Week 228 – Being dragged underwater

One second Sarah was safe in his arms as he swam them towards the riverbank, the next she was ripped from his arms by the strong current and he saw her being dragged underwater.

Muttering a curse Cooper started swimming in the direction she’d gone, allowing the current to do most of the work so he didn’t tire himself out. Sarah had been barely conscious after the crash there was no way she could battle against the water and win.

It was dark out making it even harder to spot her but there was no way he was leaving the river without her. There was something about Sarah that drew him in and he couldn’t stomach the thought of leaving her to fend for herself. Or of not being able to find her in time.

Every second they spent in the icy water their body temperatures dropped, and if Sarah was unconscious and taking in water she wasn’t going to last long out here.

Just up ahead he spotted a glimpse of something pale. Praying it was Sarah he swam quickly towards it. Thankfully the current worked for him this time and it literally threw him into a now limp Sarah.

Wrapping an arm around her chest he kicked his legs, fought through the exhaustion weighing him down and somehow managed to make it to the riverbank.

Swinging Sarah into his arms he stumbled onto the grassy bank and then dropped to his knees, laying Sarah out beside him. She was deathly pale and unmoving, and when he touched his near numb fingertips to her neck he couldn’t feel a pulse. Unsure if it was him or her, he placed his cheek above her mouth but neither felt any puff of air or saw her chest rise and fall.

Cooper started CPR, delivering two breaths before counting aloud as he pumped thirty times on her chest. He repeated the cycle three times before she finally came back to him.

As he rolled her onto her side so she could cough up the water that had tried to steal her life, Cooper felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

Someone was watching them.

Whoever had run them off the road?

He had to assume it was, because anyone else would have immediately come to see if they could render aid, but this person was like a shadow, watching from the trees.

Someone was out to get him he was sure of it.

Keeping half his attention on Sarah as he eased her onto her back again, and the other half on their surroundings he debated his next move. He wasn’t sure how far down the river they’d gone, or how far the nearest road was. Sarah wasn’t walking out of here on her own two feet, and they couldn’t stay, Sarah might be breathing again but she was still hypothermic and he had nothing warm to cover her with.

He was going to have to carry her and start walking, hope they made it to a road soon. Carrying Sarah meant that there was little he could do to defend them, but it was really the only option.

Cooper scooped her up but as he turned to head into the trees in the direction he thought the nearest road would be a flashlight suddenly blinded him.