The Hidden Gemstone

Chapter: 19

Cody's POV:

The moment the cave closed, Zoe began to move backward, distancing herself from us. I couldn't see her in the darkness but I could feel her moving away. At first, I thought it was because of the dark so I reflexively lit a flame on my hand, illuminating the smaller-than-comfortable cave.

But her expression was more than shock at the darkness; panic took over her face. Her breathing was suddenly heavy and she fisted her hands to keep them from shaking.

"Zoe, you okay?" Alex asked, concerned, and began to move toward her but two factors held her back: one, Zoe moved further away, not wanting to be near anyone – even Alex – and two, Alex herself staggered slightly. I caught her elbow with my free hand and felt something wet on my fingers. When I pulled them away, they came out red.

"Alex, you're bleeding," I told her. She already seemed to know but was caught between Zoe and the baby who was still crying. Her concern for both of them seemed to grow by the second so to give her racing mind a helping hand, I transferred the flame from my hand to light one of the torches on the wall of the cave. With both hands free, I walked up to the baby and carefully tried to take her out of her rocker. Her cries were sharp and, without a doubt, piercing Alex's ears badly.

I struggled not to drop her as I held her in my arms. Her face was flushed and her eyes barely opened. I could tell that she was mere days old so how she ended up inside a dark cave was beyond me.

Her cries seemed to fade a little but they didn't stop. I looked up to see Alex trying to move toward Zoe who didn't seem to want to be within two feet of anyone. Her expression was tense and her breathing kept getting heavier by the second. Alex slowly knelt to the ground in front of her, her expression flooding with concern, and started, "Zoe—"

"I can't breathe!" Zoe yelled, pain and fear evident in her voice.

I knitted my eyebrows, but before I could draw conclusions, Elijah spoke up, "She's claustrophobic."

Alex looked at him in confusion before looking back at Zoe who didn't deny the information. Realization dawned upon her face but she seemed even more confused about what to do now. Elijah knowingly knelt in front of Zoe and Alex moved to the side to give him space. Despite her reluctance at being close to anyone, Elijah gripped Zoe's shoulders to steady her shaking posture.

"Zoe, look at me," he told her.

"Your face is about the last thing I want to look at right now," Zoe managed to say despite her heavy breaths.

"I know, but just look at me," he told her and this time, she did as he said. "Now, breathe with me, okay?" she nodded and he inhaled deeply through his nose before stopping to let her follow. After a second of struggle, she managed to inhale almost as deeply as him. He exhaled through his mouth and she managed to do so with him with lesser struggle this time. "Good, now, go again," he told her and continued to inhale and exhale with a similar scheme and Zoe matched her own breaths to him.

Now that Zoe's breathing was stable, Alex got up slowly and turned toward me before walking toward me and taking the crying baby from my arms. I handed her over to Alex gladly, relieved she was in more trustworthy arms than mine. I'd always been able to take care of myself but being the youngest, I had absolutely no experience with babies. I knew Alex would be more capable of it than I was and the way the baby stopped crying within a few seconds of being in her arms proved me right.

Her expression softened in a way I'd never seen before. Her eyes were filled with compassion, fixed on the baby like nothing else mattered. I didn't know whether it was her warmth or the way she handled her but within a few seconds, the baby was already asleep in her arms.