Fall from Love

voice soon. The voice that I used to fear has now turned into a voice that I ache to hear. Right now, I need to hear it more than my next breath.
    Pressing call, I hold my breath and wait. There’s not a single ring before the call goes straight to voicemail. I fall back on my bed, my mind desperately working, trying to think of what to do next, and knowing I have to talk to him. Searching the internet on my phone, I find the phone number for the mountain rescue headquarters and don’t hesitate.
    After three rings someone picks up, but it’s not Carter.
    “Mountain rescue, this is Paul.”
    My stomach clenches and I use my free hand to grip around my waste. “Hey, Paul, this is Holly... Holly Treadwell.” I’ve met Paul a couple times at Josh and Carter’s and then the day at the football game. “Do you remember me?”
    “Oh, yeah, of course. How are you?”
    “Good, thanks. I’m actually looking for Carter. Is he around?” My voice is impatient. I take in a slow, deep breath and wait. And wait....
    The silence is torturous, but he finally answers. “Carter’s out right now, but I’ll tell him you called, okay?”
    I picture Carter shaking his head at Paul, telling him that he doesn’t want to talk to me. I only have myself to blame, it shouldn’t have taken me this long to call him. “Can you just tell him that I really need to talk to him? Please. It’s important.”
    There’s the same long silence again. “I’ll have him call you when he gets back, okay?” he says, his voice firm.
    “Is everything okay, Paul?” I’m not sure why, but the tone in his voice is causing fear to crawl up my spine. “Paul, is everything alright?” I ask again.
    He exhales loudly. “Listen, Holly, I shouldn’t be telling you this, but Carter and a few other guys are out on a rescue right now. They were on their way back down when the snowstorm hit and they had to take shelter.”
    I glance out my window, seeing the black night, the snow falling hard and thick; remembering what the weather alert had said about freezing temperatures and heavy snow.
    “They’re still on the mountain?” I choke out.
    “Yeah,” his voice is low.
    The room begins to spin and I can’t help feeling distant, yet familiar memories, eek their way back into my head.
    “Holly, don’t worry okay?” he says. “They’re gonna be fine. I’ll have him call you as soon as he gets back, alright?”
    I can’t say anything back to him because the only thing my mind is able to process at this moment is the worst case scenario. The phone drops from my hand and I hear it land on the floor at my feet. This is not happening. This is not happening again .
    Without thinking twice about it, I run into the living room, glancing around the room for my keys, finally seeing them lying on the coffee table. The little voice in the back of my mind is telling me that what I’m about to do is probably not my best idea ever, but I ignore it, knowing that I have to do something. Sitting around and waiting for that phone call from him just isn’t good enough. Regret, guilt and fear begins to consume me and I know there’s only one way to stop these emotions, and that’s seeing Carter. Making sure he’s safe and sound and telling him that I don’t blame him, that I’m sorry for yelling at him.
    After typing in the address to the mountain rescue headquarters into my GPS, I back out of the parking lot.
    The roads are in pretty good condition as I drive through town, but I immediately notice the difference when I get a mile or so outside of the city limits. The snow is falling thick and my wipers fan across the windshield at full speed. I take it extra slow, especially when my car’s expected to take sharper turns, the higher up the mountain road I get.
    Finally, after a torturous thirty minute drive, I pull up to the station and hop out of my car. My boots make a crunching noise with each step I take, jogging to the main door. When I pull the door open, Paul’s eyes grow wide when he sees me.
    “Shit, Holly. What are you doing here?” He’s staring at me like I’m some kind of crazy person. Maybe I am.
    “I wanted to be here when they got back,” I say breathlessly.
    He rakes his hands through his hair. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that road you just drove up is right now? You could’ve gotten stuck out there or—or worse. Carter’s going to kick my ass. He’ll kill me for telling you.”
    “It really wasn’t that bad,” I