I opened my eyes to a dark blur of confusion. My shoulder hurt--a pain
shooting through it. Something lay like a weight on me. I could not
seem to move my left arm. Then I moved it and it hurt. I was lying
twisted. I sat up. And with a rush, memory came. The crash was over. I
was not dead. Anita--
She was lying beside me. There was a little light here in the silent
blur--a soft mellow Earthlight filtering in the window. The weight on
me was Anita. She lay sprawled, her head and shoulders half way across
my lap.
Not dead! Thank God, not dead! She moved. Her arms went around me, and
I lifted her. The Earthlight glowed on her pale face.
"It's past, Anita! We've struck, and we're still alive."
I held her as though all of life's turgid dangers were powerless to
touch us.
But in the silence my floating senses were brought back to reality by
a faint sound forcing itself upon me. A little hiss. The faintest
murmuring breath like a hiss. Escaping air!