Page 16 of Mountain Struggle

Damien pressed his legs and feet together—they needed to go down feet first. He knew their best chance of survival was falling cleanly into the water where the fall broke the surface tension, making for a softer landing for them—otherwise a fall from this height would feel like landing on concrete.

He heard Tess’s scream as they fell—he wanted to tell her again to hold her breath, but there was no time to talk, no time to do anything except hold on to her tight enough that she’d be bruised the next day.

If there is a next day.

Their combined mass landed in the water—hard. Something slammed onto his shoulder, wrenching the bone out of its socket. The pain was instant and blinding, and it was only his experience and discipline that stopped him from screaming out loud and filling his lungs with water.

Tess struggled in his hold, fighting to get to the surface. He held on to her with his good arm—his other arm trailing limp and useless behind them.

Hating himself for causing her fear, he tightened his grasp on her chest and kicked hard with his legs, keeping her underwater—they needed to get away from the falls before surfacing, or else they’d go right under again. Finally, when he deemed they were safe enough, he pulled her up towards the light.

Damien gasped as they broke the water’s surface. He made sure Tess’s face was out of the water, frightened by her stillness. She wasn’t struggling anymore—she lay limp and cold against his chest. The thought that she might be dead was enough to wrench a sob out of him.

He reached the river bank and dragged her up onto the wet grass, then pulled himself up beside her, clenching his jaw at the pain in his shoulder.

He tilted Tess’s face and head backwards. Her mouth opened up, and he unceremoniously reached in with two fingers to make sure her airway was clear.

He put his cheek to her mouth and listened, but he was shivering so badly it was impossible to tell if she was breathing.

Breathe into her mouth.

Damien leaned over her, ready to begin mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, when she suddenly gasped for breath.

Thank you, God.

Damien rolled her expertly to her side. Almost immediately, her slim body heaved, and she breathed out what seemed like an entire lake’s worth of water.

He patted her shoulder gently, just to let her know he was there.

“You’re okay, Tess, you’re okay. I’m right here.”

Chapter 6

Tess

“Damien?” she whispered, hating how feeble her voice sounded. She thought she might need to vomit again.

He was kneeling next to her, the spot where his body touched hers the only part of her that didn’t feel frozen.

“Don’t move, Tess. You’re going to be okay.”

Ignoring him, she rolled herself to a sitting position. She shivered in the cool breeze.

Shit, I’m cold.

“I’ll get you a blanket,” he said.

“You jumped in after me,” she breathed, amazed.

“You jumped in after Jamie,” he retorted. “I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”

“Jamie!” she said. “Are you sure he’s safe?”

Damien nodded. “Drake and Hiro have him. They’ll keep him safe and send someone for us. In the meantime, we need to warm you up. That water’s not—”

She looked at him uncomprehendingly for a moment until she realized he had no way of knowing everything that had happened to her and Jamie. It seemed like a faraway nightmare even to her, and she’d lived through it.

Damien was struggling to take off his backpack. Something was wrong with his left arm, which hung limply by his side.