Page 23 of The Edge of Never

Kit visibly steeled themselves and stepped out onto the first rock. Their leg stretched out to the next one. They put their arms out to balance themselves as they brought their other leg across.

When they got to the next rock, I stepped onto the first one. They were wet, which made them slightly slippery. Neither of us had bothered to take our crampons off since we would have to put them back on again when we reached the other side. It made balancing more difficult.

I did my best to hold steady as I hopped from rock to rock after Kit. They made it onto the other bank with relative ease. They put their arms up in the air in celebration.

“Thank fuck for that.”

I smiled for the first time in hours at their relief.

As I stepped to the next rock, my foot slipped. It twisted around unnaturally. The pain shot up my leg, causing me to let out a yell as my balance failed and I toppled over into the stream.

The moment I hit the freezing cold water was like having a blast of ice to the face. It was a complete shock to the system, leaving me stunned in the deeper-than-expected water.

“Thane!”

Kit’s voice echoed around my skull, followed by the jerk of the rope around my body when it went taut. It kick-started my brain back into gear. I flailed in the water for a moment before feeling the rope tugging against me. Whipping my head around, I found Kit dragging themselves backwards across the snow to pull me out of the water.

“Thane!” they screamed again.

I pushed at the freezing cold water with all my might, trying to swim against the current towards them. It took some effort for them to drag me close to the edge. Then they ran towards me, grabbing a hold of my hand and pulling me up onto the bank.

I coughed, spitting out the icy water that had got in my mouth and tried to catch my breath.

“Jesus Christ, are you okay?”

Kit squatted down next to me and put their hand on my shoulder.

I looked up into their terrified expression and shivered.

“Am cold.”

“I should think so, considering you just fell into a stream. Fuck. I thought I was going to lose you.”

“Am… am still here.”

They nodded slowly, then stood, and put their hand out to me.

I was so fucking cold and wet, I barely had any time to assess what had happened to me.

Taking their hand, I let them pull me to my feet. My ankle immediately buckled under me. The pain was so intense that I thought I might blackout.

Kit tucked themselves under my shoulder to keep me upright. Their eyes were on my feet.

“Did you get hurt?”

“I think I twisted mah ankle.”

They let out a long breath before curling an arm around the bottom of my pack, allowing me to lean on them. My arm went around their shoulder.

“Thane, I hate to break it to you, but you’re soaking wet and I’m pretty sure if you stay in those clothes, you’re going to get hypothermia. But if we take them off now, you’re going to be bare to the elements and that’s going to make it worse, so I have no fucking clue what to suggest.”

My body shook, so I knew what they were saying had merit. I was just having a hard time concentrating on a solution.

“There’s… there’s camping equipment in mah pack.”

“That’s what you’ve been carrying around?”

I nodded and closed my eyes, trying to ward off the pain in my ankle.

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