Never Let Go

Chapter Two

--ASHTON'S POV--

"Help!" A voice screamed from below.

I felt my blood run cold. Was that Lou? I rushed to the edge and peered over.

"Shit!"

Lou was hanging onto the cliff with just her hands to hold her. No rope, nothing to help her stay up.

"Lou!" I screamed hoping she would hear me, but I got no reaction.

"Lou!" I tried again. Still nothing.

"How do I get down this fucking thing?" I muttered to myself, fumbling around with the ropes, but my hands were shaking too much.

I patted my pockets looking for something that could help, anything. Feeling the shape of my phone, I pulled it out and stabbed the numbers 000.

"What's your emergency." A shrill voice came from the line.

"I need an ambulance! My girlfriend is holding onto a cliff by her fingertips. She can't hold on for much longer!" I yelled into the phone.

"Son, you aren't making sense. Where are you? Where is your girlfriend?"

I told her the address as calmly as possible, but my hands were still shaking uncontrollably.

"We can get there in twenty minutes, but no sooner." The lady told me. "I'm sorry."

I dropped to my knees and crawled over to the edge, not finding the strength in my legs to remain standing.

"Please be there. Please be there." I muttered as I looked over the ledge I was kneeling on.

To my relief, she was still there, but I could see she wouldn't be for long. My eyes suddenly filled with tears as I watched her struggle.

"You can do it Lou." I whispered. "Don't let go. Never let go."

Just as those words left my mouth, a faint scream came from below and I looked down to see Lou fall to the ground about 8 meters below, with a sickening thud.

"NO!" I yelled. "Lou!"

I waited for her to move or answer me but after a few seconds of agonizing silence I realized if was hopeless calling her.

"Aaaagggghhhhh" I screamed and punched the rocky floor I was kneeling on. Stupid move, I know but the girl I loved most in the world was probably dead.

"Lou! I'm coming!" I yelled suddenly finding strength as I began climbing back down. I've never moved so fast before and I stumbled more than once, but my only concern was Lou.

When I finally landed safely, I tossed my helmet aside as I raced over to Lou's lifeless body. Kneeling down next to her, I held her head, stroking her hair softly. She was limp and there was huge pool of blood surrounding a small, but deep gash on the side of her head.

Her normally shiny blonde hair was damp with sweat and blood. I took her wrist gently and checked for a pulse, almost passing out in relief when I found one.

She was alive, but I wasn't sure for how long.

"Someone help us!" I yelled as loud as I could, hoping the man who had given us the equipment would hear us.

I rested her head on my lap, making sure that I didn't touch her injuries. Blood trickled into my shorts but I ignored it and held her hand tightly, never wanting to let go. I stared at the small tattoo on her wrist, thinking back to the day when we got matching ones together, and didn't look back up until I heard a loud noise coming from right above.

Hovering about ten meters above us was a tiny helicopter, with the words ambulance written across the side.

"They've come for us Lou, you're going to be okay." I whispered to her, not knowing if she could even hear me.

After what seemed like hours, the rescue helicopter had landed and two paramedics were running towards us.

"How long has she been unconscious?" A muscular man asked me hurriedly and he examined Lou's head wound and checked her pulse.

I stuttered before answering "10 to 20 minutes I think. She was holding on and then she...she fell so suddenly that I couldn't get to her and-"

Fresh tears started pouring from my eyes as I struggled to finish my sentence.
"It's ok son. We are going to escort her the ER now. You can accompany us in the helicopter" The paramedics gently lifted Lou onto stretcher and began walking back to the helicopter.

The door shut behind me and I could feel the helicopter lift off of the ground. The whole ride to the hospital I didn't once let go of Lou's soft hand. I didn't once stop crying or praying for this terrible nightmare to be over and to hold Lou in my arms and see her beautiful smile again.

From the distance I could make out the large white building with a painted red cross on the roof. We made it! I glanced over at the paramedics expecting to see them happy as happy as I was that we arrived at the hospital with Lou still alive. Unfortunately, neither looked overly relived. On the contrary, they seemed worried and casted fearful glances at Lou, before whispering to each other and shaking their heads. Shit.

I squeezed Lou's hand harder as the helicopter touched down and the doors opened. We greeted by a group of anxious doctors. I couldn't ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach as I looked back down at Lou, who looked whiter than a ghost.

"Please be ok Lou. Don't let go, never let go. Please, I love you"

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Hello guyssss
It's Hannah here again. I'll also be writing occasionally in Ashton's PoV, I think we forgot to say that before.
Sorry we meant to update on the weekend but completely forgot as we are on holidays and haven't really been in touch with each other.
Once again thanks for reading!