The memory didn't creep. It ambushed me.
The park ranger's voice, so calm it was cruel."We found her on the trail, ma'am. The Cathedral Lake Trail. There was an accident."
A fall. My traitorous mind supplied the image: Lily laughing one moment, reality shifting on the next. The silence after. The terrible, endless silence.
My lungs refused to work. Cold sweat broke across my skin. The beautiful dappled forest warped and tunneled, edges dissolving into buzzing gray static. The panic was a living thing, rising from my gut to strangle me.
"I can't—" The gasp was barely audible. "I can't breathe?—"
I stumbled backward. My foot came down hard on a loose, rolling stone. A white-hot lance of pain shot through my right ankle as it twisted violently. I cried out, falling sideways, my palms scraping across sharp granite.
"Emma!" Cole's voice cut through the roaring in my ears.
I curled in on myself, the world reduced to the pounding of my heart and the searing throb in my ankle. The panic and pain blurred together into one overwhelming wave.
"Look at me." He was suddenly there, kneeling in front of me, his hands firm and steady on my shoulders. "Emma. Look at me."
I shook my head, tears streaming.
"You're safe. You're on solid ground. Nothing is going to hurt you." His voice was a calm directive, a command my spiraling mind could grab onto. "Breathe with me. In."
He took a slow, deliberate breath. I tried to mimic him, my attempts coming out as ragged sobs.
"Hold it. Good. Now out."
His hands held steady on my shoulders. His blue eyes stared at mine with an intensity that anchored me to the present moment. Slowly, the vise around my throat began to loosen. Theworld swam back into focus. I could see Sarah's wide, frightened eyes, the trees, and Cole's unwavering gaze.
"There you go," he murmured. "You're okay. You're doing great."
The panic ebbed, leaving me trembling and hollow. The pain in my ankle throbbed with renewed fury.
"My ankle," I choked out. "I twisted it."
He nodded, moving carefully. "Let me see."
His touch was gentle as he probed the swelling joint. I hissed in pain.
"Can you move it?"
I tried. It hurt, but it moved. "Yes."
"Good. That's good. Probably not broken. Bad sprain, though." He looked up the trail, then back down, calculating. "Can you put weight on it?"
I let him help me stand. When I tried to step, pain lanced through me, but I didn't collapse.
"I can walk," I managed through gritted teeth. "It just really hurts."
"My cabin is closer than going back down," Cole said. "Maybe half a mile up this ridge. I can carry you?—"
"I can walk," I repeated, stubbornly.
"Emma—"
"I need to do this." I wasn't sure why it mattered so much, but it did. "Just... let me lean on you?"
Something formed in his expression, respect, maybe. He positioned himself at my side, his arm solid around my waist, taking most of my weight.
"Sarah," he called ahead. "Lead us to the cabin. Slow and careful."
