“You’re both coming with me,” I assure him, feeling for my flashlight and taking a breath, I dive underwater long enough to see he’s right.
His lower leg is bent at a sickening angle, his foot crushed under the gas pedal.
A large section of a branch jutting through the floor of the vehicle is pinning it all in place.
The whole car suddenly pitches towards me, and I can hear Greg scream in agony before I resurface.
“This is gonna hurt,” I warn him, warn them both before I dive back down and using my pry bar, wrenching the pedal free from the car and pulling the branch back enough to free Greg’s foot.
I expect him to scream again, but he’s fainted from the ordeal.
Coming back up, I feel the heaviness of my clothes, my own numbness from the cold getting worse, and I see Stacey holding her dad’s head up for him to keep it out of the water.
“Time to go,” I tell her, noticing how sleepy she looks like she’s about to join her dad in unconsciousness.
“Stay with me, Stacey,” I order. “I need you to stay awake, you’re gonna need to grab a hold of me, climb on my back once I get your dad out, okay?” I ask, relieved when she gives a nod but I say her name louder, making sure she’s focused.
“We’re gonna get out of this,” I remind her, “But you need to listen to me and do exactly as I say when I say it.”
She doesn’t say a word, but she nods her head.
This is the last time I let her out of my sight, ever. I promise myself that as I strap her dad to the front of my hardness then shout for her to climb over and hook her arms around my shoulders.
I’m not sure how this is going to work, but there’s no time to try anything else, and waiting isn’t an option with the car being to dislodge itself.
Greg hangs heavy and limp in front of me, and I don’t feel good until I’ve got Stacey’s arms around my neck as she climbs onto me from behind, using one of her hands to hold her dad’s head up.
Good girl.
Using all my strength, I take up the rope and start to pull us all back towards the shore.
The huge submerged tree cracking in half, sucking the car underwater and disappearing seconds after we’re all clear.
Thank god.
“Don’t let go, Stacey,” I encourage her. “Don’t you let go of me, not ever.”
The silent and freezing squeeze of her body against mine tells me everything I need to know.
I’ve got her again. And I’m not letting go ever again either.
Chapter Nineteen
Stacey
As the water rises, we both feel the cold, the fear. And all in complete darkness.
My dad tells me how sorry he is, for crossing the ford because of his own anger, for taking me away from Ben, for everything.
But none of it matters now. I won’t leave him here on his own. If I could even figure how to get out of the wrecked car, I’m sure I’d be swept away anyhow.
Just when it looks totally hopeless, the streaming white lights of Ben’s truck shine on us, and in a few minutes, he’s shouting through the window that he’ll have us both out in a moment.
Dad struggles to stay conscious, and I do too, by the time Ben delivers his promise.
The water felt less freezing inside the car, but I have to admit, I can’t really feel anything at the moment, except how much I love Ben.
Rescued three times in two days, that has to be some sort of record.
I can feel Ben’s powerful body struggle under me as he fights the current as well as carry two people to safety.
We do reach the shore though, and it’s only after he’s fully clear of the water that he orders me off him and unhooks my dad, laying him flat on the ground in front of the bright lights of his truck so he can stabilize his leg and treat us both for what I know is hypothermia.
I can’t speak really, just lay flat myself and watch Ben out of the corner of my eye as he fixes dad’s leg in a splint, wraps him up in a space blanket before he turns all his attention to me.
I hook my arms around his neck, not wanting to let him go ever again, but he tells me he has to get me warm. That more help’s on the way.
I must drift in and out. The next few hours are a blur until I can see the bright lights and gleaming floors and walls of a hospital.
Ben never leaves my side and is constantly updating me on my dad, even though all I want to do is sleep.