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"Oh, thank God," Jared said "I couldn’t work out how to hit you and hold on to you at the sah of this abusive behavior And we’ve only just hed and her throat came up dry this time She was distantly aware that she was still up to her neck in ater She feltabout halfway up the well Ka, since what she could feel of her body, her head and lungs and the chill in her bones, felt so awful

Soainst a wall for the second ti, Kao "Jared?" she said, weakly questing for inforh her mind felt pretty numb as well She lifted her arms and locked her hands behind his neck

"Yeah?" said Jared

"What are you doing here?"

"Well," Jared said, his voice sounding strained, "I don’t really understand it myself, but I was in this elevator--"

"I re at a time Why are you in the ith me? This is a really bad rescue!"

"You lost consciousness and slipped under the surface of the water!" Jared pointed out "There was no ti to die!"

"No, we’re not," said Jared "I called the police as I was running to the well I’?" Kami asked suspiciously "Or did you shout ‘Ka your phone anda du quickly, the drea hard She wasn’t sure if it was because he’d had to run so fast, because he’d had to dive to grab her, or if it was panic

"Alternate plan," Jared said "Do you have a very intelligent collie who h a system of barks to your parents that little Kami is in the well?"

Kaainst the wet planes of Jared’s collarbone "We’re going to die" So else dawned on her "And where is your shirt?"

"Let one to bed, like a reasonable person, when you decided to get tossed into a well like a crazy person And then it was a ency to reach you You’re lucky I tripped over my jeans on the way out the door"

"You leave your jeans on the floor?" Ka else? This day just keeps getting worse"

Jared had nothing to say to that Perhaps he was overcoht di war hurt her head, which was inconsiderate of him "You’re so mean," Kami marveled "You have a leather jacket and you are just so ," Jared commanded "Stay awake"

"If you were in bed, what did you do with your pajamas?"

"I don’t own any pajamas"

"That is so sad," Kami said "Boys can have pajamas too, you know Tomo and Ten both have lots of pajamas Tomo’s favorite pair is red with trains on it" Her voice see away from her too, up in the air with that crucial bit of heron to her tight She was certain he would not let her drown She couldn’t see him, which helped She couldn’t remember why she couldn’t see him, until it occurred to her that she’d closed her eyes Even when she pried her eyes open, all she saas his collarbone painted ghostly gray in the well-diave up and laid her forehead back down on Jared’s shoulder He was shaking, she noticed, but even shaking and wet, he was still warers came unlinked fro on the solid support of Jared’s arms She didn’t think she could keep hold of hiht He wouldn’t let her drown "Jared?"

"Yes?"

Kami closed her eyes "Hey, Jared"

"Hey, Ka went quiet and dark, and he was still there

Kami was sorry when the police rescued theony Her mother was there: someone had called, and she must have shut the restaurant early For so else, as if it was confirmation that this was serious Her parents were not supposed to put themselves out for her Kami was meant to be self-sufficient

Ka her body, her teeth chattering hard, and her head hurting worse and worse with every chatter "Someone pushed me in the well," she told her ?" asked Mueant Kenn was asking Jared the sa" Actually, it didn’t sound like he liked Jared much "If you weren’t there, how do you know soeant Kenn asked

"Well …," said Jared

"And ere you doing, running through a strange town at night?"

"I was jogging?" Jared offered