Into the Tomorrows (Bleeding Hearts Book 1) by Whitney Barbetti Page B

to go, right?”
    “A little more than a mile down this ridge and it’ll be all flat trail back to the trailhead.”
    Thank you, baby Jesus . “Wow, already?”
    Jude hiked his pack up, tightened the strap around his lower waist. “Yep. Come on,” he said, reaching a hand down to help me up from my sitting spot.
    Three things happened in less than two seconds:
I grabbed Jude’s hand.
I pressed my hiking boot against a rock jutting out from the ledge to give me leverage.
The rock crumbled beneath my boot, sending me sliding over the ledge.
    I couldn’t help the scream that tore from my throat as my body slid at least a foot down the rock. I heard a grunt behind me and then the sound of someone falling to the ledge, and Jude’s hand squeezed mine painfully, keeping me from sliding all the way down the cliff.
    Immediately, Jude stretched his other arm out to me. “Grab it now, both hands,” he said urgently. His face was prickled with sweat, and I saw a certain fear around his eyes. I did as he instructed and his other arm went limp against the rock. “Help!” he yelled.
    I let out a whimper of fear, tried fruitlessly to push up on the rock around my feet, but all that did was twist me in his grasp.
    “Hold on,” he said firmly as my body spun from the force of my spin, sending my face into the rock that had been behind me.
    An unintelligible sound came from my mouth then, from the pain of my face crushing rock and my arm being stretched to the point of pain. My legs couldn’t gain purchase on any of the other rock ledges, so I thrashed wildly, fear reminding me how easily I could slip from his grasp and fall to my death.
    Desperately, I reached my other arm up and gripped his forearm. But sweat had prickled my palms and I slipped, my hand sliding off of his arm.
    As if he’d been frozen, Colin quickly moved into action, dropping to his belly beside Jude as he hung over the ledge. He reached an arm down and clamped a hand on my forearm.
    “Colin,” Jude said, exchanging glances with him. “Pull.”
    Together, they pulled me up the wall and I dug my toes into the rock to give me leverage. Teddy was at their sides in a second, reaching down and grabbing my other forearm.
    The moment was over in a few seconds; they pulled me back up to the ledge and far away as if they worried I’d slip over. Jude flopped onto his back and heaved several breaths. “Teddy, I need your help.”
    Adrenaline was coursing through my veins like boiling water, but I was frozen to the spot as I watched Teddy walk to Jude and say, “Shit, Sommers.”
    “What?” I asked, pushing myself up onto my elbows.
    “His shoulder is dislocated,” Colin said, standing over Jude and looking down sideways at his arm. “Fuck.”
    “Oh, no,” I said, though the words paled in comparison to the guilt and fear that climbed over me. I’d caused that. I pushed myself to standing and wanted to vomit when I saw how contorted Jude’s arm was. “Oh my god,” I said, looking away.
    “Teddy, lift my arm. Don’t shove it in, I wanna see if it’ll go back in by itself.”
    I had to walk a few steps away when Teddy picked up his left arm, knowing if I watched I’d pass out or puke. Or both. A few seconds later, I heard Jude say, “Good as new.”
    I turned around, saw him staring at his fist as he clenched it. “Are you okay?” I asked, though it felt completely inadequate for the situation.
    Jude looked up at me, his face dripping with sweat. His eyes looked pinched, but he said, “I’ll be fine. Are you okay?”
    “I’m fine.”
    “You’re bleeding,” he said, taking a step forward. He pointed a finger to his eyebrow and I lifted a hand to my face.
    I felt the sting and pulled my hand away, coming away with more blood than I’d expected. “That’s a lot of blood,” I said, feeling woozy from the adrenaline leaving my body. My legs suddenly seemed to be made of Jell-O.
    “It’s a head injury,” Colin said, “they bleed a