Hailey had completed her fifteen minutes in the dark and the boys were pulling the rope when there was a catch. A muffled shout. Connor loosened his grip but Tyler and Ryan yanked harder.

Connor yelled at the others to stop pulling. Simultaneously, they obeyed, the rope sliding through their hands, Hailey plummeting back down inside the hole.

A scream.

Connor can still hear that scream.

Her pain.

Her terror.

Freaking out, he reached for the rope. Began to pull her up again. Fearing she was badly hurt but taking an odd comfort from her crying. If she was conscious she had to be okay.

Didn’t she?

A screaming Hailey emerged from the hole. Her tear-streaked face deathly pale. She was wailing. Connor’s fear intensified. She’d never show emotion in front of Tyler and Ryan unless something was really wrong.

‘What’s happened?’ Connor dropped to his knees and took her hands in his.

She couldn’t speak through her hiccupy sobs but when Tyler shoved his hands into her armpits and dragged her the rest of the way out, she howled in pain. It was then Connor noticed the flop of her right leg.

‘Wait!’ Gently, he stroked her hair. ‘Tell me where you hurt.’

‘My… my leg.’

‘Anywhere else? Did you hit your head?’ It was stupid to have sent her down there without a helmet. It was stupid to have sent her down there at all.

‘No.’

‘Can you stand?’ Ryan asked.

She tried to move, vomited.

‘Hailey?’

Her eyes rolled, the whites bright in the darkness. She was drifting in and out of consciousness.

‘I don’t have a signal to call for help.’ Ryan stuffed his phone back into his pocket. ‘I’ll run back to the dorm. Find my dad or Mr Marshall.’

‘He’s going to kill us,’ Tyler moaned.

‘Hailey.’ Connor patted her cheek. ‘Stay with me.’

Her eyes flickered open. But she didn’t speak. Couldn’t speak. She’d stopped crying. Connor knew she was in shock.

‘Help will be here really soon.’

Her eyes flickered open. ‘Connor.’ Her voice was rough.

‘Shh. You don’t have to talk.’

‘God, I am so sorry, Hailey.’ Tyler was close to tears. ‘I’m such a dick. I—’

‘Take… take the harness off me.’ The pain was etched onto Hailey’s face as she spoke falteringly. ‘Dad will have a fit if he knows what happened. We can say we were all out for a walk and I caught my foot in a pothole and fell.’

‘Shh.’ If he could, Connor would have traded places with her in an instant. ‘Don’t worry about that now, it doesn’t matter.’

‘It matters to me. I won’t be allowed to see you again if you get the blame and we’ll miss the end-of-year ball.’

‘Hailey…’ Connor’s throat closed. She must be in unimaginable pain but she was still thinking of him. Of them.