Red Horizon (The Martian Fanfiction)

Chapter 5

Olivia woke with a start, a sharp jolt running through her body as she felt hands gripping her shoulders, shaking her awake. The first thing she registered was the warmth—an unexpected warmth that shouldn't have been there. The second thing was the sound of Mark's voice, hoarse but familiar, cutting through the fog in her mind.

"Olivia! Hey, come on—stay with me!"

Her eyes fluttered open, the blinding light of dawn spilling over the horizon, casting a golden glow over the red landscape. The storm had passed. Everything was still now—eerily quiet, as if the violence of the night had never happened. She blinked, disoriented, her thoughts sluggish and confused.

"Mark...?" she croaked, her throat dry and raspy.

Her vision was blurry, her head heavy as she tried to process what was happening. Mark Watney was crouched over her, his gloved hands gripping her shoulders tightly, his face close to hers, his eyes wide with relief and worry. His suit was caked in dust, his visor streaked with red, but he was here. He was alive.

And so was she.

She blinked again, the realization dawning on her slowly. She was... alive. But how?

Mark let out a shaky breath, his grip loosening slightly as he gave her a faint, lopsided smile, though his eyes were still filled with concern. "There you are. Thought I'd lost you for a second there."

Olivia's mind raced, piecing together fragments of the night before. The storm, the satellite, the fall, the crack in her helmet. Her heart lurched in her chest, and she instinctively reached up to her helmet, her fingers fumbling over the surface.

But the crack—it was gone. Or rather, it was patched, a hasty but effective seal covering the fissure with some kind of adhesive. Her breath hitched as she stared at the makeshift repair, the enormity of what had happened finally hitting her.

"You... fixed it?" she whispered, her voice filled with disbelief.

Mark nodded, still hovering close. "Yeah. I found you just in time. You were out cold. Managed to patch the crack with some sealant from my kit. It was close—too damn close." His voice wavered at the end, the fear he had been holding back slipping through.

Olivia swallowed hard, the weight of his words sinking in. She had been seconds from death—seconds from losing it all. The thought made her stomach churn, but she forced herself to breathe, to focus on the present.

Mark's hands were still on her shoulders as he helped her sit up, moving carefully, almost too gently. Olivia winced as the pain from her leg and ribs flared up, but she gritted her teeth, refusing to let it overwhelm her. The storm was gone, and they had survived—but they weren't out of danger yet. Her body screamed in protest, but she focused on Mark, on the strange, muted calm that had settled over him.

"Take it slow," Mark muttered, his voice hoarse as he shifted to support her weight, helping her move into a more upright position. "Don't push it. You've had a rough night."

Olivia tried to manage a weak smile, but her face contorted as another sharp jolt of pain shot through her leg. "I think 'rough' is an understatement," she rasped.

She leaned against him for support, grateful for his presence, but something felt off. His breathing—ragged and shallow. His movements—slower than they should have been. She looked up at him, her eyes narrowing as concern crept into her already frantic thoughts. That's when she saw it.

Blood.

At first, she thought it was the dust still clinging to his suit, but no. There, along his side, just beneath the arm of his suit, was a jagged piece of metal—part of the satellite that had slammed into them during the storm. It was embedded deep into his side, the material around it torn, stained with dark, spreading patches of blood.