The rising sun began to illuminate the hill, but it no longer gave the trill that was expected, nor the joy that was craved. At the moment, Beth hated nothing more than the light it gave; the promise of life that was no longer sure. The sun mocked her; it was laughing at them. Through her fear, she obeyed him, quickly using whatever ledge she could find as leverage. "I'll find some."
"Good." His breathing got worst. Was he alright? "I'll let go of your hand–"
Let go of her hand? "No, no please don't. I'm scared."
He heaved heavily. "Don't be. I'm here." When she finally agreed, he continued. "I'll let go; you will grab onto the other ledges and climb back up on my back" she whimpered. "No questions asked. Just do it, alright?"
"Okay." She secured her position on the ledges, and Eric let go. Beth felt faint. She had never been scared as such in her entire life and the thought that it was on her birthday scared her even more, but because her brother Eric was with her, she toughened up. Slowly, she began to climb back up, one ledge at a time. Beth held unto him, got on his back; on and on she climbed, and soon reached on the peak of the hill. Quickly turning, while still laying on her stomach, she called to him. "Eric! Climb up!"
He looked up and for the first time, she saw his face. No wonder his speech was forceful. He had blood all over his face; the red liquid ran down from the top of his head and Beth tears gathered again. "I'm fine." He reassured her. "Are you?"
Choking down her tears, she replied. "I will be when you get up here." He smiled at her. How could he be smiling in a situation like this? And he had no right to be worried about her when he was bloodied. One hand after the other, he climbed back up to her. When he lost a footing, Beth heart stopped. "Eric!" She called in fear. He grunted away the pain, set his foot back and resumed climbing. She helped him when he climbed to her reach. "You are alright. You are alright. You are alright." On and on, the mantra went. "You are alive." She muttered, pulled him in.
And then he rolled over. Beth covered her mouth with her hand to hold back the sobbing. "Oh Eric, please don't do this." He had a big wound on his abdomen and it was bleeding fast. Getting composure of herself, Beth ran for her jacket and quickly covered the wound. She knelt down beside him and pressed down on it. Her effort to reduce blood loss gained her a groan from him. Even though she knew deep down that it was impossible, desperately she asked. "Can you walk? I'll support you; I promise I'll support you." He looked to her and smiled. The message was clear.