NovelEnglishTHE CALL
JESS
| heard something fall in the kitchen, shattering to the floor.
| sat up so fast that the lounger wobbled beneath me, my heart hammering in my chest as Laura stepped out
onto the porch.
She was holding her phone in one hand, her face pale, her wide eyes brimming with something I couldn't quite
read-shock? "What's wrong?" | asked, my voice sharper than | intended.
"Did something happen to my mother?" | pressed, my throat tightening as the words rushed out. My mind spun
with possibilities, each one worse than the last.
Laura shook her head slowly, her lips parting as if to speak but no sound cout. Finally, she managed to look
| stared at her, every nerve in my body on edge.
"They found survivors of the wreck."
My breath hitched, and for a moment, the world aroundstilled. The sounds of the pool, the distant rustling of
the trees, and even the beating of my own heart seemed to fade into nothing.
"What?" | whispered, barely able to get the word out. My hands gripped the edges of the lounger, knuckles
white. "What do you
mean? Survivors?"
Laura nodded, her expression torn between relief and
hesitation. "It's... they haven't released names yet. Just that they found people alive."
Alive.
The word echoed in my mind, sending a strange mixture of hope and fear coursing through me.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt
Alive.
"Who?" | asked, my voice breaking. "Did they say who?"
Laura shook her head again, her shoulders sagging. "No. | only got bits and pieces. But they said the survivors
were found on a boat near sisland Ican't remember. Local fisherman picked them up in the storm."
| didn't realize | was holding my breath, which didn't cout in a sharp exhale.
My hands moved instinctively to my belly as though grounding. myself would stop the spiral of emotions
threatening to
overwhelm me.
"Do you think it's them?" | whispered, more to myself than to her.
"I don't know," Laura said softly, stepping closer.
| saw it there, etched in the lines of her face, the faint tremble in her lip, the way her eyes darted away from
mine. She wasn't ready to have hope. Neither was I. The weight of it was too much, the possibility of reaching for
something so fragile only to 23.434
watch it shatter again.
"What should we do?" | finally asked, my voice small, hesitant. The question lingered in the air between us,
fragile and uncertain.
Laura blinked a few times, as if pulling herself back to reality. Her shoulders rose and fell in a deep, shaky breath.
"|... uh... they'll be brought in on an air ambulance tomorrow," she muttered, her voice distant.
"Ambulance?" My heart skipped a beat. "Are they-did the people get sick or injured?" | asked softly, the weight of
my unease pressing harder. God, | wished my margarita had tequila
in it now.
Laura's lips pressed into a thin line. She looked down at her phone, the screen still lit up with the call log. Her
thumb hovered over the glass, but she didn't tap anything. "All the police
said was that someone on the rescue team confirmed they're alive." Her voice cracked, her words trembling like
they didn't want to leave her mouth. "They... they know one of the flight attendants survived."
Her gaze drifted to the edge of the pool, unfocused, her expression tight with something I couldn't quite place.
"That's good, right?" | said, though my voice betrayed the uncertainty clawing at my insides.
"Yeah," she murmured, but there was no conviction in her tone. "Good."
We sat there in the silence, the soft lapping of the pool water
the only sound between us. The weight of those few words pressed down on my chest, heavy and suffocating.
"Do you think..." My voice faltered, the
question too big re: Icom
speforecdardy ng again. "Do you
think it's them?" The content is on
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
Laura looked up, her eyes meeting
mine for a brief, piercing moment
before she glancechavay again’
dpnitikriow:? sh& said, her words
barely audible. "But | don't think |
can..." She trailed off, shaking her
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
head. "Can what?" The content is on
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
"Handle it," she admitted, her voice
breaking. "I don't thj ktgarley m
mySait howe ENR to lose it all
over again." The content is on
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
Her words hitlike a punch to the gut because they were my words, too. My fears. My reality.
"I get it," | said, my voice cracking under the weight of the confession. "I'm not sure | can either."
Her lips quirked into a faint, bitter smile. "Feels easier to just... not. You know?"
| nodded, swallowing hard against the lump in my throat. "Yeah. | know."
But even as the words left my mouth, a part ofrebelled. What if this twas different?
What if this time, hope wasn't a cruel trick but a gift? The
thought was too dangerous to entertain for long, but it lingered, a flicker of something | wasn't ready to name.
74.61%
w
08:53
Visit our social media platform to read fascinating stories every day and connect with the community!
