Emergence (Awakening Series Book 2) by Olivia Hayes Page A

We're going to find her," I told him, hoping my voice didn't sound unsure.
    "God I hope so," he responded.
    The next mass of hours was a grueling haze of gridded searches through deep woods. Most of my exposed skin was covered in scratches from low hanging branches and underbrush and I knew I smelled like dirt, sweat, and insect repellant.
    When we called it quits for the day, it was close to three in the morning. We had split into two groups. Caroline's parents, Anne Marie and Eva had been searching close to the house. Luke, along with Nick, Ben, Carson and I had been searching the wooded area on the other side of the island. No one had found anything.
    Back at his grandmother's house, Carson showed me to the bathroom where I took a quick shower to rinse off the grime from the search and then I passed out in the bed he directed me to. I barely remember Carson climbing in behind me and pulling me close.
    When I woke up it was barely light outside. I rolled over to find Carson pulling his jeans on.
    "Hey, what time is it?"
    "About six thirty in the morning," he answered as he pulled his shirt over his head. "You can go back to sleep. Luke is downstairs and they're heading out again in a few minutes. We don't want to waste any daylight."
    I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands, and sat up in the bed.
    "I'll be down in a minute. I'm coming with you."
    He sat on the bed to pull his boots on and paused when I spoke, looking directly at me.
    "You don't have to do that Lou. I know you're exhausted."
    "Carson, I can sleep anytime. We need to find Caroline, and if you're going back out, then I'm going with you," I said, resting my hand on his back.
    His shoulders slumped forward and his head dropped down.
    "Thank you," he said gruffly. "I'm so scared for her, Lou. She's my sister, and I don't know what I would do if something-"
    "Hey, don't talk like that. We're going to find her. I can feel it," I reassured him.
    "I hope you're right," he said. "Thank you so much for being here. You have no idea what it means to me."
    "I wouldn't be anywhere else."
    By dusk on the second day we were almost finished combing the gridded area the police had laid out for us when Luke's phone rang.
    He snatched it out of his pocket, answering it before the second ring.
    "Jack?"
    I watched him expel a heavy breath, his shoulders slumping and his tears falling as he listened to Caroline's father on the other end of the line.
    "Thank God. Tell her I'm on the way," he cried, turning toward the rest of us who were looking at him hopefully. "They found her, she's okay. They're taking her to the hospital in Savannah to get checked out. I'll meet y'all there."
    Luke took off running at a break-neck pace while Carson and I followed not too far behind.
    The drive to the hospital shouldn't have taken that long, forty-five minutes to be exact, but when we reached the Talmadge bridge, crossing from South Carolina into Georgia, there was some sort of accident and we were delayed by an hour.
    When we finally reached the hospital it was to more bad news. Luke had been in the accident on the bridge and no one knew anything more than that he was brought into the hospital as well.
    Caroline was only suffering from dehydration and a blow to the head, which took a few stitches, but she was reeling from the news, or lack thereof, about Luke.
    Carson went straight to her, pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly, comforting himself that she was okay while reassuring her over the unknowns about Luke's condition.
    After what seemed like hours of waiting, Luke finally appeared in the lobby with a stitched up gash over his eye. We all breathed a collective sigh of relief while we watched the heartwarming reunion between Caroline and Luke.
    He held her close and she clung to him, both of them whispering words of love to each other.
    Watching them pulled at my heart. Even in the good days with Derek we'd never had a love like that. I could only dream of one day being