One By One by Freida McFadden(26)

“The berries are sort of purple-black,” Jack says. “They look like blueberries a little bit. And if she ate that…”

He doesn’t complete his sentence. He doesn’t have to.

Lindsay’s body suddenly goes rigid on the ground. Jack takes several steps back, clearly shaken, but Warner stays close to her. I am frozen, watching in horror as Lindsay’s body starts to shake violently.

“She’s having a seizure,” Warner says. “This isn’t good.”

Well, duh.

The shaking goes on for what seems like forever, and when it ends, her body is completely limp. Her head falls to the right, and a glob of drool oozes from the corner of her lips. Warner places his hand on her chest, then lowers his head to the level of her mouth.

“Shit,” he says. “She’s not breathing.”

I clasp my hand over my mouth. “She’s not…”

I take a step back, watching helplessly as Warner performs CPR on Lindsay. I watch his muscular arms pumping against her frail chest. He counts quietly to fifteen with each compression, then puts two breaths into her mouth. Every minute or so, he stops and looks at her chest, then takes her pulse.

Thank God Warner is here. He knows what he’s doing. He’s going to save her.

Noah is standing beside me, watching with the same horrified expression that I must have on my own face. At some point, I feel his arm go around my shoulders. I barely notice it.

“She’ll be okay,” he murmurs.

“Does anybody have a cell signal?” Warner calls out, between compressions.

My hands are trembling as I pull my phone out of my pocket. I say a quiet prayer to myself. But it’s just as I thought. No service.

Noah has his phone in his hand. My eyes light up when I notice he has a single bar. But then he shakes his head. “No service,” he says.

I must be hallucinating. I’m seeing mirages of bars on cell phones.

Warner works on her for another ten minutes. I am frozen in place, watching him. He repeats the same process over and over. Compressions, breath, compressions, breaths, check for breathing, check for a pulse. Each time he checks, I hold my breath, hoping he’ll say she’s back. She’s okay.

But then he collapses onto the dirt beside her. He put his hands on his knees and stares down at her, his eyes glassy. “I think… she’s gone…”

“Gone?” I cry. “What are you talking about?”

Warner lifts his watery eyes to look at me. “She’s dead.”

“No!” I squirm away from Noah and drop down beside Lindsay. I pick up her limp left hand. “That’s not possible! All she did was eat a few berries…”

“If it was nightshade—” Jack says

“Shut up!” I scream. “The only reason she ate those berries is because we’ve been lost in the goddamn woods for hours! Why can’t we find this stupid inn? Why can’t we…”

I can’t even finish my sentence, because I’m crying so hard. How could this be happening? We’re supposed to be lying in the Jacuzzi now with a glass of bubbly. Instead, we’re lost in the woods and Lindsay is dead. Dead! How could Lindsay be dead? She’s my best friend! My college roommate. My maid of honor. The children’s godmother. She was so young and healthy and…

I feel Jack’s arms around me. I sob into his chest like I haven’t cried in years. Why did I go on this trip? I don’t know anything about the wilderness. I just wanted a week away. Is that really so awful?

Oh, Lindsay…

When I pull away from Jack, there are wet spots on his shirt from my leaking eyes, rimmed with mascara. For a moment, I try to get control of my emotions, but there’s no hope of that. My legs give out beneath me and I fall to the ground. I squeeze handfuls of dirt in my palms as I gasp for air.

“Lindsay,” I whisper.

She looks so still, lying there. It seems impossible to believe she’s gone.

I met Lindsay on my first day of college. I had been so nervous about my new roommate—I got butterflies whenever I thought about it. I had heard so many horror stories from people about bad roommates, and then when Lindsay walked in with her cute blond bob and shy smile, I couldn’t help but throw my arms around her. She laughed and hugged me back.

Lindsay will never hug me back again.

When the kids were born, there was nobody else I would’ve considered asking to be their godmother. The kids adore their Aunt Lindsay. Even though we’ve grown apart a bit since I embraced suburban life, she’s always got an armful of presents for them when she comes over.

What will I tell Aiden and Emma?

“Claire?” It’s Jack’s voice. “Are you okay?”

“No!” I bury my face in my hands. “I’m not okay!”

This is all my fault. Lindsay wanted to stay behind, and I said no. I said we should stay with the group. If only I had stayed behind in the car with Lindsay, she’d be alive right now. Or if I had tried harder to talk her out of eating those berries...

I want to give up. I feel like lying down in the dirt and not going another step.

“What are we going to do next?” Michelle pipes up.

That’s Michelle all over. My best friend is lying on the ground dead, her body not even cold yet, and Michelle is plotting our next move. I lift my head to glare at her. Of the five of us, she seems the least frazzled by far. Her black hair doesn’t have a strand out of place, and even her makeup is intact.