I sit up as I feel Lewis grab my arms. “Are you okay?”
I scrub the mud from my face, spitting it from my teeth. “What happened? What did I…” As I turn over, as the dirt clears from my eyes, I see. I don’t finish the question, as it’s already been answered for me.
Through the rain, I’m looking at what I tripped over.
Or ratherwhomI tripped over.
Through the rain, I’m staring at my husband’s muddy form as he kneels next to my best friend’s body.
CHAPTER THIRTY
CORINNE WILDE - PRESENT DAY
Cool, wet leaves cake my hands and arms as I turn around on my knees to get a closer look at her.
Is she okay? Nothing about this makes any sense.
I just spoke to her. She was home. She was…showering. Then driving. I suspected she had someone at her house. A date. She was vibrant. She was fine.
And now? She’s lying on her side in the cold rain, in woods where she has no reason to be.
Lewis squeezes my shoulder gently, his wild eyes full of fear as lightning flashes in the sky. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.” I shove his hands away, turning her onto her back. “What happened?”
“We shouldn’t move her.”
I’m not listening. “Is she…” My hands search her face, and I place my head against her chest, listening for a heartbeat.
“She’s alive,” he says.
A wave of relief washes through my body, white-hot. He’s right. Her chest is rising and falling with slow, steady breaths.
I run a hand over her tenderly, searching for injuries, my fingers shaking as I wait to feel blood. There’s no sign of any.
“It doesn’t make sense. It’s like she’s sleeping. She’s not hurt.”
“The injuries could be internal.” Lewis’s response is quiet, but it seems to reverberate through the woods. My eyes fall to her stomach, imagining a black-and-purple bruise spreading across her stomach the way I’ve seen on the medical shows Taylor loves.
Gently, I lift her shirt, just enough to ease my fears.
We hear footsteps and heavy breaths, and my heart ricochets in my chest. I can’t leave her. There is no time to think, to process. I can’t hide, even if I wanted to, so I wait. I sit still as a stone, silent, as I watch.
A figure appears through the rain, then another. I release a breath of relief.
“You found her?” Conrad asks, dropping down next to us. “What happened?”
“We don’t know,” I say. “She’s unconscious.”
“We need to get her up,” Conrad says, his hands hovering over her body as if he’s afraid to touch her. “Get her to the hospital.”
He looks over at the other man, who nods.
In agreement, we each grab hold of her. Lewis and I take an arm, a shoulder. Conrad’s friend slides his arms under her back, bearing the brunt of her weight, and Conrad keeps her legs from dragging the ground.
“Careful,” I warn as we take hold and lift. The second she leaves the ground, her eyes flutter, as if awakening from a long sleep. “Greta?”
We pick up speed, hurrying through the forest. The slick mud makes it impossible to stay steady. She turns her head and rests it on my chest, and I hold her tighter against me, wanting to protect her from the rain smacking her face.
