Week 417 – She was staring up into his crystal blue eyes like she just knowing she was dreaming

It has taken Liam a whole lot longer to get down to the crashed vehicle than he’d been expecting. Without gear and his team he’d had to play things as safe as possible, because as desperate as he was to help the driver of the car, he was no help to them if he wound up falling and injuring himself.

With any sunlight that could filter through the storm gone now, visibility was awful. The lightning had burned itself out so there were no helpful streaks of light to illuminate his way. The wind had whipped up, the rain continued to pound, slivers of sleet and ice speckled amongst it, stinging against his exposed skin.

Not only had he been drenched within seconds of leaving his car, but everywhere he went to put his feet had turned into a slipper, muddy mess.

This had to be a suicide mission. “They probably didn’t even survive,” he muttered to himself, the wind stealing his words as soon as they left his mouth.

But he couldn’t in good conscience give up.

What if the driver had survived?

What if there were other passengers who had survived?

No matter what he wasn’t leaving until he confirmed the status of any people in that other vehicle. Besides, he was already soaked through, wasn’t like he could get any wetter.

While he didn’t have his climbing gear in his car, he did have a bag fully packed for a weekend away at a remote cabin. So he had enough outerwear to stave off hypothermia, unlike whoever was trapped in the car in whose front end was in the river.

Even if they’d survived the initial crash could they survive being stuck in the icy water? As he’d climbed he’d kept watch on the car so he’d know if anyone got out and he could yell at them to stay put that he was coming for them.

No one had climbed out of the wreck.

Now his feet touched flat ground, the dangerous descent behind him, and he wasn’t ready to consider how he was going to get back up to the road, possibly with an injured motorist.

Running as fast as he could, Liam slipped, and slid his way across the grassy bank to the river’s edge. There was no way to check and see if the occupant was alive without getting into the water. In the storm the currents looked strong, one wrong move and he’d slip right on under.

But he hadn’t come this far to back out at the last second, so he balanced himself against the wrecked vehicle and inched into the freezing water. It was so cold it stole his breath for a moment and it only lapped around his knees.

Reaching the door handle, he yanked on it, and the door creaked, but swung open, giving him a view of a young woman with light blonde locks plastered to her skin, slumped over the steering wheel.

His hand was trembling, and not from the cold, as he ripped off his glove and touched his fingertips to her neck, praying he found a pulse. Just as he made contact with her skin, the woman blinked open her eyes, and then she was staring up into his crystal blue eyes like she just knowing she was dreaming.