Page 60 of Seeds of Christmas
I hit something—rock, hard and unforgiving—and the air explodes from my lungs. Then I’m tumbling, sliding, pain blooming everywhere as I scrape against stone walls that I can’t see in the darkness.
I land hard.
The impact sends shock waves through my body. My ankle twists beneath me with a sickening pop, and the pain is immediate and blinding. I try to stand, to catch my breath, but my leg won’t hold me and I collapse back down.
That’s when I understand where I am.
I’m in some kind of hole. A cave. The walls are rough stone, maybe eight feet across, and when I look up, I can see a jagged opening above me where I fell through. Daylight filters down, along with loose snow that’s still settling around me.
“Carter?” My voice comes out as a wheeze. I can’t breathe right—did I break a rib? “Carter!”
Nothing. Can he even hear me?
I try to stand again, putting weight on my ankle, and the pain makes me see stars. Definitely twisted, maybe broken. The walls are too high, too smooth. I can’t climb out.
I’m trapped.
The darkness presses in around me, and suddenly, I can’t breathe for a completely different reason. The space is so small, the walls so close, and I can’t get out, I can’t?—
This is just like Matthew’s apartment. When he’d stand in the doorway, blocking my exit, not letting me leave until we “worked it out.” When he’d corner me in the bedroom, his voice getting louder, and I’d feel the walls closing in and know there was no escape?—
“Carter!” I scream, and this time, it’s pure panic. “CARTER, HELP!”
My voice echoes in the small space, bouncing back at me, and the air feels too thin. I’m not sure I can get enough in to my lungs.
I’m trapped, I’m trapped, I’m trapped?—
“RHI!” His voice, distant, comes from above. “Rhi, where are you?!”
“I fell!” I’m sobbing now. “I fell through the snow! I can’t get out! Carter, I can’t?—”
“Okay! Okay, I’m coming! Stay calm!”
But I can’t stay calm. The walls are too close and the darkness is too thick and my ankle is screaming and I’m trapped and I can’t breathe?—
“Carter, please!” My voice breaks. “Please, I need to get out. I can’t be down here. I can’t?—”
“I’m right here!” He’s at the opening now, I can see his face appear above me, backlit by daylight. “Rhi, I can see you! You’re okay!”
“I’m not okay!” I’m hyperventilating now. I know I am, but I can’t stop it. “My ankle—something’s wrong with my ankle—and I can’t get out and the walls?—”
“Hey, hey, look at me.” His voice is steady, controlled, even though I can see the fear in his eyes. “Look at me, Rhi. You’re going to be okay. I’m going to get you out.”
“How?” I’m shaking uncontrollably. “It’s too deep, I can’t climb, I?—”
“I’m going to figure it out. But I need you to breathe for me, okay? Can you do that?”
“I can’t?—”
“Yes, you can. With me. In through your nose.” I hear him take a deliberate breath. “Out through your mouth.”
I try. It comes out as a sob.
“That’s okay. Try again. I’m not leaving you. I’m right here.”
“Don’t leave me.” The words are desperate, childlike. “Please don’t leave me alone down here.”
“I won’t. I promise.” His face disappears from the opening, and I immediately panic again?—
