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Chapter twenty-five

Darla

T hey won’t stop touching me. Their fingers feel like daggers against my skin, digging in and dragging me across the ground as I scream at the top of my lungs. Panic tightens in my chest, raw and suffocating.

They laugh, like this is all some big game to them, their cruelty twisting the air around me into something heavy and dark. I manage to twist an arm free from their grasp. But as I try to free the rest of my body, I’m slapped across the face, making me cry out in pain.

A bitter sting blossoms across my cheek, but worse is the helplessness clawing at my gut, threatening to break me. I try to breathe as another hand comes speeding towards my face…

I gasp, my eyes snapping open wide as something slips from my fingers. I watch in horror as Steve slides off me, out and out of the hammock, heading straight for the ground.

“Steve!” I cry, lunging to grab him, but instead I lose my balance and twist right out of the hammock.

Before I can even process what’s happening, I start falling, face first, towards the ground. A scream catches in my throat, strangled and desperate, as I reach out, desperate to grab a branch. But I’m moving too fast and at too awkward an angle to catch anything.

Leaves and branches tear at my skin as I fall, the world flying past me.

Then suddenly, a sharp, searing pain shoots through my ankle, ripping a scream from my throat as I come to an abrupt stop.

“AHH!” I tilt my head up and see my foot is caught tight between a couple of branches.

I’ve never felt anything so painful in my life.

I try to grab hold of a branch to get the weight off my foot and get it free, but my arms are twisted up in a few vines.

I scream again, the movement causing pure agony in my ankle. “Crap shells,” I whisper, as tears roll up my forehead and drop to the ground below. My breathing quickens as I start to panic. I can’t stay here, but my ankle hurts too much to move.

How the hell am I supposed to get out of this?

Suddenly, previous fears of dying alone on this island from an injury come crashing back into my mind. This can’t be how it ends, strung up, upside down in a tree like a damn boar!? Just when I thought things might be getting a little better, I have to go and get myself killed.

I don’t want to die alone.

“Mo-Mo, where are you?” I whisper, wishing my best friend could be here with me. He’d know how to get me out of this mess.

I sniffle as the tears start to fall heavier. I’ve either been upside down for too long, or I’m starting to have a panic attack, because my vision is starting to darken around the edges, making my breaths come in quick sharp gasps.

No, no, no, this can’t be happening!

“ZEE!”

“Zee, where are you?”

Relief floods me at the sound of their voices.

They came.

“Can you see her?” I hear Kingsley ask.

“No. ZEE!” Bower yells from somewhere close by.

“I’m here!” I yell, my head turning in every direction, unable to tell which way their voices are coming from.

“Zee!” They all yell at once.

“Over here!”

A noise to my side has me turning to see West in the tree beside me.

Did he climb up here?

When he locks eyes on me, a range of emotions seem to go through him at once. I see relief there but also something else, something a little closer to fear.

“I’ve found her!” He calls towards the ground before his eyes travel up my body to my foot. “You’re stuck.” He doesn’t ask, so I don’t answer.

His eyes snap back to mine as he finally seems to take a good look at the state I’m in, gasping for breath with a tear-stained face and what I presume is puffy, red eyes. I try to wipe my tears away, but it’s too late to hide it from him. He knows I‘ve been crying.

His eyes soften as he asks, “Are you hurt?”

It’s on the top of my tongue to lie, to shrug it off as no big deal. After all, I’ve survived this long on my own, haven’t I? But even I can’t deny that I need his help, as much as it pains me to admit that.

Unable to speak the words aloud, I give him a simple nod of my head. His jaw tenses for a moment before he looks towards the ground and yells, “Get up here, I’m gonna need your help!”

His eyes find mine again, and he reaches towards me. “Don’t worry, baby, we’re gonna get you out of there in no time, okay? ”

I reach my hand out towards him, but our fingers don’t quite reach. I try to sway towards him, but the movement makes the pain in my ankle flare. “Ah!”

He manages to grab my hand as he whispers, “Baby.” I open my eyes to see his pained ones looking back at me.

“Try not to move, I’ve got you now.” I nod my head, feeling tears roll down my forehead again.

I don’t dare try to move, so I just let them fall as Weston watches me, looking almost as pained as I feel.

“Geez, Tink, what have you got yourself into here?” Bower asks, suddenly appearing behind Weston in the tree as he glances at my predicament.

“I think she’s hurt her ankle or foot. We have to extract her… very carefully.”

“Fuck,” King says, peering up from below them.

I stay silent as they make a plan to get me out of the tree. Luckily, it appears I’m not that far from the skywalk, but I’m also not close enough that it helps them get me free.

West and King move to where my foot is stuck, and somehow they manage to lift me by my calf and free me without letting me drop.

Honestly, with all the blood rushing to my head and my need to focus on breathing properly, I have no idea what’s happening until I suddenly find myself the right way up in Bower’s arms.

“Tink, did you hear me?”

“Huh?” I ask, my fingers reaching up to feel the scruff on his face.

God, he’s handsome.

He chuckles at me. “Glad you think so.”

“Did I say that out loud?” I ask in confusion. “Why does my head feel so weird?”

“It’s from being upside down for so long. You’ll be okay in a few minutes,” Kingsley says, making me turn my head towards him. He guides us into the hut and I’m set down gently on the bed.

They both grab all the pillows in the room to prop up behind me, so I’m not laying flat on my back. Weston sits by my feet, gently propping my sore one up.

“We need to keep your head above your heart for a bit,” Kingsley explains.

“Here, take a drink.” Bower passes me his water skin and I take a few long sips before passing it back and wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

We all silently watch as Weston looks over my right foot without touching it. Even from where I’m sitting, I can see my ankle starting to bruise.

“It’s clearly your ankle, can you wiggle your toes at all?

” he asks, his eyes flicking to me before watching my foot again.

I take a deep breath, gearing myself up for the pain, then slowly try to move them.

Relief fills me when I’m able to do it with barely any additional pain.

I move them more and let out a deep breath of air as I smile. “That doesn’t hurt?”

“Not really.”

“Good. That’s really good. Without imaging, it’ll be hard to know if you’ve broken your ankle or just sprained it. What we really need is ice,” Weston says, pushing his hand through his hair in thought.

“I think the ocean water is the coldest thing around here, unless you know of anything, Zee?” Kingsley asks, and I shake my head. It’s been a really long time since I’ve had something cold to drink, let alone ice.

“Okay, I’m on it,” Bower says, passing me my own waterskin. “Drink up, we’ll use two for drinking water and two for cold water packs.” I finish it off and he throws the strap over his head as Kingsley does the same with Weston’s waterskin.

“We’ll be back as soon as we can, you good here, man?” Kingsley asks, looking at Weston, who gives him a curt nod. He and Bower say a quick goodbye to me before leaving me alone with the fuming giant.

We just stare at one another for probably about five minutes without either of us saying a word. I can see he’s working through something, and I decide to let him work it out in his head. I was pretty exhausted as it was and wasn’t exactly looking forward to this inevitable conversation.

Finally, he moves closer, reaching out and taking my hand with his, his thumb stroking over my knuckles. “When I heard you scream, I don’t think I’ve ever been so fucking scared in my entire life.”

“Not even when your plane crashed?”

He immediately shakes his head. “No, not even then.” He pulls my hand to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on my knuckles. “I could face death, but losing you, Zee... that’s a pain I can’t survive.”

My breath hitches at the sentiment. That’s an awfully bold statement for someone who just wants to be my friend. Have I got it wrong, did our moment under the raft mean more to them than I thought? Did they see something more with me?

“I can practically see the gears turning in your head.” My eyes snap back to his.

He gives me a tired smile before continuing.

“You don’t have to say anything right now, just take it easy and try to relax.

But I think, when the others get back, it might be time for you to tell us a bit more about what goes on in that pretty little head of yours. ”

I swallow heavily, the weight of the words not helping me to relax at all . But holding onto this pain isn’t helping anything, either. Keeping it to myself hasn’t spared me from my constant nightmares, panic attacks, or fear of storms.

When I first met them, I was weary of them, unsure of their intentions. But now… Now, I feel like I really know them. I may be uncertain about what they want from me or our relationship, but I don’t believe they would ever intentionally hurt me or use my trauma against me.

So, knowing that he’s right, that it’s time to let them in, I give him a single nod and squeeze his hand, before resting my head back against the pillows. I see some tension leave his shoulders as he kisses my knuckles again.

“Close your eyes, Zee. I’ve got you now.”