Chapter 78

Relief washed over me at the sight of our friends, and I felt tears beginning to prick my eyes.

I started to stand, but one of the paramedics next to me pulled me right back down. "You need to stay seated while we're still checking your vitals and for further signs of injuries."

Lucas noticed that something was capturing my attention, so he looked toward the woods where the police were helping James, Victoria, and Emily. Victoria's parents were already running to them, and I could hear her mother's screams of terror.

"They're okay," Lucas said in a quiet voice as if he was reassuring himself. "They're okay."

I couldn't blame his fear... When we got back down the mountain and I realized the rest of us weren't down there, I began to worry about their safety.

Paramedics rushed over, signaling everyone to clear out and give them space. They all looked worn out and broken down. James's usual smile and carefree face morphed into a tough stone. Even Emily, who had been bubbly and cheerful this whole trip, looked afraid and confused.

The paramedics took Victoria from James's arms and put her on a gurney, leading her straight to another one of the safety vehicles.

I noticed Victoria's pale face and the dried blood on her head and felt my heart leap into my throat.

What had happened to her? Was she okay?

When I looked back at Emily and James, I saw James comforting Emily as she sobbed into his chest.

The remainder of the paramedics brought them to us, and when they finally noticed Lucas and I sitting there, James broke out into a sprint.

He ran up to Lucas and threw his arms around him, almost knocking him over. Both of them made a loud "oof" sound from the impact.

"Holy shit, man! I'm so glad you're okay," James said to Lucas, his voice cracking as they embraced each other.

It was getting harder for me to hold my tears back. Emily came up to me, and both of us needed a hug, squeezed each other as tightly as we could.

"Are you okay?" she asked, sniffling into my shoulder. "Your leg..."

"I think it's just a sprain," I explained, pulling away and wiping my wet eyes. "I tripped over a fallen tree after the earthquake and fell wrong."

"Shana!" James threw himself at me next. "I never thought I'd be this happy to see you in my life."

I let out a wobbly laugh. "Gee thanks, James. I'm happy to see you, too."

"Don't listen to him," Emily shook her head. Fear and worry still etched her features, a testament to the trauma we had endured in the last twenty-four hours. "We've been worried sick about you guys. Especially after what happened to Victoria..."

"What happened to her?" Lucas asked, a pained frown appearing on his face. "Why were you carrying her James?"

James sighed, running a hand haphazardly through his dirty hair. "We were running up the trail when the earthquake hit."

"Victoria was in the behind us, struggling to keep up, and I think the ground shaking made her slip..." Emily continued softly.

"We all dropped to the ground to get some kind of balance. I don't think she was aware of her surroundings, but when I turned around to see if Emily and Victoria were okay, I noticed a tree falling," James swallowed, looking down at the ground in front of him.

"It was too late to do anything," Emily explained, tears forming in her eyes again. "Everything happened so quickly, and the tree fell so fast."

"The tree fell on her?" I asked unable to hide my shock.

James and Emily glanced at each other before nodding solemnly.

"It knocked her out," James said. "I crawled to her because the ground was still shaking and— I just saw blood everywhere."

"James took his shirt off and tried wrapping it around her head to help stop the bleeding, and it actually worked." Emily looked up at James with gratefulness. "We were so worried that Victoria wouldn't wake up, but once we found some kind of shelter, she finally opened her eyes."

"She's lost a lot of blood," James explained. "She was doing fine until ten minutes ago when we were walking back down the trail. I tried to keep her eyes open, but..."

I knew that he was referring to the fact that Victoria had fallen unconscious again, which wasn't a good sign.

She probably needed to go to the hospital. Who knows what kind of head injury she's suffered from?

We all stood there, processing everything we had gone through.

"What happened to you, Shana?" James asked, finally noticing the bag of ice resting on my leg. "Is your leg okay?"

"Just a sprain," I explained. "I stumbled over a tree log."

"And you, Lucas?" James turned to his best friend.

"I'm fine." Lucas nodded tersely. "Well, as fine as I can be."

We all nodded in silent agreement, just thankful that nothing worse had happened to any of us.

Victoria had hurt her head badly, but James mentioned she was doing fine before... Hopefully, once she got the medical attention she needed, everything would be okay.

Suddenly, Victoria's parents were making their way over toward us. Nervousness ran through my veins as they approached and I saw the murderous expressions on their faces.

What did they want from us now? Don't they think we've endured enough torment for the day?

"You! You're the one who did this to our daughter!" Victoria's mother shouted, directing her anger toward James.

"He didn't do anything, but help Victoria!" Emily said, coming to James's defense.

But when they began to protest, Emily confirmed our account of what had transpired, retelling the whole story. I hoped they would listen to Emily, at least.

I could see that once Emily gave them the full story, they seemed to calm down, but their anger hadn't completely dissipated.

Victoria's parents seemed to feel a sense of relief, although an apology was a bridge too far.

"Well, thank you for trying to keep our daughter safe," Victoria's mother said, glancing at James and Lucas. "Unlike some people."

"Lucas was trying to keep Shana safe," James reasoned. "Besides, I would never let anything happen to Victoria. She was in good hands with me from the start. Lucas shouldn't be punished for not being with her."

"We didn't know the earthquake would hit," Emily tried to convince them further, but I had a feeling that it wouldn't get us far.

Victoria's parents seemed incredibly stubborn, and if they were going to be mad at Lucas, it would take a lot more than a few words of convincing.

I felt like they needed to see some action behind the words.

And as long as Victoria remained unconscious, I didn't think that we would be able to get her parents to understand.

However, I found it completely unfair that they were placing all of the blame on Lucas when he hadn't done a single thing...

Like Emily said, how would we have known what would've happened?

"Are you Victoria's parents?" A paramedic asked, rushing over to our small group.

"Yes, that's us," Victoria's father spoke, shoving his hands in his pockets. "What is it?"

"She's awake."