It came again, a cry for help almost torn away by the wind and the showers. “Rain,” he called back, hands cupped around his mouth. “I’m coming, just hang on!” Without thinking, Jason tore off his sweatshirt and dove into the chilly water, moving into a powerful crawl in the direction of the boat.
He didn’t think of the things he should have done before entering the water, such as calling 911 or at least alerting someone in the house. He had no lifesaving gear with him; all the preservers were still on the sand where they had lain under the overturned boat. His only thought was getting to Rain in time, and he refused to even take a breath until the searing pain in his lungs became unbearable.
The water churning up around him and falling steadily from the sky all but guaranteed that he wouldn’t hear another call while he was swimming. When at last he needed the reassurance of her voice as well as a check of his bearings, he paused for a moment, his head above water but his body refusing to stop moving forward as he switched to a quiet breaststroke.
He couldn’t see her. He called out her name, again and again, scanning the water near the boat. Only the pattering rain answered him back. He whipped his head around violently while he shouted in all directions, as if the forcefulness of his actions might make her appear. Acid coursed up his throat and threatened to gag him as he tried to regain control.
Fighting down the panic, he swam for the boat, his mind unable to grasp the hopelessness of the situation if she had gone under and lost consciousness. He went over his lifeguarding search patterns in his head nonetheless, resisting the idea that every second she was submerged made a rescue less likely. On another, less practical level, his mind was praying over and over to a God he hadn’t spoken to in years. Please, please, let her be okay, he begged.
He lifted his head momentarily and called out, and he almost missed it as he lowered his head down to resume his stoke. A sound, a voice. A splashing other than his own frantic movement across the lake. He froze and treaded water, his desperate shouts coming out in gasps as his lungs fought for air.
More splashing in the distance, and her head and arms rose from the surface, as though she was struggling against an unseen force below. “No!” she screamed, flailing, and she disappeared again.
Jason didn’t take his eyes off the spot where she went under, even though he knew it slowed him down as he closed the distance between them. His heart surged painfully as he saw her claw her way to the surface again. “Hang on, Rain, I’m coming,” he called as the sluicing raindrops forced him to blink.
“Please, no!” she cried again, and then, “I understand, Brandy!” She continued to thrash her arms weakly, but this time she stayed above water. He was close enough now to hear her choked sobs as she repeated the frightening words over and over.
She must be delirious, he reasoned, as he strained to reach her. She didn’t seem cognizant of him as he pulled her toward him and caught her under her arms. Her body went limp in his embrace and her head dropped back. “Brandy’s here,” she mumbled, and then added, “I’m so cold,” before her eyes closed.
Supporting them both with a scissor kick, he rolled Rain onto her back and peered into the stormy darkness to assess their options. He wasn’t sure he could haul Rain into the boat without capsizing it, but he headed for it anyway as it bobbed in place, held by an invisible anchor.
The abandoned boat brought Rain’s fierce struggle back to the forefront of his mind. His eyes flicked warily over the inky surface of the lake. There couldn’t be anything down there that could hurt them, the rational part of his brain assured him. And yet, stories of pet alligators released into the wild by ignorant people surfaced in his memory. He pushed his tired legs faster.
Before he even reached the boat, he caught sight of something floating in the water ahead of them and he pulled up short, jerking Rain and eliciting a soft moan from her. More adrenaline kicked up his heart rate as he imagined that alligator waiting in the darkness, biding its time before another attack. The moonlight was muted by the rain clouds, and it took his overtaxed brain a few seconds to identify the long, shadowy shape. An oar. One of the oars from the rowboat, no doubt. It would be of little use to them; there was no way he was going to be able to maneuver Rain into the boat while she was unconscious.
He turned them away from the boat and back toward the shore, checking hopefully for a sign of life from the darkened houses. Nothing but the rain, slanting sideways when the wind picked up. There was no choice but to swim for it.
Moving Rain into a secure hold, he checked her breathing. Shallow, but fairly steady. She seemed oblivious to the rain drops that struck her pale, upturned face. She wouldn’t be able to help get them to shore in the state she was in, but at least she wouldn’t fight him, either. He began towing her toward the house, carefully avoiding the area where he had found her, and prayed he had the strength to get them back.
Chapter 27
She was on the edge of consciousness. Not really awake, no; but not completely asleep, either. It wasn’t exactly the same as earlier that night, but it was close. That had been more like a vivid dream, a compulsion to be outside, near the lake. And then somehow she had found herself in the rowboat, drifting further and further from the beach. She held the oars in her hands, but she didn’t think she was responsible for the boat’s movement.
Rain shuddered as the memories played in her head. The boat had eventually stopped, and trying to row was useless. She had suddenly realized that she shouldn’t be out in the center of the lake, by herself, in a storm in the middle of the night. The boat seemed stuck and panic began to set in. She remembered grabbing one paddle with both hands, trying to force the boat to move. And then the noise that registered too late, the soft sound of the other oar slipping through the old ring and sliding into the water.
It floated away with an unnatural swiftness, and Rain knew she had to get it back. Making sure the remaining oar was secure, she lowered herself into the black water. It was freezing, and the shock of it helped clear her fuzzy mind. What if she couldn’t get back in the boat? What if the boat got swept up in this strange current? She was in a bad situation, and she wasn’t exactly sure how it had happened.
She followed the oar, which floated just out of reach. Stretching her fingers toward it, she felt a stirring beneath her. And that’s when it happened.
Something encircled her ankle and yanked her down with a sudden, swift forcefulness. She found herself submerged in the darkness, the small amount of air in her lungs forced out with surprise. She watched the bubbles trail upward as she fought the urge to inhale and scream. Summoning all her strength, she kicked furiously and clawed her way to the surface.
There was no time to cry for help, only to gulp in air as the suction pulled her back down. It was beyond terrifying under the water, with no light or air, and she knew if she let the panic overwhelm her she would die. She managed to break the surface again, and this time she couldn’t stop the scream.
Fighting to keep her head above the water, she managed a weak call for help before she was pulled back down. She wasn’t caught on something, and no teeth bit into her skin. It felt as though her legs were caught in some kind of strange whirlpool, with a heavy pressure around one of her ankles. Her arms reached for the surface as she descended even further into the depths, and the cold pressure moved up her legs. The pain in her lungs was unbearable, and white spots were exploding in her brain. This was it, this was the end.
She wasn’t even sure if her eyes were opened or closed when she saw it. The white flashes became a white face with black, empty eyes. Dark hair swirled around and the mouth formed incoherent words. It was Brandy, meeting her at the edge of death. Rain prayed heaven would be better than this.
And then she was released, and almost pushed in the opposite direction, back toward the surface. Somehow she was still alive, and she managed to draw some air into her fiery lungs. There was an important connection forming somewhere in her mind, but the only thing she could focus on was precious oxygen.
The pressure returned to her ankle, a clammy hand pulling her into the turbulence below. Her brain made the connection, the realization that Brandy needed her to understand. She kicked and thrashed, sobbing and sputtering the words that she hoped might save her.
Suddenly Jason was there. “Brandy’s here,” she tried to explain, and then her muscles went limp. Jason would keep her safe, she had faith in that. She was remotely aware that they were still in the chilly water. Floating listlessly on her back, she allowed him to tow her along as her mind tried to resist what she had seen. She let the blackness take over again.
****
She was on the rocky sand, vaguely confused about how she got there, when strong arms lifted her up. Jason. Reaching with numb hands, she tried to help him by holding on to his neck. He was murmuring to her, attempting to get her to answer. Her teeth chattered as she tried to form the right words. “I’m okay. I’m just cold. I’m really, really cold.” The intense shaking of her body confirmed her diagnosis on that point.
“We’ll get you dried off,” Jason assured her as he carried her swiftly toward the house. “I’ll wake Allie and have her call an ambulance right away.”
“N-n-no,” she moaned, struggling to inflict some vehemence into her strained voice. She swallowed painfully and tried again. “Please, no ambulance. I just need to get warm. Please, please don’t wake Allie up.” Allie’s ordeal seemed like it had happened years ago, but somehow Rain remembered the emotional turmoil of the day. “Leave her alone, she needs some rest. Besides, she took sleeping pills, remember?”
“Then I’ll call 911,” replied Jason gruffly. “A.J. can stay here with Allie and I’ll go with you.” He shifted her weight to reach for the screen door of the porch.
“Please, I just need to warm up, that’s all.” She lifted her head weakly off his chest. “Let me take a hot shower, and then if I’m not better we can call, I promise. Please.” She was too cold and too exhausted to go anywhere, she was certain of that. She had important things to take care of in the morning, she just needed to get her body temperature back up and then get some rest.
Relief flowed through her as he carried her into the bathroom. “You can put me down,” she said quietly, but when he complied, her legs gave way and she slid to the floor, Jason’s arms helping to break the fall. Worry and disapproval emanated from him in waves. She wondered how he still had the strength to stand.
“I’m okay, really,” she insisted. “I’m just shook up. My legs are numb.” She looked pointedly at the shower. He frowned at her but turned the water on, then went to grab fresh towels from the hall closet. Shutting the door to keep the warmth in, he got down on the floor beside her.
“Are you sure we shouldn’t get you to a hospital?” he asked hopefully.
“I’m sure. Is the water hot yet?”
Jason reached over to hold his fingers under the spray. Nodding in the affirmative, he pushed himself back beside her and eyed her wet clothes. Well, if she wanted a hot shower, that was fine, but he wasn’t about to leave her alone. “Do you want some help getting undressed?” he asked in what he hoped was the clinical tone of a caregiver.
She nodded and shivered, loosening her arms from around her waist and reaching them up. He peeled off the soaked cami and tossed it in the corner. Her trembling arms went around his neck and he hauled them both to standing. As he tugged at her pajama bottoms, she wriggled out of the wet fabric, still holding on tightly to him for support. He tried to shift his mind away from her naked body by remembering how close he came to almost losing her.
“Hurry,” she whispered. He gave up worrying about modesty and shucked off his own wet shorts as well. The misty steam beckoned invitingly as he maneuvered them both into the shower.
He made sure her damp, tangled hair was saturated with hot water before he turned her around to face the spray. Still she leaned against him, driving him crazy even while he fought to keep his thoughts pure. Something terrifying and strange had happened to her in the lake, but he sensed she wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. Right now she needed strength and compassion from him, not adolescent lust. He tried to pull his hips away to disguise his growing arousal, but she just moved with him, pressing the small of her back against his hardness.
“I’m sorry, Rain,” he said in a rough voice. He tried to focus on massaging warmth back into her fingers as she rested her head against his chest. She took his hands and wrapped them around her waist.
“Don’t be sorry. You make me feel safe.” Her hips circled seductively, forcing their bodies closer together.
“Rain, don’t. You can barely stand up on your own. We need to get you to a hospital, or at the very least, to bed.”
“Bed would be nice,” she said suggestively.
He worked on another protest while his traitorous body responded to hers. His hands slid up to her breasts as she reached behind to caress him. He groaned and tried one last time. “You’ve had a traumatic experience, Rain, you must be exhausted. You need to sleep.”
“It
was
traumatic, not just tonight but earlier today with Allie. I have lots to tell you. But it’s been a horrible 12 hours and I need something good to happen. We’re alive, and I want to celebrate that. I need this. I need you,” she finished, turning to face him and nuzzling his chest.
The desire to take her immediately was overwhelming, but he tilted her head up gently to look into her eyes. “Are you sure?” She nodded solemnly, holding his gaze. He kissed her quickly but firmly and reached to turn the water off. “Then we are at least going to get you warm and dry and off your feet.”
He wrapped her in towels before he dried himself off and twisted the towel around his hips. He opened the door quietly and then scooped her up, noting that her color was much better. She nipped at his neck with insistent lips as he carried her up to his bedroom.