“My ex, he … he insisted we go on this seven-day trek in the Lost Creek Wilderness.”
Duke doesn’t say anything, he just watches me like he’s absorbing every word.
“It started drizzling early on, and I wanted to turn back. The forecast called for storms, but he…” I shake my head. “He said I was being dramatic. Said I was ‘ruining the vibe.’”
His fingertips trace a slow line along my arm.
“He was high. I didn’t realize how high until we were hours in. Weed. Mushrooms. Maybe something else. He kept saying he felt the Earth breathing. And then it started.” My voice cracks. “The storm. Lightning. Thunder. Close. Loud. Too loud.” My chest tightens at the memory. “I slipped and twisted my ankle. I pleaded with him to help me find cover, but he just … laughed. Said he’d be right back and that he was getting help. I waited for almost an hour. Sitting there, soaking in the storm.”
The tent is dead quiet. Even the wind outside has stilled for a moment.
“Eventually, I gave up and started to limp out of there. I didn’t know where I was going and I was shaking so bad Icouldn’t tell whether it was from cold or panic or both. That’s when it hit.”
“The strike?”
“Yes.” I nod. “It struck me, and I was out. I don’t remember much after that. Two other hikers found me. I woke up covered in mud and pine needles, my arm numb, blood in my mouth.”
Duke breathes out, like he’s been holding it the whole time.
“He never came back.” My voice drops to a whisper. “He … he… left me.”
roxanne’s inferno
DUKE
She’s quiet now,but those three words,he left me, keep circling in my head like ash in a wildfire. I’m trying to stay calm for her, but my hands are clenched so tight I can feel my nails pressing half-moons into my palms. My jaw aches from how hard I’m biting down the things I want to say.
How could a man walk away from her? And she was injured! She was fucking injured! How do you leave someone like Roxanne in the dirt and not come back? You don’t. Not if you’re a man worth your salt. She’s tucked against me again, smaller than I’ve ever seen her. There’s a full-blown storm raging outside my tent, but I inhale and exhale trying to get Roxanne to focus on my breathing.
Pulling away just enough so I can see her face, I let the pad of my thumb skim her tear-stained cheek. “I know that wasn’t easy for you to tell me, and I’m not going to pretend I understand exactly what that night did to you. I do know this—you didn’t break out there. You survived. You survived your own ninth circle of hell.”
I let the silence sit before continuing, my voice even softer now.
“You’re brave, Roxanne. You’re brilliant. You’re beautiful as all hell, and if I’d been there, I wouldn’t have let go of your hand. Not for a second.”
She sniffs and looks up at me with these dewy blue eyes that look like crystals now. “How do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Make me feel so good.”
“Guess you bring out the best in me,” I say.
“What about you, though?” she asks.
“What about me?”
“You didn’t share in the Fire Circle either. What did you face when you came home?”
I grow quiet for a beat and then decide that everyone has been baring their souls tonight. I might as well bare mine.
“I was engaged,” I start.
She raises her brows and she sits up on her elbow.
“A girl I went to college with,” I continue. “We had a good year together, then I signed up for the Army. When my first round of service ended, I came home and asked her to marry me, but I wasn’t prepared for how challenging returning to civilian life was.”
I feel Roxanne’s hand still resting lightly on mine, and it keeps me talking when I might’ve clammed up otherwise.
