He flailed with his gloved hands, trying to find something to hang onto but he hit the water and went under. When his head came up, he gasped.Fuck it’s cold. And deep.Too deep to put his feet down and the current already had him, sweeping him along. “Ap…” Water rushed into his mouth. He spat it out and tried to call for help. “Ap! Ap! Ap!”
Who was there to hear? Andhelpwasn’t the word he was saying. He had to get himself out of this, but his jacket and shoes were pulling him down.Oh God.After all he’d been through andthiswas going to kill him? He tried to kick and pull through the water with his arms to reach the side but he was weak and the bank wasn’t getting any closer. In desperation, he stopped trying to swim and instead tried to float with his feet downstream and kept calling for help. He was lying deeper in the water now, his soaked clothing pulling him under.
They’d know this was an accident, right? Not think he’d delib— He coughed as water rushed into his mouth.
“Jesus Christ! River!”
He heard Newt’s voice and a moment later, there was a splash and Newt was in the water with him, next to him, holding him up, dragging him to the side.Am I imagining this?He went under again and was hauled up.
“Don’t you fucking dare!” Newt snapped in his ear. “Kick.”
He tried to. He had no idea how Newt managed it, but he kept dragging him until River felt his heels hit the bottom. Newt tugged until they were on their hands and knees on the outside of a bend where the water was shallow, gasping for breath, freezing cold, but alive.
“I’m going to get my coat.” Newt hauled him to a sitting position and ran off. When he came back, he draped his jacketover River’s shoulders and hauled him to his feet. River wasn’t sure he could walk.
“It’s not far,” Newt told him, his teeth chattering, water dripping down his face. “One foot in front of the other.”
River walked. Well, he tried to. Newt pulled River’s arm over his shoulder, supporting him as they staggered through a field towards a gate.
“Strange place to go swimming when you have a lovely pool.”
River didn’t try to speak. He felt too tired to take another step, but every time he flagged, Newt dragged him on.
“Max will kill me. You nearly drowned. Christ!”
Another ten metres and River’s knees gave way.
“No.” Newt yanked him upright. “You have to keep going. I’m not strong enough to carry you.”
River felt as if he was in some sort of fugue state, his mind not registering the reality of the situation, apart from feeling as if he was freezing to death. All he could think about was putting one foot in front of the other.
When Newt propped him up by the gate to tap the code into the keypad, he was shocked they’d made it back.
“Nearly there,” Newt said. “We’ll go in through the back door and use the pool shower. That way we’re not dragging a mess through the house. And yes, I’m talking about you.”
River saved his final collapse for the boot room. This time Newt let him slide down but stopped him slumping hard onto the floor. River’s eyes closed. He was aware of Newt stripping him, aware of wishing this was under different circumstances—God, I’m still an idiot then? —and found himself hauled upright. They were both wearing boxers.
When River’s legs failed to work, Newt somehow managed to lift him and carry him to the pool room.
“Bloody hell,” Newt panted and let River settle down on the floor of the shower.
When the warm water fell on him, River moaned.
“I’ll turn the temperature up in a moment.”
They sat next to each other, leaning back against the tiles, hugging their knees, faces tipped up to the flow.
Eventually, River stopped shivering. But he was completely exhausted. Even as Newt washed his hair for him, he could feel consciousness slipping away.
Nine
Newt freaked out when he couldn’t rouse River in the shower. But his skin was warm, his breathing even, there was no rattling from his chest that implied he’d inhaled water, so he guessed shock and exhaustion had taken their toll.Oh God, let it just be that.River wasn’t the only one who was shocked and exhausted. Newt was barely keeping panic at bay.
The accident wasn’t his fault. He couldn’t be expected to watch River every second of the day, but that wasn’t what Max would think. River had almost drowned. Newt only just held in his sob as he clutched River a little tighter. No point trying to wriggle out of responsibility for this. Itwashis fault. And it had all begun with that kiss.Newt hadn’t started it but he’d pulled River in, not pushed him away.Shit.
If he hadn’t discovered River’s jacket and shoes had disappeared from the boot room…Christ Almighty. Thank fuck there was still a heavy frost on the ground, because when he hadn’t seen any footprints on the lawn, he guessed River had left via the gate and would probably not head down the road. He’d seen the cameras around the property, but Newt had no idea how to look at the footage and had to rely on his intuition. With a choice of trees or field, Newt opted for field because it would be easier going underfoot. Then again, the woods offered more protection.
But…if Newt had made the wrong choice at any point, walked in the wrong direction, wasted time looking in the wrong place… He swallowed hard trying to shift the lump in his throat and curled his fingers around River’s wrist, needing to reassure himself he was still alive, that his heart was still beating. When he’d heard River call out, he’d raced towards his voice, seen him in the river, wrenched off his jacket and jumped in. They could both have drowned. Newt shuddered.
