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Warmth floods me. Leo is a furnace surrounding my body, and I have the urge to just close my eyes and rest there. He holds me like it’s nothing. “Why am I so tired?”
When he speaks, I can feel the vibration of his voice. “Dying and coming back will do that to a person.”
“I guess so.”
He sets me gently in the front seat of a truck, and I miss the feeling of him cradling me. It was nice. And warm. I’m cold now. And wet. God, that river was so cold that I don’t think that I’ll ever forget it.
I feel like I’m drifting as the cars drive us back to the lodge. Sleep. I want to go to sleep. That’s all that I want at this moment, just warmth and sleep.
The truck stops and jerks me awake. I fumble with the handle and manage to get the door open, but Leo is already there, pressing me back into the seat. “Hold on a second, hot shot. I need to take you to the hospital.”
I shake my head, but that makes it feel fuzzy and achy, so I stop. “No, you don’t. I’m fine.”
His low chuckle is warm. “Even if you were completely fine, this happened on Blue Mountain’s watch, and we need to get you checked out, okay?”
Leaning my head against the seat, I sag. “Okay.”
“We’ll come with you,” Emily says. “Of course.”
“No,” I say. “Don’t do that. It’s still bachelorette weekend. Doesn’t need to stop to have you guys sitting in the emergency room for hours. I’ll be back soon enough.”
Emily looks at me with concern in her gaze, but she doesn’t fight me. If I hadn’t just almost died, she’d probably already be pushing her way into the truck beside me.
“Can you get some dry clothes for her?” Leo asks softly. “I don’t want her to move much until we can get her checked out, but she can change at the hospital.”
“Good idea,” Emily says and jogs off toward our cabin.
Leo turns to me. “How do you feel?”
“Sleepy.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. But I need you to stay awake, okay? Until we can get you checked out and we know it’s safe for you to sleep.”
I nod slowly. “Yeah.” We’re quiet for a second. “Are you sure you need to take me? Emily would do it. I don’t want to interrupt your day.”
Leo’s eyebrows rise into his hairline. “Diana, it was my fault that you were in the river at all. You’re not ruining my night. And even if you were, it’s my job to take you.” His hand reaches out like he’s going to touch me and then he changes his mind. Softer, he says, “I want to make sure that you’re okay.”
“Here you go!” Em’s voice calls. She has a bag filled with clothes. What look like the yoga pants I brought and a couple other things. Comfortable clothes. I could kiss her. “Come back soon, okay?” she whispers, gently hugging me. “I can’t have my bachelorette weekend without my maid of honor.”
“Back in no time,” I say. “They’re just going to poke me for a while and then send me home.”
“And scan your brain, probably,” Em says. “If they find anything weird in there, make sure to take pictures.”
I laugh. “I’ll try to remember.”
She hugs me again and then steps back.
“Told you it was a bad idea for me to get in a boat.”
“I swear, I’ll never make you do it again,” she says.
Leo takes her place in front of me. “It’s a longer drive, let’s get you buckled in.”
“I can do it,” I say, reaching for the belt, but he stops me. His hands are warm on mine, and my stomach drops when he looks at me.
“Let me,” he says. “Please.”
I don’t pretend to understand why it matters, but I let him secure the belt and check to make sure that it’s buckled. And then he’s climbing into the driver’s seat. “Ready?”
“Yeah.”
The rumble of the engine seems to vibrate inside my skull as we drive away.
4
Leo
She could have died.
Those are the only words in my brain. She could have died. She could have died. She could have died.
And if she had died, it would have been my fault.
I jumped into the water after her, swimming toward where I saw her hand reach out of the water. The only other glimpse of her I had was a bright yellow patch of fabric that shone under the water. And barely that, because the river was battering me just as much as it was her. The only advantage I had was that I chose to go in.
It was a miracle that I managed to keep my head above the water.
I caught a glimpse of her as she was slammed against the rock, and I saw her pulled deeper. I’ve never swum so hard. Ever. Every muscle in my body burned, to the point where I thought that they might give out, but I reached her. And she was limp. All the relief that I’d felt in grabbing her body disappeared because I knew that something was wrong.
