bChapter /b470

    “I miss my grandma, Miss, my grandma’s going to be okay, right?”

    Alessia’s mind was drifting in and out, Susannah Holt’s trembling voice echoing in the darkness. Alessia opened her mouth, meaning ito /ifort the girl, but no words woulde. Her chest tightened; her breathing grew shallow, her vision blurring at the edges. Just as sleep threatened to pull her under, Alessia bit down hard on her tongue, forcing herself to stay awake.

    “Miss? Miss, what’s wrong?” Susannah’s panic was immediate and contagious, her fear swelling in the cramped darkness.

    “I’m fine… Your grandma’s fine too. I’m just, a little tired. I need to rest for a bit,” Alessia managed, her voice little more than a whisper.

    “No, you can’t sleep! You said you can’t sleep, remember?” Susannah sobbed, but she remembered Alessia’s warning and kept talking, desperate to keep her teacher conscious.

    Fumbling in the darkness, Susannah’s small hand finally found Alessia’s–it was cold as ice. Tears welled up in Susannah’s eyes; her hands trembled as she tried to cup Alessia’s, as though she could warm

    her back to life.

    She called Alessia’s name again and again, but Alessia could only muster the faintest response, as if she might vanish at any moment.

    Tears streamed down Susannah’s cheeks as she picked up the stone from beneath Alessia’s hand and, just as Alessia had taught her, she started banging it against the ceiling above them.

    “Please, anyone, help us. Please, someonee,” Susannah pleaded, biting back her sobs, forcing herself to stay calm for Alessia’s sake. She talked to her teacher, knocked on the stone, then talked some more, refusing to let the silence win.

    Alessia listened to Susannah’s crying, struggling to stay awake, but her strength was almost gone.

    12.20

    Her lips curled in a feeble smile; faces she’d known flickered before her eyes–until, atst, she saw Cole, right before they parted, with that wounded, forlorn look on his face.

    “If only I’d listened to my heart that day,” she thought. “If only I’d just told him how much I cared, how happy he made me, how much I loved him.”

    For three months, Cole had said again and again that he wanted to visit, but Alessia always refused.

    He dide, in the end–sneaking in without telling her, only to be caught by Susannah and nearly mistaken for a trespasser by the locals.

    Alessia had rushed over as soon as she heard, barely able to ikeep /ia straight face at Cole’s rare look of flustered embarrassment. She’d been cross with him that night, not wanting him to risk another secret trip. The journey was long, his job demanding; she’d rather he rest on his days off than fly halfway across the country just for a brief visit, only to leave again the next morning.

    Cole knew how she felt. But missing her became too much; even knowing she’d be upset, he’d arranged a helicopter ande anyway.

    If only she’d told him how much he meant to her that day. If only she’d said, “Rest a little longer,” or “I love you.” If only…

    A tear slipped from Alessia’s eye, even as a soft smile lingered on her lips.

    Just as she was slipping away, a faint noise echoed from somewhere above,

    Susannah’s eyes lit up; she started banging the stone harder.

    “Miss, don’t sleep! Please, you can’t sleep–I haven’t shown you the name I wrote. It’s so pretty, you have to see it, please! Someone’s here, they’reing to help us, please bdon’t /bgo to sleep, don’t leave me–please…”

    She cried, but Alessia never answered.

    “We’re here–please, help us!” Susannah called out, gripping Alessia’s hand as if letting go would be the end of everything.

    1220

    Chapter 4/U

    As Alessia’s consciousness faded, a glimmer of light seemed to reach her, then darkness imed her again.

    “Lessie, I’m here–please, please, don’t sleep, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry I waste…”