𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐞 - j.egan [masters of the air]

∣ 014; f o r e s t

. *. ⋆

Eloise's body collided with the grassy ground, her body rolling a few times from the pressure of the impact. Her breath had been knocked from her, heaves leaving her as she stabilized herself on her hands and knees, attempting to draw in much-needed air into her lungs.

Coughs racked her body, her mind dizzy as she blinked it away from her vision.

Slowly, Eloise stood— she spun, taking in her surroundings.

Her hands almost instantly went to her white parachute, fear striking her heart as she bunched it as quickly as she could, scared that Nazis'd spot her from the bright fabric.

Her entire body ached, the pounding of her head growing as she lifted a hand to it, crimson blood coating her skin.

She scanned her surroundings again, her eyes connecting with Heath's body that was falling from the sky, his white parachute bright and very obviously a target to anyone that could see it— Eloise began toward him, sprinting to his falling self, her steps as quick as she could make them. She had to get to him before anyone else did; he was all she had at the moment, and she was all he had. They needed one another if they wanted to live.

Her running continued, her panting breath escaping her lips while searching for Heath in the forest of trees he had fallen into.

She reached the trees in a matter of minutes, rushing around them until she spotted movement— she was lucky she even saw him, given the fact that he had fallen into a pond, the murky water obscuring most of his body except the top of his back which was bobbing at the top of the water.

Eloise's heart stopped— she sprinted to him, not hesitating to jump into the water, the coldness of it shocking her while she paddled to Heath's lifeless form.

Pleads fell from her lips, wishing out loud that he had survived, her whispers as frantic as her beating heart. She prayed the impact of the water hadn't broken his neck or spine.

She flipped his body over the moment she reached him, her fingers going to his face when she held him close to her.

"C'mon, Heath, c'mon," she whispered to him— she brushed the wet hair from his face, her right hand pressing the pulse point of his neck. He was still alive, his heartbeat rather steady.

Eloise physically relaxed, only becoming more relieved as she brought her fingers beneath his nose, able to feel his breathing, which seemed normal, too.

A breath she didn't know she was holding left her, her arms moving from his face to under his arms as she dragged him out of the murky pond to the bank of the shore, her feet planting into the muddy ground as she tugged him out of the water, his limp body heavier than it would be if his thick clothing hadn't been soaked through with water.

When Eloise got him out of the water, she laid him on his back, shaking his shoulders to see if he was conscious.

"Heath, wake up, c'mon."

She waited a few seconds, and when he supplied no response, she turned him to his side, his face close to the muddy ground.

The seconds that passed felt like hours as she waited for him to respond or make any sound that let her know he was still alive.

"Oh, thank God," she finally breathed out.

He had coughed up the water after a mere ten seconds of being unresponsive, his body shaking as Eloise placed a hand on his back, her voice soft as she spoke to him.

His chest was heaving, his face pale— his fingers dug into the mud, the mushy ground making its way beneath his short fingernails.

"I'm never bailing out again."