Page 35 of Nico

He was standing completely still, shock had probably locked him in place The crane tilted further, and time seemed to slow.

“Hey! Move it!” I yelled. He didn't move an inch, so I tried again, “Hey, did you hear me? I said run!"

Nothing. His eyes remained fixed on the collapsing equipment bearing down on him. My body moved before I could think. Rain hammered my face as I sprinted.

The ground slipped beneath my boots. The crane gave another violent lurch. I was close now, and I hit him hard. My shoulder slammed into his chest as I wrapped both arms around him.

Momentum carried us forward. The world became rain and mud and impact. Pain exploded across my shoulder as we hit the ground. Something scraped hard along my forearm.

Another bolt of lightning illuminated the world. Behind us came the deafening crash of metal hitting asphalt. The crane slammed into the ground exactly where he'd been standing moments earlier.

For a second neither of us moved. Rain poured over us. The fan stared at the wreckage, then slowly turned toward me. His face had gone completely white.

"You okay?" I asked immediately. My voice sounded rough in my own ears. "Hurt anywhere?"

He blinked, then shook his head. "I..." His voice cracked. "You..."

"Can you move everything?" I demanded, exasperated.

He nodded, still looking pale. Finally, I pushed myself upright. Pain flared across my forearm, and my shoulder. Well, it was probably nothing serious.

I held out a hand, and the fan stared at it longer than necessary. Then his eyes lifted to my face. For a strange moment, he simply looked at me.

Rainwater dripped from his hair, and his expression was unreadable. He was probably still in shock. Adrenaline did strange things to people. Finally, he took my hand, and I pulled him to his feet.

"You sure you're okay?" I had to ask again.

"I..." He swallowed. "Yeah, I think I am.”

His gaze lingered on me again, a little too long that it fell a little awkward. Then voices approached through the storm. Security was here finally.

Two guards hurried over while crew members began securing the damaged crane. One of the guards looked between us. "Everyone okay here?"

"He's fine," I said.

The guard nodded toward the fan. "Let's get you over to medical and have someone check you out."

The fan looked like he wanted to protest. Instead he glanced at me one final time before allowing himself to be led away.

The second guard turned toward me. "You should probably stop by too."

I frowned. "I'm fine."

He pointed toward my arm. I looked down, and saw blood mixed with rainwater as it ran down my forearm. Huh, I didn’t even notice that. My jacket sleeve had torn near the elbow.

There were probably matching scrapes beneath it. My shoulder throbbed too, but again, nothing was broken. The ache was merely an inconvenient annoyance.

"I'll survive,” I said. “You should probably look over the other fans and crew members.”

"Humor me,” the security guard said tonelessly.

I sighed. “Fine.”

The guard nodded approvingly before hurrying off to help with the chaos unfolding around the crane. For a moment I stood alone in the rain. Adrenaline slowly drained from my system.

My heart still hammered against my ribs.

The image of the fan standing frozen replayed in my head, then the crane falling, and finally, the empty space where he'd been moments before impact. That was really far too close.