Page 119 of Catch the Sun

A sob sticks in the back of my throat.

Bile crawls up my esophagus.

I move.

I swing my legs over the ledge of the bluff and climb down, my feet catching on jagged earth, my hands cutting on rock. “Ella!” I cry out, repeating her name over and over. Kai tells Brynn to stay put while he follows me down. I’m only halfway along the embankment when I launch myself forward and jump therest of the way, landing on my hip with a bruising thunk. I drag myself over to her, ignoring the pain that shoots through me.

“Ella, Ella…fuck,” I cry, crawling on my hands and knees. Blood oozes from her mouth, already dried and crusty, as locks of dark hair fall over her eyes. When I reach her, I push her hair back and search her face. A blink, a breath, anything. I check her pulse, my own on overdrive. One arm is draped above her head, her fingertips submerged in the shallow water, while the other extends out at her side. “Sunny, baby, please,” I choke out, pressing my ear to her chest and pleading for a sign of life. I don’t hear anything. I’m going to puke.

Kai dashes beside me, his sneakers kicking up a cloud of dust, and drops to his knees on the other side of Ella. He’s calmer than me. Coolheaded as he takes the lead. “Pulse?” he asks, snatching up her wrist.

I hardly register his words. All I hear is my own misery and Brynn’s terrified wails from above us as I bury my face in Ella’s neck.

“She’s alive,” Kai says.

I take her battered face between my hands and sprinkle tear-salted kisses along her cheeks and forehead. “Sunny, Sunny…Ella, please. Fuck…please.”

“Max!” he shouts again. “She’s alive.”

My head jerks up, finally processing his words. A cell phone is pressed to his ear as he gives a location.

Girl. Fell. Bluffs. Near Plankton Street. Breathing.

Breathing.

Alive.

Tipping his head skyward, Kai calls up to Brynn. “She’s alive!” he repeats.

“Oh my God. Oh myGod,” she sobs.

I pull Ella’s hand out of the water and press the pad of my thumb to her wrist, forcing my breathing to placate so I can concentrate on her pulse.

But I can’t feel anything.

Dread whispers along the back of my neck as I place my ear to her chest again, then try for a pulse, then repeat. Kai notices my unraveling and balances the phone between his ear and shoulder as he leans over Ella to help me.

“I’m still here,” he says into the receiver before lowering the speaker and addressing me. “Right here, Max. Press two fingers right here. It’s weak but it’sthere. She’s alive.”

I inhale a deep breath and close my eyes, holding my index and middle fingers to her pulse point.

There’s a flicker.

A soft, beautiful beat. The faintest trace of life.

I lock eyes with Kai and he nods at me. “They said not to move her unless she stops breathing and then we need to administer CPR. Ambulance is on the way. I’m going to stay on the line.”

Falling back on my haunches, I slam both hands to my face and let out a tortured moan. Relief and terror.Thank fuckmelded with sickening disbelief. I look up at Brynn, who’s halfway dangling over the ledge, a hand cupping her mouth as her body shakes with tears.

I glance at Ella.

I stare at her shipwrecked body, her porcelain skin marred with scrapes and scratches, her face bruised and bloodstained.

Leaning forward, I press my lips to her forehead and stroke her hair as I squeeze my eyes shut. “Stay, Sunny Girl,” I whisper, choking back my pain. “Please stay.”

My girl fell off a fucking cliff.

She fell.

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