Zack was clinging to the tree, hands scrabbling for a better hold as they threatened to slip. The drop from Milo's now destroyed tree house was a long one and Zack didn't want to break any bones. Not that he hadn't before, he was a football player after all, but it wasn't something he wanted to go through again.
He winced as a lose nail cut into the palm of his hand. He could feel the blood loosening his grip and while he didn't want to hurt, the fear of falling was much scarier than the sharp pain in his hand. What was he going to do? Surely, there was some way out of this situation. There had to be. There always was when it came to Murphy's Law. There was always a solution.
Zack tried, he really did, to force his brain to calm down. He just needed to be calm enough to find a solution, but nothing seemed to help. He tried taking deep breaths and the multitude of other skills he had learned while tagging along with Milo. Nothing seemed to help and here he was, dangling from the last board that clung to the tree.
At that moment, there was nothing he could hear over the sound of the blood pumping in his ears. He wanted nothing more than to have his feet squarely on the ground, but it was so far down. Zack tried to pull himself more squarely onto the board. Maybe if he could shimmy his way up he could get into the tree and figure out a way down from there. It would be safer than dangling above what was beginning to feel like the abyss.
Even as he thought about moving the board slipped, not a lot, but enough for Zack to know he'd have to do something quick. He didn't have much longer to formulate a plan. That was when Milo's voice pierced through the fear.
"Zack!" Milo sounded on the verge of frustrated. "Zack, came you hear me?"
"Milo! I'm about to fall to my death!" Zack snapped in fear. "Now is not the time."
"Do you trust me?" Milo asked. His voice was quieter than usual, like he was uncertain of himself.
That was a stupid question. That was about all he could think in his state of mind. "Do you think I'd let you lead me through Coyote Woods twice or go to the zoo or start a band with you if I didn't trust you?!"
"Let go," Milo's voice was clear and calm. There was no hesitation or doubt in it.
Where the doubt lied was in Zack's mind. Fall!? Was Milo serious?! Did he know how far that fall was? Probably, Zack had a feeling this was not Milo's first tree house. Then he felt himself slipping once more. "Milo!"
"Zack, trust me," Milo almost pleaded. "Let go."
If he told anyone he wasn't completely petrified in that moment he'd be lying. Still, Zack hadn't been lying to Milo. He and him had been in so many more dangerous situations than this and Milo never let him down. He, Melissa, and Milo always managed to make it out of situations alive and well, for the most part.
Zack forced himself to loosen his death grip on the wooden plank. The few seconds of absolute terror that came with free falling toward probable demise was one of the worst things Zack had experienced. Even years later, when he later told this story to Melissa he would say the same thing. When he landed he was surprised by the lack of broken bones. It took him a few minutes to realize why he hadn't hurt himself.
Milo had caught him, or at least attempted to. Really, it just looked like the two of them had tried dog piling and it hadn't quite worked. Zack jumped up, worried more for Milo's safety than his own. He wasn't quite sure why, Milo was stronger than him and Melissa combined.
"Are you okay?" Zack asked, clearly worried.
Milo was more startled by Zack's sudden movements than the air that had been knocked out of him. He gave Zack his signature goofy grin.
"I'm alright," he assured him before leaning his backpack against the tree and rummaging through it. "Come over here and I'll bandage your hand up."
Zack, heart still racing though it was slowing, made his way toward Milo. He could feel his adrenaline lowering now as he started to calm himself. Now that he was no longer in a high stakes situation he wanted to break into a fit of relieved laughter, but he resisted.
He plopped down beside Milo's pack and started counting his breaths. It was something he had learned long before becoming Milo's friend. If he breathed in through his nose for four seconds, held his breath for six, and then breathed out through his mouth for seven it helped so much. Zack was pretty sure the exact number of seconds wasn't the important part, just that he was breathing slowly and taking his focus off where it was.
"Here!" Milo exclaimed pulling out a large white bandage. Beside the bag was already a container of rubbing alcohol, gauze, and a bottle of water. Milo gently took Zack's shaking hand, face dropping slightly, as he began doctoring his friend up.
The two boys sat there silently, Milo engrossed it using the water to clean the blood from Zack's hand. Only when he grabbed the rubbing alcohol did Milo speak.
"This is probably going to hurt," he said apologetically.
Zack had nodded, but he was not prepared. He grabbed at Milo's wrist in an effort to relieve the pain, but to no avail. He barely heard Milo's gentle words of comfort over his pained hissing. When Milo was certain it was a cleaned out as it was going to get he pulled a small cloth out of his bag and gently dried Zack's hand.
"I'm sorry," Milo said quietly, placing the sticky, white bandage over Zack's cut. Zack's hand was still shaking and it made Milo's heart sink. "You don't have to hang out if you don't want to."
Zack was so confused and taken back he didn't register what Milo had said until Milo was fastening the wrap with little clips at the back of Zack's hand.
"What are you talking about?" Zack asked, completely confused. To him this seemed like an out of the blue statement.
"You wouldn't be hurt if it weren't for Murphy's Law," Milo replied. "All I do is cause trouble for everyone. You and Melissa are always there and you'll get hurt even more the longer you keep being my friend."
Zack pulled Milo into a hug. "Milo, I'm not walking away because of a cut on my hand. We survived and alien abduction. If I was going to walk I would have done it a long time ago. This," Zack waved his injured hand. "Is well worth being your friend."
For a while Milo didn't move, the two of them stayed like that, Milo pulled against Zack's chest. It wasn't until he felt large water droplets on his hand that Zack realized why. Knowing Milo was crying hurt Zack more than he thought it ever would. It was like someone had taken a pick axe and stabbed him in the heart.
He felt for Milo. It must be hard having a curse that makes it hard for people to be close to you. He was probably used to people walking away the first chance they got. Then and there, Zack made a silent promise. He was not going to be one of those people. No matter what, he was not going to let Murphy's Law scare him away.
Zack wasn't sure how long they sat there like that, honestly, he didn't care. Eventually, however, Milo looked up at him. The normally peppy, energetic boy had a tear streaked face and he looked so open. It was a different Milo than what the world got to see. Different than the boy who wasn't fazed by his condition. This was the Milo who was scared. Who thought one day the entire universe would turn its back on him.
Zack wiped away Milo's tears as best he could. "It's going to be okay. You have me and Melissa. We're not going to leave you."
Milo nodded, too choked up at the moment to do much else. When he managed to find his voice, it sounded as though he was forcing himself to speak. "Thank you."