Chapter 2: Aftermath

"He came for me. He did."

"Came for you?"

"Where is he? Did he make it?"

"Who? Who came for you?"

"Mike. Where is he?"

"I'm sorry, Jessica. He didn't make it."

"Oh my God." The girl let out a sob and hid her face against the blanket.

As Matt sat in the waiting room, he found himself fiddling with the now fraying sleeve of his jacket. Anything to ignore the piercing glare from across the room. He had tried to save Emily. He really had, but she deemed his efforts insufficient, extremely insufficient. In her mind, he had been fighting with her the entire night and therefore when he jumped to the ledge, he was leaving her for dead. But what could he have done? He had tried to save her. Hell, he had almost died for her. If that wasn't enough to save their relationship, then nothing was. And a part of him… well, a part of him had to admit that he felt relieved. Just as Matt tried to save her in the fire tower, he tried to make it work with her, but nothing helped. This just marked the end.

Not that any of that mattered now.

Matt still wasn't clear on what transpired while he was trapped in the mines, but as far as he could tell, none of it was good. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. Either way, there were bigger problems than his relationship that was in shambles.

"Matt." The voice was hoarse, but it was enough to pull Matt out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Jess shuffling her way towards him, a large blanket draped over her shoulders, making her appear even smaller than she already was. When they were in the mine, he could scarcely believe how broken she looked, but even that couldn't compare to how she looked now.

"Jess." He was on his feet and by her side in a second. Matt couldn't place the motivation for his instantaneous reaction and this was hardly the place to figure it out. "Hey, they didn't…" He wasn't always the most observant person, but even he couldn't miss her newly tear-stained cheeks. "A-are you okay?"

"Matt, he's dead. Mike is…" The words caught in her throat, ending her sentence. Saying the words aloud made it real. Instead, she fell against his chest, the tears threatening to come again. At least now there was the slightest sense of comfort from being so near.

"Oh my God… Jess, I'm so… I'm so sorry." There was an aching in his chest as he lightly rubbed her shoulders. It pained him to see her like this, but he was unsure of what else he could say. What words could possibly comfort her? "Do you…" He held his tongue, biting back his question. She wouldn't want to talk about it, not this soon, so he wouldn't push. Instead, Matt simply remained silent as he held her in his arms.

"Jesus Christ, that didn't take you long at all to move on, did it?" A voice snarled from the other end of the waiting room. Emily. For a few moments he had forgotten her daggered eyes across the room. Matt didn't want to let go of Jess, but he did so he could turn to look at the other girl. "Mike's been dead, what, five hours and your skanky ass is already all over my boyfriend."

"What the hell, Em?" Matt kept an arm around Jess as if that would protect her from the biting words being hurled at her. Still, she trembled even with his support. "Do you really think now is the time to start a fight? Mike is dead and everyone's had a really shitty night."

"You… you had a shitty night?! You dropped me out of a fire tower, you fucking meathead! And where the hell was she while the rest of us were running for our lives and seeing people die?" Em stood now, her hip cocked with her hand resting on it. Matt readied his response, but a soft cry from next to him drew his attention quickly back to Jess.

"Jess… Jess are you alright?" Tears were streaming down the girl's face again. It made Matt hold her tighter. "Come on. Let's go outside. Get some fresh air." He muttered, leading her away from Emily.

"Well, I hope you two enjoy each other's company. You really fucking deserve each other." Emily called at their backs. Once outside, he found a bench to sit on with Jess. He adjusted her blanket, making sure that she was still warm, before holding her close once again.

"I'm sorry about that." Matt murmured as the girl settled against him. "And before when I sided with her… I shouldn't have. She's always like this and I always make excuses and I am so sorry…"

"You don't have to say sorry." The girl hiccupped as she tried to hold back the tears to no avail. "I know how Emily is and… and besides she had every right to be angry at me in the cabin. Mike and I… M-mike and…" Saying his name again was too much and she began sobbing once more. Matt tugged her closer against his chest and he kept her there until her tears ran out. "Matt… you never have to say sorry to me. You were there for me. You saved me."

"Jess, I didn't-"

"You could have left me there."

"No. I couldn't have."

I'm not great at writing short things because I feel it is more obvious that I'm not great with descriptions, BUT I hope you enjoy and thank you very much for reading!