Ethan crouches in front of us. “Jess. Look at me.”
I meet his eyes.
“You did good,” he says. “You saved them both. You understand? You saved them.”
Did I?
Because Ben’s father just got mauled by a bear and I moved the bear spray to my pack and fumbled the clip and froze for precious seconds while the animal tore into him.
We sit there in silence for I don’t know how long. Just sit there.
Ben. Ethan. And me.
“I should have been faster,” I finally whimper.
“You were fast enough.” His voice is firm. “That’s what matters.”
Ben shifts against me. So small. So quiet.
I count her breaths. Make sure she’s still breathing.
One, two, three.
Scared and brave can live in the same body.
But right now I’m just scared.
So fucking scared.
39
Jess
The hospital corridor smells like a mixture of antiseptic and disinfectant and...
Ah, I don’t even want to think about it.
I’m sitting in a plastic chair that’s somehow both too hard and too soft at the same time. Ben’s asleep in my lap. Actually asleep. Like her brain just decided to shut down rather than process what happened.
Smart brain.
Wish mine would do the same.
Instead I’m stuck replaying the same ten seconds on loop. The bear charging. Marco stepping into the open. The shotgun blast that should’ve stopped it but didn’t. The claws. The blood.
So much blood.
My hands won’t stop shaking. I’m gripping Ben so tight I’m probably cutting off her circulation but I can’t make myself loosen up. If I let go she might disappear. Or I might. Or we’ll both wake up in those woods again with that thing tearing into—
“Jess.”
Ethan’s voice cuts through the spiral. He’s still beside me, wearing his paramedic uniform.
Oh yeah. That’s right.
He just finished a morning shift when we arrived.
Lucky timing.
