Chapter 84
Tristan
Holy shit, I need to take a quick break,” I wheeze.
Mathilde scoffs. “You calling me heavy?”
I sink into a crouch, slowly lowering her to the ground.
Thankfully, most of the parking garage didn’t collapse. With her lighting the way, we’ve followed the exit signs to the garage’s rear exit, but our progress is slow and treacherous. We fell through to the second level of the garage, and somehow have to make it all the way back to ground level.
“No, I’m calling myself exhausted.”
I sit down roughly next to her, and she angles the light in my direction.
“Are you okay?” she asks. “You kinda look like you were shot in the head.”
“Thanks for that. No, I just hit it pretty bad when the road collapsed beneath us.”
“It’s a lot of blood.”
“Head wounds bleed a lot.”
“Do you think you have a concussion? Let me see your pupils.”
I wave her off. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“Sure. Walking around here looking like an extra in The Walking Dead.”
That gets a laugh out of me. “Do you want me to leave you to die underground?”
“Sounds like a fireable offense to me.”
I sigh. “Maybe for the best.”
She cocks her head. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing, don’t worry about it. Just some drama from before work.”
She glances around. “Well, this literally might be the last time you could get it off your chest—you know, because we might die any second—so feel free to share.”
I snort. “Okay. You know the other paramedic who came in with me?”
“The hot one?”
“Yeah. Him.”
“What about him?”
I sigh and try to stretch my legs out in front of me. “We’ve been, well, dating for the past few months.”
“Oh, shit. Good for you.”
Once again, she manages to coax a smile out of me.
“Thanks. He’s great. But this morning, the Fire Chief came to our station and said that our relationship goes against department policies—which, it doesn’t, we checked—and that he’s going to transfer Nick to a new station tomorrow.”
Suddenly, there are tears on my cheeks.
“And it’s such bullshit, and he told me he loves me the other day, and I didn’t say it back because I was too scared, and now I might not see him again. Now, he might be dead.”
And with that, it becomes too much. I sob into my hands, all the fear and adrenaline and exhaustion of not only today, but the last few months, hitting me all at once.
Mathilde drags herself closer to me and wraps an arm around my shoulders.
“Hey,” she murmurs. “You know how, to make me feel better, you lied to me earlier and told me that everything is going to be okay?”
I sniffle. “I wasn’t lying to you.”
“Um, yeah, you were. How could you honestly promise me that everything will be okay?”
“Fair.”
“To make you feel better, I’m going to lie to you now and say that everything will be okay. Okay?”
I wipe at my tears. Strangely, it does make me feel better. “Thanks, Mathilde.”
She points at my belt. “Is that a radio?”
I glance down. “Yeah.”
“Have you tried using it?”
“Yep. When I first fell into the hole. I couldn’t hear anything on it.”
She holds out her hand, and I hand her the radio. “What are you doing?”
She holds the radio in front of my face. “Maybe we won’t make it out of this place alive, and maybe we will. Maybe Nick will be there waiting for you when we get out, and maybe he won’t. But if now was your last chance to say something to him, what would you say?”
I stare at the radio for a long time. What would I say? Would it be as simple as telling him that I love him? Or would everything, all the beautiful and messy bits, come spilling out?
Would I even be able to say anything?
I shake my head. “Come on. Let’s keep moving.”