Held Together
Copyright© 2026 by Heel
Chapter 2
The sound came first—heavy footsteps, steady and unhurried, crunching through leaves and snapped branches.
Dara heard it through the haze of pain and half-consciousness and thought, dimly, that she must be imagining it. The forest had been silent for so long. Her eyes fluttered, unfocused, as a shadow fell across her.
“Oh—hell.”
The voice was deep, startled, close.
A man stepped into her fractured field of vision—huge, broad-shouldered, dressed in work-worn clothes streaked with sap and dirt. A lumberjack, she realized vaguely. He stared down at her, eyes widening as he took in the scene: the tangled parachute above, the broken branches, the way her body lay wrong against the ground.
“Easy,” he said quickly. “Easy. I see you.”
He crouched a little, then stopped, clearly unsure, hands hovering uselessly at his sides. Dara’s body was still shaking violently, teeth chattering, limbs jerking in painful spasms she couldn’t control. A soft, broken sound escaped her throat.
“Oh no ... you’re hurt bad,” he murmured. “Real bad.”
She tried to speak. Nothing but a breathy whimper came out.
The man swallowed hard. He looked around the forest as if expecting instructions to appear among the trees. “Okay,” he said to himself. “Okay. I ain’t ... I ain’t trained for this.” He rubbed a hand over his beard, breathing out slowly. “But I ain’t leavin’ you like this. Not shakin’ yourself apart.”
He edged closer, careful, eyes never leaving her face. “Hey,” he said softly. “Hey there. You hear me? You’re not alone now. I got you. Just ... just stay with me, alright?”
His voice was low and steady, deliberately calm, like he was afraid loudness might break her.
The shaking worsened, her whole body trembling so hard it hurt to breathe. He winced in sympathy, then made a decision.
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