Ethan: Rattled. Angry. A million other things I don’t want to begin to process.
Ryan: You got her out. She’s alive because of you.
But she’d also almost died because he hadn’t looked into Nel.
Ethan: You guys should get some sleep. Someone needs to work tomorrow.
Joel: Have you seen Polly? Do you know how she’s doing? I tried to stay but she kicked me out.
Ethan: She was just here. She’s a bit rattled but physically she’s okay.
Joel: Good.
Ryan: We’ll come in and check on everyone tomorrow.
Ethan: Thanks for the backup, everyone.
Connor: We’re always here for backup.
He pushed his phone back into his pocket and took Maggie’s hand with both of his again, pressing it to his forehead. He wasn’t tired. Not even a little bit. And even if he was, the only thing keeping him going at the moment was the soft hum of her breathing, and he wasn’t going to sleep through that.
He wasn’t sure how much time passed with her hand still tucked between his, but at the small jolt from her body, Ethan’s eyes flicked open.
Maggie’s eyes were closed, but her brows were creased and her head swung from side to side.
He straightened. “Maggie?”
Sound rattled from her chest, something between a groan and a whimper.
“Maggie.”
Still nothing.
When her head swung the other way again, her frown deepening, he gripped her shoulder. “Maggie, wake up.”
Ice-cold water rippledaround Maggie’s body, covering every inch of skin. She swung her arms above her head, sweeping through the current, looking for the surface. For air. For light.
But there was none, it was like an endlessly deep river of water.
Then she realized she wasn’t moving. Every stroke of her arm, every kick of her leg was getting her nowhere.
She tried harder, desperately swinging her arms through the cold. It wasn’t working.
Panic seized her limbs, making her efforts grow clumsy and frantic.
No. She had to swim! She had to get out of the water before she drowned.
She clawed at the water but didn’t move.
She searched the murky depths—only to stop moving entirely.
Because there, beside her, was her mother.
For a moment, time paused. She didn’t feel the cold or the water or the way her lungs couldn’t get a single breath.
Mom.
Her mother opened her mouth to speak, but then something shook her shoulder.
