A Beautiful Dark

awake.”
    My pulse quickened. “How long have I been out?”
    He looked at his hands. “A while.”
    “Am I okay?”
    “You don’t have a concussion, which was their biggest concern. Everything else is . . . fixable.”
    “Everything else?” I tried to sit up, but Devin reached a hand out gently to stop me. A wave of dizziness overcame me, and I leaned back against the pillow. “Where are my friends? What are you even doing here?”
    “Did your fall also make you forget that we’re friends, too?” He looked around. “Nurse? I think she has some memory loss after all!”
    “Stop it!” I swatted his hand down.
    “How do you feel?”
    “Why are you here?” I repeated.
    “I was worried.”
    “But where’s Asher?”
    “Asher,” Devin repeated, his eyes frosting over. “Who knows? Changing his clothes, warming up, amassing more groupies. What am I, his guardian?” He pursed his lips.
    “He’s your cousin,” I said, bristling at the word groupies . “Shouldn’t you be more worried about him? We both could have died out there.”
    Devin grimaced. “Asher can take care of himself. He doesn’t need me to worry about him.”
    “Well, I’m worried about him—”
    “He didn’t have a scratch on him, Skye—”
    “Who rescued us, anyway? I—ow!” I’d tried sitting up too quickly, and pain sliced its way up my leg. I grabbed my ankle, which, despite being tightly wrapped in ACE bandages, still throbbed with pain.
    Devin shook his head. It was as if he’d forgotten that I was hurt. “Oh,” he said, glancing at my ankle and then back to me. “Are you okay?”
    “I’m fine ,” I said. “It’s just my—ow—ankle.”
    “It hurts?” he asked.
    I nodded. “Pretty bad. It must be a sprain or a torn ligament or something.”
    Devin stood up and moved to the side of the bed. He put his hands gently on my ankle.
    “Here?” he asked.
    I closed my eyes, wincing, and nodded. “Yeah.”
    My eyes still closed, I could now feel his two hands pressing against my ankle. His touch was remarkably gentle, and I let myself sink deeper into the pillow as a sense of calm washed over me.
    He pressed his hands against me, slightly harder. The pain in my ankle flared from sharp to incredible—and then, just like that, it subsided. I opened my eyes in disbelief. Devin took his hands away, eyeing me hesitantly.
    “It should be fine now,” he said.
    I turned my foot one way and then the other. There wasn’t even a twinge of discomfort. Staring at him, I tried to make sense of what had just happened. “I don’t understand. How did you—” I was interrupted by the door to the room flinging open, and Cassie, Dan, and Ian tumbling in. Cassie’s bunny hat was askew, and her eyes were wide and questioning. Dan’s goggles were around his neck, his knit hat clutched in his gloved hand. Ian looked lost—like he wished he had a latte to offer me.
    “Skye! Are you all right? What happened?” Cassie rushed to my side in a dramatic gust of fluttering hair. “We heard you were in an avalanche and—oh, you look okay. Are any parts of you broken? Will you ever walk again?”
    “I’m fine, I think,” I said, smiling at Dan and Ian, who hung back along the wall.
    “Cool,” Dan said, and noticed Devin. “Hey, man.” He nodded.
    “Hey,” Devin said stiffly.
    Cassie looked up at Devin, noticing him for the first time and turned, wide-eyed, back to me.
    “Oh!” she exclaimed, surprised. Then a slow grin spread across her face. “Oh.” She bent low to my ear. “Are you in the middle of something?” she whispered. “I mean, we can go. . . .”
    “Cassie, I’m fine—”
    “Actually, I need to go,” Devin suddenly announced.
    I didn’t want him to leave. I still had questions. Was it just me, or was he trying to avoid giving me the chance to ask them?
    “Devin—”
    “I’m glad you’re okay.”
    He stood up and nodded curtly to Dan and Ian.
    And then he was gone. The door slammed behind him, and the room echoed and then went still.
    “Ooookay,” Cassie finally said into the silence. “So I heard this rumor that Asher was ve -ry heroic when you were rescued.”
    “Is he okay?” I asked, sitting up quickly at the mention of Asher. “Was he hurt? Devin didn’t seem to know.” Or care , I thought.
    “He’s fine,” Ian said. The muscles in his jaw tightened. “The guy has all the luck.”
    “Was anyone else caught in the avalanche?” I asked.
    “No, you guys were so far