Inhabited

Chapter 3

"Fawn?" Sullivan's voice enters my ears.

I feel like I'm underwater. My body feels heavy and pressure is pushing down on me. I draw in a sharp breath, coughing, and groans of relief fill my ears. My eyes flutter open and I blink furiously. Images above me are blurred messes and I have to blink more to sharpen them.

"Sully," I breathe as he clears above me.

He let's out a puff of a breath, his shoulders dropping as his head falls forward. "Thank god. I thought I lost you."

Shifting my eyes from him, I look up at the canopy of green above us. People are yelling, but their voices in my ears are muffled at best. Not that I care right now. I have a feeling it's probably for the best.

Turning my head, I drop my eyes the mangled mess of metal feet away from us. Screams rip at my ears and my stomach plummets as the realization of the plane going down hits me. The flight attendant yells, trying to calm us. But there's so much panic, it's heavy in the air, pressing down on my shoulders.

My chest tightens and I heave, trying to breathe, but the air won't come.

"Fawn?" Sully's voice cuts through the static in my head.

"We're gonna crash." I push out past my lips, a sob escaping them. "We're gonna crash."

"No. No, Fawn, we're okay. We're here. Look at me. Fawn, look at me!" His fingers press against my cheeks and he turns my head, forcing my eyes up to his.

The instant they meet, the fear is consumed by safety and my limbs go numb. "We already crashed." It isn't a question, but he nods anyway, a grim expression clouding his face. "I can't – I can't remember everything."

His thumb brushes over my cheek and a slight sting follows it. I grimace visibly. "Maybe it's a good thing you don't right now. You got hurt, Fawn. It isn't fatal though, okay? But you need to focus on just taking care of yourself for the moment. Nothing else. Especially remembering."

I take in the sharp cut across his forehead and a black eye. For what I can see of him from this angle, that's the worst Sully is dealing with. I hope it's all there is for him to deal with.

My fingers twitch and I drag my arm to the side until I feel the bump of his knee. He looks down and grabs my hand, squeezing gently.

"Don't leave me." I plead.

He shakes his head. "Never, Fawn, never."

We're in view of everyone. But right now, I don't care. I don't want to care anyway. The numbing is starting to fade and everything is starting to hurt.

Besides, for the time being, I don't really think it's going to matter that we're together. Maybe later we'll have to deal with the consequences. But right now, in this moment, even my brother won't say anything when there is much worse things to have to deal with.

"Sully." I speak again and feel a spittle of blood spout from my mouth.

"No. No, don't." He urges me. "You have to take it easy, Fawn."

"No." I breathe, turning my hand over in his so I can grip back. "Please."

His eyes search mine and he nods, worry shimmering in his eyes.

"You said – you said at the airport—" A shriek cuts me off and Sully looks up quickly.

"My baby! Somebody, somebody please! My baby!"

Sully glances down at me, an apology written in his eyes but stands quickly, running off to help. I turn my head to watch until he's just a speck on my vision. He's just like Nate, always willing to help anyone in need. But while Nate's a nurse, Sully is a firefighter. Still, they both have the desire to put their lives at risk to save people who sometimes aren't always that grateful for it.

"Fawn." Maisie's voice cuts in. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I tell her, closing my eyes, my nails scraping at the ground. "I'm fine, I swear."

"You just – you're bleeding. Badly. Nate patched you up, but—"

"But nothing." I cut her off harshly. "If Nate took care of it, I'm fine. You know that."

Nate wouldn't just leave me if I wasn't fine. I know that. Sully wouldn't either. No matter how much others pleaded, screamed, or begged for help – neither of those two guys would leave my side until they were sure I was going to be alright. Even if it killed them to not help others.

"Maisie." I start.

"Nate said you need to conserve your energy—"

"No." I open my eyes and look at her. "Maisie, I need a favor. You know... just in case."

She stares down at me, her dyed blue hair falling over her face. She shakes her head, her face paling as realization hits. "No, Fawn. Nothing is going to happen. You're going to be fine. Nate said so and he's good at his job, you know that."

I don't even try to argue with her. There's no use. Maisie is stubborn and will fight me to the end, determined to believe that I'm going to be just fine. Maybe I will be, but for right now, I have to cover all my bases. Just to be on the safe side.

Maisie is a dreamer. She pretends that reality doesn't exist half the time. I wish it were that easy for me. I can only do that when looking through the lens of my camera.

"My camera." I spout, fear suddenly lacing through me. "It was – it was in my bag. In the – the cargo hold. Maisie—"

"I'll go look for it, okay?" She says quickly. "You just need to rest. I'll go look."

She gets to her feet and leaves my side, but I listen as her footsteps pound against the rough terrain of the forest.

I'm going to be alright. I will be. I have to be.