19. Mara #3
The screen lights up, but in the top left corner, where the bars should be, there's nothing.
A hollow, empty space. No signal. I've known Sweet Creek my whole life.
The service can be spotty, but it has never, ever been completely gone.
A fresh wave of terror washes over me, cold and absolute. We are cut off.
"Shit. Shit, shit, shit," I chant, my voice a high, thin sound I don't recognize. I fumble with my shoes, not even bothering with socks, and yank a hoodie over my head. I have to get to the lodge. It's a five-minute walk, less if I run. I can make it.
I burst out of the café door into the biting pre-dawn air.
The snow is deep, and my thin shoes offer no protection; the cold seeps into my feet instantly.
I don't feel it. All I can feel is the frantic, desperate rhythm of my own heart.
I run, stumbling through the drifts, my breath coming in ragged, painful gasps.
The world is a blur of white and gray, the lodge a dark shape at the top of the hill. Every second feels like an eternity.
I burst through the lodge's heavy front door, stumbling into the dimly lit lobby. "Mrs. Lacey!" I cry out, my voice echoing in the cavernous space. "Help! It's Tess!"
The housekeeper appears from behind the front desk, her face etched with concern. "Mara? What in the world—"
Just then, the side door swings open, and Leo steps inside, stamping snow off his boots. He's pulling off a thick glove, a faint, easy smile on his face that vanishes the moment he sees me. He takes one look at my panicked expression, my snow-dampened clothes, and the terror in my eyes.
"What's going on?" he asks, his voice sharp, all traces of his usual lightheartedness gone.
"It's Tess," I gasp, bending over, my hands on my knees as I try to catch my breath. "She… she collapsed. She's unconscious. My phone has no bars, I couldn't call—"
"Fuck," Leo says, the word a curse and a command all at once. He turns to Mrs. Lacey, his tone urgent and authoritative. "Get the others. Now. Tell them to meet us at the café. Tell them to bring a medical kit."
Mrs. Lacey doesn't hesitate. She nods once and disappears down the hall without a word.
Leo turns back to me, his eyes locking onto mine. "Show me," he says.
We run back through the snow, his long legs easily keeping pace with my frantic scramble.
When we get back to the room, Tess is exactly where I left her, a still, lifeless form on the floor.
The sight of her makes my stomach clench.
Leo is by her side in an instant, his fingers pressed to her neck, checking for a pulse.
"Her pulse is thready, but it's there," he says, his voice grimly calm. "Come on, Tess, wake up."
A few minutes later Daniel and Gray burst in, followed by Henry and Margaret. Margaret's cry is a raw, wounded sound, but Henry holds her back, his face pale but set.
Gray immediately kneels opposite Leo, his movements efficient and clinical. He pulls a small penlight from his pocket and checks her pupils, his brow furrowed in concentration. He listens to her breathing with a stethoscope he must have grabbed on the way.
"Breathing's shallow," he murmurs, more to himself than to anyone else. "Skin is clammy. She looks pale. We need a hospital—the clinic in town isn't equipped for this. The nearest one is in Glenwood Springs. We should run her there, now. An ambulance would take too long."
"I'll go with them," Daniel says instantly, a low, decisive rumble. He's already pulling on his coat, his face a mask of grim determination. "Dad, you and Mom stay here. Leo, you stay with Mara."
I'm just standing there, frozen by the door, useless. My feet are numb blocks of ice, my body trembling with a cold that has nothing to do with the snow. I watch as Gray and Daniel carefully lift Tess and carry her from the room. Margaret's sobs follow them down the stairs.
And then they're gone. The silence they leave behind is deafening, broken only by the sound of my own ragged breathing. I sink to the floor, my back against the wall, the fight draining out of me completely.
A moment later, Leo is there, crouching in front of me.
He doesn't say anything, just wraps his arms around me, pulling me against his chest. I bury my face in his jacket, trying to block out the world, the fear, the image of Tess's still body.
I try not to notice the sweet, cloying scent of whichever girl he was with last night clinging to the wool of his coat.
It's a floral perfume, something cheap and overly strong, and it clashes horribly with his natural citrus-and-mountain-air scent. It's a stupid, petty thing to notice right now, but I do, and it feels like another small crack in my already shattered composure.
"She'll be okay, Mara," Leo murmurs against my ear. He holds me tighter, one hand stroking my hair in a rhythmic, comforting motion. "Gray is the best. He won't let anything happen to her. They'll get her to the clinic, and she'll be fine."
I want to believe him. I want to sink into his embrace and let his words be a balm on my frayed nerves. But all I can think about is how pale Tess looked, how her body just gave out. And all I can smell is the ghost of another woman on the jacket of the man who is holding me.