Ella’s POV
I sat beneath that tree for hours, broken and crying, unable to move. I shuddered as if the tears were drenching me from the inside out, soaking through skin and bone until there was nothing dry left in me.
The image of the branches squeezing the life from Mandy kept replaying in my mind, over and over, like a scene stuck on loop. I still couldn’t believe she was gone. It had all happened so fast. One minute we were talking, having a real heart-to-heart, and the next, a tree had swallowed her whole, leaving us no chance to save her. No warning. No goodbye. Just gone.
“Ella…”
I heard Alex’s voice before I saw her. I looked up and found her face filled with sympathy and quiet concern as she lowered herself beside me, settling onto the ground without a word.
“It’s okay,” she w
