I Stopped Talking and They All Regretted It Chapter 05

I Stopped Talking and They All Regretted It Chapter 05

Mom’s knees buckled and she dropped straight to the floor.

Theodore snatched the location map out of the officer’s hand.

“What does fifty feet underground even mean? She just fell in, she’s not buried alive.”

The officer gave him a look.

“That old battery flooded a couple days back, and there’s been some partial collapse inside. You’d better

brace yourselves.”

Theodore’s hand froze mid-air.

Charlotte, curled up at the edge of the couch, spoke up in a small voice.

“She’s got so many friends. Maybe somebody’s already pulled her out.”

Cooper spun on her.

“You’ve got some nerve. You’re the one who pinned that card on her. And once she went missing, you’re the one who told the coach she’d already gone back to Seattle.”

Charlotte’s eyes reddened at once.

“I just heard Emma say that she wanted to be alone. Wasn’t she under social isolation anyway? I figured she was putting on another act.”

Mom’s hand shot out and slapped her clean across the face.

“That’s your sister!”

Charlotte clutched her cheek, utterly stunned.

Mom had never once laid a hand on her before.

Theodore stepped in front of her without thinking.

But whatever he meant to say died in his throat.

Because his phone was still looping my last voice message.

“I’ve already learned not to bother people.”

“I won’t be a pain to any of you again.”

By the time search and rescue reached Fort Worden, mud had swallowed most of the entrance to the old battery tunnel.

I hadn’t fully lost consciousness yet, not then.

One percent battery left on my phone.

The screen flickered on once.

The 72-hour countdown had run out.

I tried calling Mom.

This time, nothing was blocking the call.

But the instant my finger touched the dial button, the screen went dark for good.

I stared at my own blurry reflection in the dead glass and suddenly none of it seemed to matter anymore.

Every time I’d gotten sent back to the shelter before, I’d chase the car down the driveway.

Running the whole time, asking myself what was wrong with me.

Did I talk too much?

Did I eat too fast?

Or maybe I just shouldn’t have remembered everybody’s birthday?

This time, at least, I didn’t have to wonder.

They’d spelled it out plain enough.

I was annoying.

I was always angling for attention.

Shut my mouth, and everyone could finally breathe easy.

A dull pounding echoed down from somewhere above.

Somebody was calling my name.

“Emma!”

“Knock once if you can hear me!”

I felt around for the thermos beside me and tapped the concrete wall, light as I could manage.

Clang.

Chaos broke loose up top instantly.

“I heard something!”

“She’s down there!”

I tapped again.

Cooper hollered at the top of his lungs.

“Emma, it’s me! I’m coming to get you!”

I tried to answer.

Nothing came out of my throat.

It took the rescue crew over forty minutes to clear the concrete slab pinning the entrance shut.

When the light finally broke through, I threw an arm up over my eyes on instinct.

Somebody grabbed my wrist.

“Stay with us.”

“We’re getting you out of here right now.”

The second they lifted me onto the stretcher, Mom was the first one there.

“Emma, Mom’s here.”

“Open your eyes. Look at me.”

Theodore pushed in beside her.

His voice came out ragged.

“Emma. Aren’t you supposed to never run out of things to say?

“Say something. Anything.”

I looked at the two of them for a long moment.

Turned out nobody had ever failed to find me. It had only ever been a matter of whether they wanted to.

My lips moved.

“You’re finally willing to answer me?”

Mom broke down sobbing right there on the spot.

I didn’t have the strength left to listen to any more of it.

Before I passed out again, the last thing I remember is the rescue helicopter carrying me toward Harborview

Medical Center in Seattle.

Arguing the whole way there.

Charlotte, crying nonstop.

“I really did just grab the wrong one. Inever meant for her to get hurt.”

The officer’s voice came out flat.

“Whether it was a mistake or not, we’ll know once we pull the footage. There’s a camera right outside the equipment room where the route cards are kept.”

It went quiet by the bed all at once.

A few seconds later, I heard Charlotte’s footsteps scrambling back out.