Chapter 44: Madeline

“I’m fine,” I insist. My voice sounds too thin, even to me.

The truth is, I’m not. Not really. My shirt clings to my skin, cold seeping in with every draft, but it’s not the damp that unsettles me—it’s the way it happened.

I replay it in my head like a reel I can’t stop.

I’d been halfway down the...