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“We already airlifted him to get checked out.”
“Is he okay?” I asked, panic setting in. I struggled to think straight. I was still in survival mode, and the more they told me Lorenzo was gone, the more it scared me.
“He’s just fine. A little hypothermic—he traveled through the night—and dehydrated, but he’s okay.”
“Why isn’t he here?”
“We didn’t want you to wait, he said it was serious, so another team took him.”
It didn’t make sense. Why hadn’t he come back with them? Why had he just left me? He’d promised he wouldn’t leave me.
Kate checked me out. They didn’t answer my questions in a way that made me feel better. Finally, after she was sure she knew what was wrong, they strapped me into a gurney. It was almost worse. I couldn’t move. My head, my neck, my body were all strapped down tightly.
A helicopter appeared, the sound deafening. The trees around us tugged at their roots, and the branches danced and waved in the wind. A rope came down, and they carried me to it, fastening it so that I was lifted into the air. I yelped, panicking.
“We’ve got you,” someone said from the helicopter, and I was pulled into it. “You’re going to be okay,” a woman said. “I’m Lucy, and I’m going to take good care of you.”
“Where’s Lorenzo?” I asked, tears springing to my eyes.
“He’s okay,” Lucy said. I was getting sick of everyone saying that to me.
“What about the others?” I asked. “Anna? She has a son.”
“They’re all okay. They made it down the mountain safe and sound after the first storm. We’ve been looking for you since.”
I closed my eyes, tears squeezing out of them. Brian and Kate were pulled up into the helicopter, and then we flew away from the forest, away from the ledge, away from the nightmare I’d been terrified I wouldn’t escape.
They kept telling me Lorenzo was okay. I had to believe them, but I couldn’t help but feel like we were leaving him behind.
Where was he? Why had he left when he’d told me he wouldn’t?
23
CELINE
Idreamed.Lorenzowassomewhere in the darkness, and I called out to him but he couldn’t hear me. I tried to wave, but he couldn’t see me. When I tried to get to him, my leg hurt so much I couldn’t move.
“Lorenzo!” I cried out.
He was laughing, talking to someone. Why could I see him, hear him, but he couldn’t see or hear me?
“Lorenzo!” I called again.
“Celine,” someone called to my side, but I ignored them. I didn’t care about anyone but Lorenzo. I needed him to look at me. If he could just look at me, smile at me, I would know that things were going to be okay. This darkness wouldn’t last forever, and—
“Celine,” someone said, and something warm touched my shoulder. I blinked my eyes open. Everything around me was gray, and I could barely see, but someone kneeled next to me. A light went on, and I saw the face.
I didn’t know him.
“Celine, we’re here to help you,” he said. He wore a red jumpsuit and gloves.
“Where’s Lorenzo?” I asked.
“He’s safe,” the man said. “I’m Brian, and this here’s Kate. She’s going to check you out, okay?”
“Where’s Lorenzo?” I asked again, looking around frantically. The movement made my head ache, and I winced when Kate touched my ankle.
“It hurts,” I cried out. “How did you find us?”
