NovelBookChapter 470
“I miss my grandma, Miss, my grandma’s going to be okay, right?”
Alessia’s mind was drifting in and out, Susannah Holt’s trembling voice echoing in the darkness. Alessia opened
her mouth, meaning to comfort the girl, but no words would come. Her chest tightened; her breathing grew
shallow, her vision blurring at the edges. Just as sleep threatened to pull her under, Alessia bit down hard on her
tongue, forcing herself to stay awake.
“Miss? Miss, what's wrong?” Susannah’s panic was immediate and contagious, her fear swelling in the cramped
darkness.
“I'm fine... Your grandma's fine too. I'm just, a little tired. | need to rest for a bit,” Alessia managed, her voice
little more than a whisper.
“No, you can’t sleep! You said you can’t sleep, remember?” Susannah sobbed, but she remembered Alessia’s
warning and kept talking, desperate to keep her teacher conscious.
Fumbling in the darkness, Susannah’s small hand finally found Alessia’s-it was cold as ice. Tears welled up in
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtSusannah’s eyes; her hands trembled as she tried to cup Alessia’s, as though she could warm
her back to life.
She called Alessia’s nagain and again, but Alessia could only muster the faintest response, as if she might
vanish at any moment.
Tears streamed down Susannah’s cheeks as she picked up the stone from beneath Alessia’s hand and, just as
Alessia had taught her, she started banging it against the ceiling above them.
“Please, anyone, help us. Please, someone come,” Susannah pleaded, biting back her sobs, forcing herself to
stay calm for Alessia’s sake. She talked to her teacher, knocked on the stone, then talked smore, refusing to
let the silence win.
Alessia listened to Susannah’s crying, struggling to stay awake, but her strength was almost gone.
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Chapter 470
Her lips curled in a feeble smile; faces she'd known flickered before her eyes-until, at last, she saw Cole, right
before they parted, with that wounded, forlorn look on his face.
“If only Id listened to my heart that day,” she thought. “If only I'd just told him how much | cared, how happy he
made me, how much I loved him.”
For three months, Cole had said again and again that he wanted to visit, but Alessia always refused.
He did come, in the end-sneaking in without telling her, only to be caught by Susannah and nearly mistaken for
a trespasser by the locals.
Alessia had rushed over as soon as she heard, barely able to keep a straight face at Cole’s rare look of flustered
embarrassment. She’d been cross with him that night, not wanting him to risk another secret trip. The journey
was long, his job demanding; she’d rather he rest on his days off than fly halfway across the country just for a
brief visit, only to leave again the next morning.
Cole knew how she felt. But missing her bectoo much; even knowing she'd be upset, he'd arranged a
helicopter and canyway.
If only she’d told him how much he meant to her that day. If only she’d said, “Rest a little longer,” or “I love you.”
If only...
A tear slipped from Alessia’s eye, even as a soft smile lingered on her lips.
Just as she was slipping away, a faint noise echoed from somewhere above,
Susannah’s eyes lit up; she started banging the stone harder.
“Miss, don’t sleep! Please, you can’t sleep-I haven't shown you the n| wrote. It’s so pretty, you have to see
it, please! Someone's here, they're coming to help us, please don’t go to sleep, don’t leave me-please...”
She cried, but Alessia never answered.
“We're here-please, help us!” Susannah called out, gripping Alessia’s hand as if letting go would be the end of
everything.
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Chapter 4/U
As Alessia’s consciousness faded, a glimmer of light seemed to reach her, then darkness claimed her again.
“Lessie, I'm here-please, please, don’t sleep, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry | was late...”
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