Chapter 156 Chapter 156

Chapter 156 Chapter 156
The last full day at her parents’ house started with Mark standing at the bottom of the stairs calling up to both rooms.
“Get your boots on, we’re hiking. The weather’s too good to waste.”
Mia groaned into her pillow, but Sophia was already moving. By the time Mia came downstairs, Laura had packed a small cooler with water bottles, fruit, and sandwiches, and Mark was checking the laces on an old pair of hiking boots he still kept by the door for her.
“You still have these?” Mia asked, sitting on the step to pull them on.
“Of course I still have them. You think I throw away perfectly good boots just because you moved out?”
Sophia appeared with her hair in a high ponytail and a grin already in place. “I’ve never been hiking with a whole family before. This feels very wholesome, I’m ready.”
Laura handed her a light backpack. “You’re in charge of the snacks. Don’t eat them all before we reach the first overlook.”

They piled into Mark’s truck and drove twenty minutes out to a trail that wound through low hills and tall trees. The path started wide and gentle, dirt packed hard from years of use, sunlight filtering through the leaves in shifting patches. Mark led at a steady pace. Laura walked beside him. Mia and Sophia fell into step a little behind, the cooler bag swinging from Sophia’s shoulder. The first half hour was pure easy talk. Mark pointed out a tree that had been struck by lightning two summers ago and somehow still lived. Laura told a story about the last time they had brought Mia here as a teenager and she had insisted on carrying the heaviest pack to prove a point. Sophia asked a hundred questions about the birds, about the trail names, about whether anyone had ever seen a bear. Mark answered every one with the patience of a man who liked being asked.

They stopped at a wooden bench overlooking a small valley and passed around the water bottles. Mia sat on the edge of the bench and stretched her legs out, tipping her face up to the sun.
“This was a good idea,” she said.
Mark smiled. “I have them occasionally.”
Laura reached over and squeezed Mia’s knee. “You look more like yourself out here.”
“I feel more like myself.” Mia glanced at the trees. “I actually needed this all of it. The peace and quiet, you two. Even Sophia stealing all the good trail mix.”
Sophia held up the bag in mock offense. “I am rationing responsibly.”
They laughed, the sound carrying down the trail. After the short rest they kept walking. The path narrowed and began to climb. Conversation turned lighter and more scattered jokes about Sophia’s city shoes, Mark’s insistence that the best views required the steepest parts, Laura quietly correcting his dramatic storytelling. Mia found herself hopping over a few exposed roots just because it felt good to move without thinking about cameras or schedules or anyone’s expectations.

Sophia hopped after her, nearly losing her balance on purpose to make Mia laugh. Mark shook his head but didn’t tell them to stop.
Laura only said, “If one of you twists an ankle I’m not carrying you back.”
They reached a higher stretch where the trees thinned and the view opened up. Everyone stopped again. The valley below looked softer from here, the houses in the distance small and quiet. Mark stood with his hands on his hips, clearly pleased with himself for choosing the trail. Laura leaned against him for a moment. Sophia took a picture of the view, then one of Mia standing near the edge of the path with the light on her face.
“Delete that if I look weird,” Mia said.
“You look happy so I’m keeping it.”
They started the slow loop back down. The conversation stayed easy. Mark talked about a possible fishing trip later in the year. Laura mentioned wanting both girls home for a proper holiday whenever the racing calendar allowed it. Sophia declared she was already inviting herself. Mia walked in the middle of it all, listening, answering, feeling the simple pleasure of being with people who required nothing from her except her presence.

The path dipped into a shaded section where the dirt was looser and a few rocks sat half-buried in the trail. Mia stepped to the side to let Laura pass, still talking over her shoulder to Sophia about something ridiculous from the night before.
Her boot landed wrong and the loose dirt shifted under the rock. Her ankle rolled. For half a second she thought she could catch herself arms out, weight trying to correct but the angle was too sharp and the ground too uneven. She went down hard on her side, one leg twisted beneath her in a way that sent a bright, sickening bolt of pain straight up from her lower leg. The sound she made was short and shocked.
Sophia was beside her in an instant. “Mia?”
Mark turned fast, Laura was already kneeling. Mia tried to sit up and immediately stopped. The pain was sharp and deep, centered just above her ankle, and when she looked down the angle of her own leg made her stomach turn.
“Don’t move it,” Mark said, voice calm but tight. He was already pulling the pack off his shoulders. “Look at me. Did you hit your head?”
“No.” Mia’s breath came in short pulls. “Just the leg. It….I felt it go.”
Laura’s hands hovered, wanting to help and not wanting to make it worse. “Okay…Okay. We’re going to get you up carefully.”
Sophia had gone pale but stayed practical. She moved to Mia’s other side. “Can you put weight on it at all?”

Mia tried, just enough to test, and the answer was immediate and clear. She shook her head once, jaw clenched.
Mark took over. “Sophia, support that side. Laura, clear anything behind her. We’re going to lift her straight up and get her off the trail no hopping and testing it again.”
They got her upright between Mark and Sophia. The moment her right foot left the ground the pain settled into a hard, constant throb. Mia kept her eyes forward and her weight on her left leg and their shoulders. Every small jolt sent another wave up her leg.
The walk back to the truck took three times as long as the walk out. No one talked much. Mark kept a steady stream of quiet instructions. Laura walked ahead to open doors and clear the path and Sophia stayed solid under Mia’s arm, breathing with her when the pain spiked. At the truck Mark helped her into the back seat and elevated the leg as best he could with the cooler and an extra jacket. Laura climbed in beside her. Sophia took the front. Mark drove faster than usual but still carefully, one hand tight on the wheel.
Mia stared at the roof of the truck, breathing through her teeth, the beautiful morning already feeling far away. The laughing, the hopping, and the easy strolling all of it had ended in one wrong step on loose dirt.
Laura held her hand and didn’t tell her it would be fine. She just stayed there, solid and present, while the truck carried them toward the nearest urgent care and the day turned into something none of them had planned for.