Traveler by L.E. DeLano (book suggestions .txt) 📕

the bridge before I walk up onto it, positioning myself at the center so I can get a couple of pictures of the creek’s length. I’ve just stretched my phone out to set up the shot when I hear my name from up in the treetops.

“Jessa!”

I look up and to the left, and there, sitting in a tree, is Finn—and Danny is right next to him.

“What the—?” I shade my eyes with my hand so I can see them better in the late afternoon sun. “What are you two doing in a tree?” I yell.

“Ballooning!” Danny shouts back, full of glee. He’s pointing up into the branches. A dozen feet above them is a Mylar balloon, stuck in the tree.

“I was on my way to Mugsy’s and saw him out here chasing this thing down,” Finn calls out.

“It’s from the birthday party,” Danny reminds me. “I lost my balloon.”

Are they crazy? Danny can’t be climbing trees!

“Get him out of there!” I shout back. “He’s not good at climbing!”

Finn glances over at Danny, who grins back at him and shakes his head.

“I need to get the balloon.” Danny is emphatic. “It’s littering.”

“We can’t leave it there,” Finn calls with a shrug.

“You get it, then!” I insist. “Danny, you stay put. Let Finn get the balloon, okay?”

“It’s littering!” Danny repeats.

“Let Finn get it!” I throw my hands up in the air. “Finn!”

“I’m on it,” he shouts good-naturedly. He starts to climb and his foot slips a little, making me yell, “Watch out! You need to—”

Before I can finish my sentence, two things happen simultaneously. First, I hear Finn scream, “No!” and second, I hear the unmistakable roar of a car engine as a blue sedan comes flying across the bridge. I have nowhere to go.

It only takes a split second, and I leap over the side, falling for what seems like an eternity before I hit the shallow but icy water below, slamming hard into the boulders and rocks just beneath the surface. I feel pain, and then I feel numb.

Then I feel nothing.

17

Saved

I am really, really cold.

I shake all over with it, and it only makes me ache more. I can feel hands roll me to the side and I cough several times, tasting the brackish water of the creek as it comes out. The hands are chafing my face, moving down to my arms, and then the pain becomes excruciating. I try to scream, but all that comes out is a watery cough and a long moan.

“Jessa? Jessa! Talk to me, please. Are you hurt?” Finn’s voice reaches me through the fog of pain.

I manage to nod, but the shivers have turned into full-on convulsions now. I feel him wrapping his jacket around me, jostling my arm once more, and this time, I make plenty of sound.

“Sorry!” He moves more gently, tucking his jacket more tightly around me. “I think you might have broken your arm,” he says.

“Jessa! Jessa!” Danny sounds frantic. “That car was killing you!”

I open my eyes finally and start to put out a hand to reassure him. The movement sends shafts of pain through my left arm, and I close my eyes again, feeling like I’m going to be sick.

“She’s okay, Danny,” Finn reassures him. “She’s not going to die. She just hurt her arm a little. Let’s call your mom, okay?”

I groan again as I realize I dropped my phone when I jumped. My mom is going to kill me, because my phone is probably at the bottom of the creek somewhere.

Danny pulls out his phone, but he’s too upset to remember how to open the contacts and find our mom’s number. Finn takes it from him and makes the call. I can hear my mother’s voice on the other end. She’s at work right now, but it’s just a few minutes away from here. I won’t have long to wait.

Finn pulls me up against him as gently as he can, trying to settle me into his warmth. I’m still shivering, and every shake of my body is agony. His legs are wet with creek water, so I burrow into his chest as best I can.

“You cut your head,” he says, looking down at me with concern. “Did you hit it hard?”

“I d-don’t th-think so,” I stammer. “J-just m-my arm.”

“Don’t be hurt, Jessa,” Danny says to me. “That car shouldn’t have killed you.”

I laugh, in spite of my pain. “I kn-know, Danny. I’ll b-be okay.”

“He’s right,” Finn says, glancing around. “What the hell was that all about?”

“S-some idiot,” I manage to say.

“You really could have been killed.”

“I would have seen them s-sooner if I wasn’t l-looking at you c-clowns.” I take a deep breath, and it hurts. A lot. “I think I m-might b-be sick.”

“It’s okay,” Finn says. “I’ve got you. Just lie still.” His voice is troubled, and his eyes won’t stop shifting around. Danny is sitting on the ground next to us with his arms around his legs, rocking.

“D-Danny,” I mumble.

Finn glances over at him. “You okay, Danny? Jessa’s going to be fine, buddy. Really.”

“My fault,” he says loudly. “My fault. My fault. It’s my balloon. My fault.”

I try to shake my head, but that hurts, too. “No, Danny. N-not your f-fault.”

“No, it’s not,” Finn reassures him. “It’s mine.” He says it grimly, like he believes it. I look up at him in confusion.

“Your fault?” Danny asks.

“Yes. My fault. I shouldn’t have distracted Jessa.”

Danny nods. “Your fault. Jessa shouldn’t be killed by that car,” he reiterates.

I hear a car horn in the distance. My mother has pulled into the library parking lot. Finn looks down at me.

“I’m going to have to pick you up. It’s going to hurt.”

“It h-hurts anyway,” I tell him.

“Mom!” Danny is up and running, yelling out the details of our debacle as he streaks across the grass toward the parking lot. I feel Finn shift beneath me, and a few seconds later, he’s picking me up in his arms. The world tilts as pain screams through every nerve