The Expansion of the Universe

Forty-Six | "No, my name's Austin."

Since the accident, Liza hadn't been good at keeping track of time. She hadn't worked since before the plane crash, and she likely would never have to work again, thanks to the compensation for pain and suffering that had been granted to her by the airline, coupled by the generous donations raised by strangers on the internet who had seen the story of the sole survivor and somehow known that she would have shit-ton of mental health issues.

Without work and its associated deadlines, time was truly fluid for her. It was either night out or day, and that was all she cared about, unless she specifically looked at the single clock in her condo or bothered to check the date while she was on the computer speaking with Whitney. Still, time never bothered her, because she had no reason to keep track of it. Not until Elijah came along, anyway; after meeting him, she had paid more attention, if only so she could know when one o'clock rolled around.

But now, sitting in a tree with numb, blue fingers and chattering teeth, Liza had never felt time move so slowly. She'd heard the sound of people in the distance, and she'd thought that perhaps they'd been calling her name, but she couldn't be sure. Not that it mattered; unless she recognized a voice, she wasn't moving.

That had been what felt like an hour ago, but, then again, she had no way of knowing for sure.

How long had she been out there? Was Milo okay? Was Elijah okay?

The last thought made her body lock with fear.

Oh, God, she hadn't even considered Elijah! What if the strange man did something to hurt him?! Sure, he'd been focused on her, but what if he'd simply wanted to get her out of the way so he could do something to Elijah while no one else was there to stop it?

Oh, oh, God.

Oh, God, Liza would absolutely shatter if anything happened to one of the few people she loved.

She had to get down from the tree, find her way back to the hospital, and ensure Elijah was alright. She was horrified of the strange man, and the people in the woods, but she would do just about anything for Elijah.

Her phobias would not stop her from protecting him.

Though, upon trying to dislodge her fingers from the bark, she deduced rather quickly that the cold might.

Her muscles were so stiff after sitting in one spot for such a long period that she couldn't get them to move.

At all.

No. No.

Oh, oh, no!

What was she going to do? What could she do?

All thoughts of Elijah were stamped down when she heard the sound of footsteps crunching over the leaves.

Someone was coming towards her tree.

She did her best not to panic, almost grateful that her entire body was too exhausted to even form a scream. Instead of crumbling, she waited.

And waited.

And then, because she was so damn good at it, she waited some more.

As the footsteps grew louder, she realized there was some distinction in them; one set was loud and slow, whereas the other was softer and quicker and—

A dog barked, and Liza's heart stuttered in her chest.

"Liza?" Came a familiar voice a beat later, and she would have cried with relief had she been able. "Tiny? You here? It's Austin, Liza, and I got Milo!" His voice grew closer still, and she knew Milo must have helped, since his tone was filled with relief when he said, "Oh, thank the mother of Jesus himself and all the smelly-ass animals that were with 'em. Damn shit, Liza, you scared us!"