The Realms [Watty 2017 Shortlist]

Falling - Part 3

Darkness is a shroud enveloping me. Every part of my body hurts. I hear voices around me, but they are distant, muffled. I push against the blackness, fumbling towards the surface. The voices sound familiar, but they're too loud, arguing. I want to keep my eyes closed, to block out the pain.

"Jesus, Ryan, you could have caught her a little more gently." There's nothing timid about Maizie's voice now. She's clearly angry. I've never heard her use that tone with anyone, not even her parents.

"Did you see how frickin' far she fell? She's lucky I was able to catch her at all. I don't even know how I caught her." His hands are moving over my body, seeking out injuries. A moan is stuck in my throat. "What the hell? Was she trying to kill herself?"

"I don't know. I don't know. I don't think so, I mean, would you get that dressed up to kill yourself?"

Every single curve and peak in the ground push into me and I curse my lack of padding. Maizie has a point. I open my eyes slowly, afraid that all this pain will be for nothing.

"She's waking up!" Maizie's shape is almost discernible through my blurry vision.

His hand pushes the hair off my forehead, and my gray eyes meet his worried blue ones. My eyes refocus almost immediately, and I drink in the sight of him, letting my eyes wander over his face, deprived too long of this close scrutiny. 

I am being lifted, but I don't want to stop looking at him. I raise my hand as if to touch his dark curls but think better of it at the last moment. He isn't saying anything.

"Are you okay?" He pauses for a single beat before yelling, "Maizie, go get some help! She isn't talking!"

His voice soothes my bruised body. It rumbles through his chest and into mine, an avalanche that takes me back. I let Maizie go and then, as I attempt to shift my weight, I groan out loud and involuntarily gasp.

"Where does it hurt? Hannah?"

My breath catches in my throat at the sound of my name. His voice. My name. It's a start. He can talk to me, and he can touch me and the world isn't collapsing around us. I don't realize I'm holding my breath until he gives me a slight shake, causing me to emit another groan. 

The jostling activates the fireworks in my brain, and the booms reverberate throughout my skull. I close my eyes again and let my head rest on his chest. I want to keep looking at him, but my head is splitting.

"Hannah? God, just keep breathing, okay? I don't know what the hell you were doing up there. It looked like you just let go. Who does that? Why would you do that?" He's frantic and, despite the pain, I want to smile at his worry, that he cares.

I can't admit that I wanted him to catch me, that I needed to see if he would, that I risked my life for this moment in his arms. Anything even remotely close to that will send off she's crazy alarm bells in his head. I open my eyes again slowly, praying that he keeps me still enough for my head to clear.

After waiting a year for this moment or a moment like it, I open my mouth and lie. "I had too much to drink, and Maizie and I got into a fight. I just wanted somewhere to go to be alone." I pause and try to assess whether he is buying this, but my head is killing me and it takes a monumental effort to push out each word. 

"I saw the balcony up in the water tower and I just decided to climb," I swallow, struggling to push out the words. I'm so thirsty, suddenly. "But, then, the steps were wet from the rain earlier today and in my heels it was slippery." My breath hitches in my throat as I try to breathe. "I was starting to turn back, to come back down when I heard you guys coming." Tears slide down my face, but I can't brush them away.