Her foggy mind slipped in and out of consciousness. She dozed off, then startled awake, her eyes thick—weighted.
Her arm protecting her tiny bubble of air throbbed in the awkward position. Sooner or later, it would drop in exhaustion, and she’d suffocate. Snow crept closer and closer to her mouth. The roaring over, now was the avalanche aftermath—the snow settling, slinking into crevices of air, sealing the earth and everything under it in its icy casket.Tears pricked her eyes—the only warmth she’d experienced since being swallowed whole.
She’d heard the gory and heartbreaking details of avalanche victims—snow found down their throats, through their sinuses. It would slip through her crevices just as it was the earth’s.
She’d die. Die without ever telling Joel the truth.
Unwieldy grogginess and fierce cold battled to take her, and her grit to hold out was slipping away.
Please,Lord,if You’regoing to take me home ... just let me fall asleepwithout pain and wake up in Your arms.
Slipping toward sleep, she fought to keep her eyes open, but the heaviness was too much.
Slipping.
Slipping ...
What was that?She struggled to listen.Please don’t say I’mhearing things. That I’m that far gone.She listened again.Please.
Sound reverberated above. Something slicing through the ice. Again and again.
Oh,thank You,Lord. Had someone found her? She tried to yell, but her voice was a hoarse sound that didn’t even qualify as a whisper. Tears should be flooding her eyes, but all moisture was gone.
Something poked her arm, the pressure deepening.
“I found her!” Joel’s voice radiated through the snow.
Oh,thankYou,Lord. Thank You. Thank You.
He’d found her. If anyone could have, it was Joel.
He hadn’t given up on her, and she wouldn’t give up on him. On them.
She’d tell him the truth and,ifhe still loved her as Izzy claimed, they’d hunt down her stalker together. Either way, Joel deserved the truth.
If being so near to death taught her anything, it was not to leave anything on the table. And when she got out of here, she’d not die with regrets. Not like she nearly had.
Anxiety and relief churned in the pit of Joel’s stomach. He’d found her, but was he in time? He hollered her name without reply.
Scrambling to shovel her out without hurting her, he worked fast but with deftness.
Iz and Talbot joined him, then Scott and Heath, all working to shovel Cassie out. Snow flew in the air each time a shovel tossed back.
He swallowed the acrid taste in his mouth, his stomach churning.
Was she still conscious? Breathing?
Adrenaline coursed through his veins.
Wait. He slowed. What was that?
He narrowed his eyes.
A glimmer of color flashed before them, then vanished.
He knelt, digging with his hands until a patch of blue appeared. Cassie’s snowsuit.
“She’s here!” He squeezed his eyes shut for a breath of a moment.Thank You. Hot tears sizzled down his frozen cheeks.
