Page 25 of Hero's Prize

“Nobody will fight as hard for him as his dad,” Becky said. “We’d all do whatever we could, but Phoenix won’t stop, no matter what.”

Phoenix. Boy Riley’s nickname back when he did these same sorts of stunts as his son. They needed Phoenix’s son to rise from the ashes now.

A tear fell from Ella’s eyes. She couldn’t help it. Why had she snuck out while Colton was sleeping? Why hadn’t she used every second possible with him?

Becky noticed. “Ella, Colton is going to be okay. He’s cool under pressure, and he has the beacon. Those are two huge factors in his favor.”

Ella checked her watch again. He’d been under for twenty-one minutes. Time was running out.

“He was talking about you this morning, El,” Bear said.

Ella knew Bear was trying to distract her from the potential tragedy at hand, but she felt her face flush red anyway.

“Very interesting. Especially since Elly-Belly just let slip that she saw two no-good skanks outside Colton’s room last night in the middle of the night.” Lilah raised one eyebrow. “Question is, what were you doing at Colton’s room in the middle of the night?”

Damn it.

“This is not the time to discuss this.” If possible, Ella’s face turned even more red.

“Oh, if I know Colton Harrison, even now, his ears are burning inside that snow, and he’s fighting harder to get out because a pretty woman is talking about him,” Bear said. “Hell, he’ll probably meet his dad halfway.”

Ella laughed, but a couple seconds into it, it turned into a sob. Immediately, Becky’s and Lilah’s arms were around her.

“He’s going to be okay, Ella,” Becky said again.

“He has to be.” Ella couldn’t think about a world without Colton in it.

“I just got word—Riley’s got him!” Bear yelled. “Derek said he’s pulling Colton out of the snow right now. The rest of the rescue team will be there soon to get him down the mountain, but it looks like Riley got him out of the snow!”

A grin broke out on Ella’s face. They’d found him. They’d foundColton in time. She hugged her friends, and this time as she cried, it was tears of relief.

“Oh shit.” The single horrified phrase from Bear destroyed their joy instantly.

“What, Bear?” Lilah demanded. “What?”

“Riley has started CPR. Colton isn’t breathing.”

CHAPTER

TEN

They were on their way to the hospital. Lilah was driving, cool under pressure, her tactical expertise with vehicles coming into play as she flew around any car in their way.

Becky was in the back seat with Ella, holding her hand. “They got him breathing. That’s the most important thing.”

Riley Harrison had single-handedly performed CPR on his son there in the snow until the rescue team had arrived on snowmobiles sixteen minutes later, gotten him a little farther down the mountain to where a medevac could land then get him to the hospital.

They hadn’t received any update beyond the fact that Colton was breathing on his own.

“Um, I beg to differ.” Lilah’s eyes didn’t shift from the road in front of her. “I believe the most important thing is Ella spilling about what happened between her and Colton last night.”

Ella gritted her teeth. “Focus on driving.”

“Oh, don’t think I can’t handle both at the same time. Spill, sister.”

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” Becky was much more diplomatic. “But you know we’d love to hear about it. And maybe it will help us get our minds off this until we get to the hospital.”

The hospital they’d taken Colton to was about thirty minutes away by car. They’d gotten him to it much quicker in the medical helicopter.

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