm arm wraps around me and guides me across the carpeted floor. A hint of citrus hits my nose, a familiar smell that should awaken my senses, but it doesn’t. All I can see is the cheap flooring of the office speeding below me, my head hanging heavy, my feet dragging on the floor as two strong men pull me from the flutter of excited voices echoing around the office.
A door slams and I’m gripping my brother tight, unable to gather my balance.
“Hannah, where have you been? We’ve looked everywhere!”
I glance up, my head heavy. “Xavier…”
My body sways, Xavier’s eyes hard with furrowed concern. He lowers me to a sofa. The room is spinning.Fuck.I think I’m in his office, but I can’t be sure, everything is moving too much.
“Xavier…” I breathe, my chest jolting with a sudden stabbing pain. “Xavier… Colt… Colt…”
My vision flickers, and slowly, I fade into nothingness.
***
The wood-panelled walls glow in the subtle light of the fireplace. I feel warm and toasty, like a giant marshmallow roasting in the comfort of the cabin. I move over the stovetop, a wooden spoon stirring the pot of bubbling stew. It smells earthy and natural, filled with nutrients and bursting with flavor.
A soft glow seeps through the window as I move across and look outside. Smoke fills the air, a small campfire surround by three logs burns in the center of the paddock. Two small children sit on one log, a big, burly man with a red flannel shirt gripped tight around his hulking shoulders on the one to their right.
They’re all laughing and smiling in front of the mountainous backdrop that’s turning orange as the enormous glow of the sun dips below the terrain.
A warm feeling tightens my chest, but the broth bubbles on the stove and I quickly move across to keep stirring. The countertops are cluttered with the mess from meals past, the sink piled high with dishes.
I let the broth settle and turn the gas down, lifting the apron around my neck to dab at the sweat beading across my brow. As I lift it, my eyes catch on the fancy handwriting printed onto the apron.
I mouth the words ‘Best Mommy Ever’as I read the pink writing on the apron.
“And don’t you forget it,” Colt says, his bright blue eyes appearing behind me.
He curls his arms around my belly, holding me tight.
