Page 72 of Embers

Then I can feel myself crash into it.

The last thing I’m aware of is that, even now, Cal’s body lands on top of me.

He’s trying to protect me even in the fall.

* * *

Everything is blank after that. How long, I have no idea. I’m not conscious of anything until I start to see a weird blackness. With lights dancing against the dark backdrop.

I watch the lights for a while. They’re mesmerizing. But eventually even they go away. Then it’s all just peaceful darkness, and I’m also conscious of something else. So nice. And strangely familiar.

It takes a long time to pin down what I’m sensing. It’s soft and gentle and slow. Like a hand caressing my head, my hair. I like it so much.

Then there’s something else. A scent. Warm and earthy and so familiar. It’s all around me. Blending with the caress. I love it. Need it.

It feels like mine.

I rest in it for a while.

Then there’s a voice. A low, gruff murmur. “Rachel, baby. Come back to me. It’s time for you to come back to me. I need you, baby. Open your eyes.”

He’s so soft. But also incredibly upset. Emotion is thick in the low tone. I can’t stand for him to be so unhappy.

So I try. I’m finally aware that I have eyelids, so I work on wrenching them open.

It’s hard. They don’t want to do what I say. I should be in control of them, but I’m not.

“Are you wakin’ up, baby?” The voice sounds different now. “You can do it. Keep tryin’. Come back to me.”

Of course I do what he says. It sounds like he needs me. So I struggle with my eyelids some more. They still don’t want to work, and it’s scary. “Cal!”

“I’m right here, baby. I got you. You can do it. Open your eyes and look at me.”

This time I manage to do it. The light I’m confronted with is blinding, grating. I whimper and blink a few times. Then I finally manage to peer through a squint and see Cal’s face looking back at me. “Hi.”

He makes a small, choked sound. “Hi, baby.”

I shift my body since now I’m aware of more. Like the fact that every part of me hurts. “What’s going on? Am I okay?”

“You hit your head on a rock when we fell. It took a long time for you to wake up.” His voice is mild, but I recognize an ache in his eyes. He was scared for me.

“Oh. I think I’m okay. Everything is kind of blurry, and I have a headache.”

He’s leaned closer to me, peering into my eyes intensely.

It’s unnerving. I blink again and ask, “Are you going to kiss me?”

He lets out a huff of dry amusement. “Not right now. Just checkin’ your eyes. Pretty sure you’ve got a concussion.”

“Oh. Hopefully it’s not too bad. But my ankle hurts like hell. And why does it feel like the whole world is shaking? Are we in an earthquake?”

“We’re still driving.” Cal is almost smiling now as he strokes my cheek with his fingertips.

I’m suddenly aware of the fact that my head is in his lap. We’re in the back seat of a vehicle. It must be the Jeep—one of those bigger SUV ones—because the pickups didn’t have back seats like this. “Oh. Where are we?”

“We’re about an hour from the town now.”

I gasp as I remember what was happening before I blacked out. I try to sit up, but Cal won’t let me, which is just as well because everything starts spinning around me. “What happened back there? How did we even survive?”

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