Page 3 of Shimmering Emeralds
Meg mumbled, “Oh, of course, he doesn’t believe me.”
I decided to ignore it, rather than point out that it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, I was certain she’d have plenty to say later about my inability to keep my charges safe.
Once I made it to the front and was satisfied that Meg was right and only the three of us were left on the bus, I turned back to help the injured child.
Despite her diminutive size, Meg was already hefting the boy up as if she intended to carry him herself.
I took long strides to close the distance between us as I said to the stubborn woman, “I’ll carry him.”
“I’ve got hi––” her words trailed off and her eyes went wide with alarm as the bus groaned, shifted, and began to roll further down the hill.
I lunged to wrap my arms around Meg and the boy, squeezed my eyes shut, and hoped with all my might that the two of them wouldn’t be hurt as our bodies slammed into the side of the bus.
3
Meg
Levi engulfed us in his strong embrace as the bus tumbled further into the ravine. The landings were jarring to me, so I couldn’t imagine what they must be doing to Levi as his body shielded us and took the brunt of them.
Despite how frightened I was, I couldn’t help but think that if this was my time to go, I couldn’t imagine a better way for it to happen than ensconced in Levi’s arms after all of these years of desperately missing him every single day. Snuggled close to him was the only place I had ever really longed to be.
As we tumbled, I silently prayed that the little boy, who was cradled in my arms, as well as Levi’s, would be safe. The poor child had to be frightened half to death.
I squeezed my eyes shut and thought of my sweet little Harper. I hoped she wasn’t watching me fall to my death. Seeing her mother die was the kind of traumatic event a child might never recover from.
Finally, the bus stopped rolling. It teetered on one edge before crashing back down to the ground. It had landed right side up, but I was so dizzy from the seemingly endless flipping, it still took me a long moment to get my bearings.
When my eyes were finally able to focus, they honed in on Levi’s. Miraculously, he was still conscious. The loving, concerned gaze he was giving me made my dizziness escalate, but in a strangely pleasant manner.
A slight shiver within my locked arms made me remember the boy we were cocooning. Shifting back, I tilted my head down to look at him. Terrified eyes stared back at me.
Doing my best to keep my voice calm, despite the adrenaline coursing through my veins, I asked him, “Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”
“I… I think I’m okay, but I want my Momm-yyyyy.” The little boy’s chin began to wobble as his face crumpled.
“Oh, I know, sweetheart. I bet she’s already on her way here. Let’s get off this bus and go up to the meeting spot to see if we can find her, okay?”
He nodded, staring up at me with huge puppy-dog eyes.
Since we were in a pile on the floor, I suggested, “Why don’t you try to stand up.”
The boy obeyed, but he only put one of his feet down on the floor of the bus. He tried to hop on his good leg, but it was an awkward maneuver. He stopped to look at me. With his hands clasped together in front of his face and speaking quietly, he asked, “My knee really hurts. Will you carry me?”
“Sure.” I tried to infuse my smile with confidence, even though I had no idea how I would manage my way up the hill we had just rolled down, while carrying the child.
I used the floor to scoot off of Levi, so I could stand. As I moved, I said, “Sorry for sprawling on top of you and practically crushing you.”
“Anytime,” he gave me a wide, ornery grin, and I realized the ridiculous man hadn’t changed a bit.
It was tempting to smack at his chest, but we had more pressing issues to deal with––like getting our trio to safety and making sure everyone else was all right.
When I moved to stand up, I was unable to hide the wince from my expression at the pain that sliced through my ankle and up my leg.
Proving that he was still completely in-tune with my emotions, Levi said, “You’re injured.”
“Nah. It’s no big deal––probably just a bruise or a light sprain.” I lifted my chin, practically daring him to challenge my assertion.
When the little boy raised his arms up toward me, I took a deep breath and lifted him into my arms. He was a scrawny thing, so his weight wasn’t a problem, but I had all of my weight on my right leg. Knowing it was going to hurt like the dickens, I gingerly shifted to the left.
