About an hour after the kids had woken up, so did Judy and Bill Burke. The two heard whining from P.T. even before they reached the bottom of the steps. Looking into the living room they found the pull out couch empty and shrugged at each other.

It was a beautiful today, so they decided to walk the dog together, commenting that he was likely antsy from not having seen Leslie or Jesse for the better part of a day now.


Jesse jumped off immediately to intercept her with only the vaguest whispers of a plan. Without a running start he didn't get too far.

Leaping diagonally his left arm made rough contact with Leslie's corresponding side, while his other side had a rough impact against the rock he was trying to shield her from.

Leslie's feet were the first to be submerged into the cold water, but she found that one half of her body was quickly enveloped by Jessie before the rest of her torso hit the water. The oddest realization came to her as this happened. Her best friend couldn't swim, so she did her best to wrap him up in her arms.

As Leslie did, she heard a snap. Movement and visibility limited she could vaguely make out the rest of the tree branch snapping and colliding with Jesse's head.

The boy's face was already scrunched in pain due to the earlier impact, but the latest knocked him out. Leslie felt his grip slacken to which she tightened hers in response.

Now in the creek, they were being tossed and made fast impact with the banks. While blacked out, Jesse could feel the cold of water to his core. Leslie was not faring any better, struggling to constantly adjust the grip she had on her best friend and protecting his head from further bumps.

The latter came at the expense of her back feeling like it had a thousand gashes, though temporarily numbed by the water. She made the first of several valiant efforts to hug him with one hand while the other tried to cling to the shore.

Finally, she succeeded, heaving half her body onto solid footing and making a herculean effort to pull him to land. When only their legs remained swaying in the water, she collapsed beside him, granting herself only a second of rest for air before sprinting to get help.

Leslie looked at him as she took of her wet coat and scrunched it into a ball to gently put under his head. After briefly making sure he was breathing, she took off faster than she ever sprinted up the embankment.

Unfortunately, she didn't got a yard when the remnants of the branch rolled down. Leslie didn't have time to compensate as the branch struck her hind leg and she barreled down, ending up face down within arm's reach of Jesse.

"Jess," she said in barely a whisper, before pulsating pain took over and she joined twilight.


They were found with a scream. Well, two and some yelping. One source ran to the house to get help, while the other scraped his knees in the process of tending to his daughter and her best friend.

Judy also ran to the Aaron's, frantically knocking while waiting for the ambulance to come so she could guide them to the spot.


Elsewhere — within — dreams and memories of a girl fought hard to escape him, but he persisted. He'd see a face, or half of one and desperately cling onto them. There was gold hair and shining eyes, but also something else.

A feeling, an insight, rather. Whip smart, an imagination, something with stories. Something about telling wonderful stories that took him to a place where there was a tree. She was kind and warm and he wanted to hold on and protect her when everything else felt cold.


In a similar plane, a general sense of numbness permeated. It wasn't quite pain, but it was distracting enough that she kept returning to it rather than being able to focus solely on Jess.

"He fell, we fell into something. How did he even fall, did he slip? He couldn't have, then he must have jumped after me. Jess, why did they do that? He looked bad. Well, she thought he did, or rather that's what she thought at one time.

The thought seemed familiar of him looking very beat up. "From... from the fall? Yes, it was a fall. She'd have to thank him. For something."

The day before was so nice, she thought, though she couldn't quite remember why. She just knew and that was enough.


Days of uneventfulness passed, which was good for both parents for the minutes and hours immediately after was terrifying. Doctors repeatedly told the both of them that they were fine physically now. Bones and ankles bandaged, scraps and gashes cleaned. However, they were still not up. The Burke's family doctor confirmed the same thing when he came in for a consult.

The two were eventually moved into the same room by request of both parents so they didn't have to wait in isolation. It was during those nights that they got to know the parents of their child's best friend.


Leslie was the first to stir, breathing became labored as she tried to break through the fog. Then she heard a woman say her name, joined on by a different voice — much closer to her — repeating it. Her eyes opened to a frenzy of activity above her. Blurs, excited voices, touches of her arm. When her vision cleared she just saw faces. Somebody in a coat then came in and flashed a light.

She was asked questions in response, but she answered them only in faint, barely audible whispers. The doctor said it was expected to the earlier gasping people. It was when she turned her head did she see him. "Jesse!" she thought.

"Jes," she tried, even reaching after him, but that was too much and weariness overtook her again.

The boy stirred to that voice. It was really more of a sound, but a familiar one at that. He turned his head right and opened his eyes. The voices took heed and there was a number round of excited gasps.

But he ignored that and only saw her. She was okay. Hurt but okay. She was Leslie.


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