Building Her Throne Burying My Heart (Claire) novel Chapter 65

Warm blood seeped through my pants, spreading from the gash on my thigh. I probably got cut when I crawled out through the shattered window. The pain was so sharp and deep that I barely dared to move.

At least I managed to wedge myself into the fork of a sturdy tree. Once I was steady, I tore a strip from my shirt and tied it tightly around the wound, trying not to cry out. The effort left me shaky and weak.

I reached for my phone to call for help, but it slipped from my pocket and tumbled into the darkness below. All my hope disappeared with it. For a minute, I just stared at the black ravine, letting out a long, tired sigh.

It hadn’t even been thirty minutes since the car lost control, but it felt like I’d spent a lifetime fighting to survive. Now, all I could do was hold onto the tree and rest for a moment, feeling completely spent.

The world around me was pitch black, except for the wild fire burning in the wrecked car below. Even if it exploded, no one would notice, not out here in the middle of the mountains. And with the rain starting to fall, it wouldn’t be long before the fire was out. No one was coming. I was stuck, half dangling from a crooked tree, halfway down a cliff. One wrong shift and I’d fall. My leg was useless, the pain making it impossible to move. My only real shot was to wait for morning and hope someone passing by might hear me.

I hugged the tree tighter, trying to pull my bleeding leg up before it went numb. I took off my suit jacket and draped it over my head, anything to soften the rain. It was just a light drizzle, but it kept coming, and the temperature dropped fast.

I could feel myself getting colder, sleepier. If I closed my eyes now, I might slip and fall. So I started talking to the night sky, whispering all my regrets, especially how much I owed Claire. Memories came flooding back, and I just kept talking to the darkness until I was too tired to keep going.

Finally, shivering and exhausted, I took off my tie and used it with my belt to strap myself to the tree. There was nothing left to do but hang on until sunrise and hope someone found me.

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