“No. You’re not.” I gritted my teeth against the strain of gravity and my awkward position. I’d grabbed her with my weak arm, the same one that had been dislocated only weeks before. I willed my shoulder to stay in place. I would not let Bell fall. I would not lose her.

There was a gasp behind me. “Oh, God. What do we do?” Caelyn’s panicked voice cut through the night air.

“You and Kenna grab my ankles. I need weight to hold me in place.”

They moved in a flash. Their arms and weight grounded me. I reached down with my left hand, grabbing hold of Bell’s other wrist. “Okay, Trouble, I need you to listen to me.” Bell’s eyes were wild, jumping from me to the rocks and swirling ocean below and then back again. “Bell! Eyes on me.” She obeyed, but the fear in them cut so deep, I knew it would leave a scar that would last forever.

“Listen to me. On the count of three, you’re going to let go of those roots, and I’m going to lift you up.” I could’ve lifted Bell easily with an uninjured arm, she was a lightweight, but I had no idea if my shoulder would give out when I began to pull.

Bell’s head shook back and forth frantically. “I-I can’t. I’ll fall.”

“You can, Bell. You’re so damn brave. You can do this.” It all came down to one thing. Trust. I’d put her through so much. Left her when she needed me most. But I was here now. And I was staying. I locked my gaze with Bell’s. “I love you. I’m not going anywhere. You are stuck with me forever. Please…trust me.”

Bell let out a shuddering breath. “Okay.”

The word was soft, almost lost in the sound of the waves crashing into the rocks below and the wind whipping through the trees. “On the count of three.” She nodded. “One, two, three!”

Bell released her hold, and I pulled with everything I had in me. I felt a tearing sensation in my right shoulder like someone had taken a blowtorch to the joint, but I didn’t care. She was closer. Almost to safety, nearly in my arms. With one more hard tug, I rolled us both over onto solid ground, Bell landing on top of me.

Her body shook with violent sobs. I wrapped my arms around her and held tight, needing the feel of her against me, alive and breathing. “You’re safe, Trouble. You’re safe.” I said the words over and over as if I were incapable of saying anything else. Sirens sounded in the background.

“I’m sorry, Ford. I’m so sorry.” Bell pressed her face into my neck as she wept.

I held her tighter, uncaring that my shoulder was raging in pain. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”