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“Annie,” I stated as I stood up and pulled my coat from my body. “The moment I dive in, you get Millie into that Razor and then come and wait for me at the hole.”
Annie nodded, reaching out for Millie and grabbing her arm tightly.
“Keaton, you are in charge of my clothes,” I said, and Keaton stiffly nodded, my shirt falling on top of the coat that I’d piled off to the side. The air bit at my exposed torso as I removed my skates, socks, hat and added them to the pile. My fingers were already becoming numb as I undid the buckle and looked directly at Keaton.
“If I’m not back up within three minutes, youallleave and go get Grandpa,” I commanded, my jeans joining the pile of clothes.
“Yes, sir,” Keaton said, and I turned around to face the hole that had already formed a thin layer of ice. Ramming my fist against it, I split the ice; I took some quick breaths, bracing for the needle-like sensation that was about to swallow me whole.
And I jumped into the water.
It burned and ice shards ripped at my skin, already having begun to form a frozen layer on the hole I’d created. I allowed myself to sink further into the water.
The current pulled me away from the small light that pierced the frozen surface, but I allowed it to do so, hoping it would drag me towards Tenley. And it did. Within thirty seconds I found her, floating aimlessly a few feet away.
My lungs were beginning to deflate, the oxygen depleting from my cells as I wrapped an arm around her body and began swimming back to the surface. She wasn’t moving in my arms as I pushed higher and higher, shoving her in front of me through the hole that was both mine and Tenley’s relief.
With the combined help of Annie pulling and myself pushing, I burst through the water, gasping for air, to see Tenley’s frozen body laying against the bank of the icy lake. Her skin was gray, her lips blue as Annie pressed against her chest, trying to get water out of her lungs.
I pulled myself out of the water, my entire body shaking with cold as Keaton clenched my clothes tighter to his chest. My teeth chattered as the water frosted against my skin; Tenley was still not moving.
“Sta-Sta-Start the Razor,” I stuttered, and Keaton glanced my way, confused for a moment before understanding and rushing to the side-by-side. He scrambled for the keys, fumbling a few times before finally managing to turn the engine over.
“Weston, it’s not working,” Annie cried out, and I stumbled their way. Collapsing into the snow at the bank of the pond, I pulled Tenley’s stiff body into my arms, rolling her sideways into my chest.
“Tenley,” I whispered into her frozen hair. “Please, darling.”
Squeezing her tightly, I pounded against her back, trying to get her to spit up anything that she might’ve swallowed. She hadn’t been under the water for more than a couple minutes even though it had felt like a lifetime. It had to have been the cold that took her first.
It had to be.
My palm worked faster against her, and then suddenly water dribbled from her lips.
She convulsed, spewed out more liquid, and gasped for air. But her eyes didn’t open as her body began to shake violently. It matched my trembling self that was starting to ache from the cold.
Forcing another wave of adrenaline to rush through my veins, I picked her up and stumbled towards the Razor that Keaton had started. I had to get us back to the house. Back to warmth.
At least the adrenaline was pushing a small amount of blood to my extremities, and they burned. “Kea-Keaton,” I stuttered. “My clothes.”
Tenley wasn’t moving, and her breathing was so shallow, so faint as her body stopped shivering. She was fading quickly, her clothes crisp from the frozen water. I closed my eyes, knowing that she was probably going to hate me for the rest of her life with what I needed to do, but at least she’d live, and I rolled her away from my chest.
Peeling the dress from her body was tricky as it clung to her, wet and frozen. Once I’d gotten it over her head, I tossed it to the side and ripped the wool tights in two, prying them from her legs after managing to tug the ice skates from her feet.
Nothing but her bra and underwear were left and I pressed her against my torso. Skin on skin contact was the fastest way to warm someone up, and the most efficient. I closed my eyes, wrapping her as tightly as I could against my own frozen self as a coat draped around my shoulders. She felt so small, so cold within my arms, and I knew there wasn’t much time left.
I was weak, exhausted, but had to get her home. Standing upon my cramping legs, I climbed into the passenger side of the Razor and pulled her tighter against me. The Razor shook as Keaton and Annie joined us, with Annie taking the initiative to speed off towards the house.
Tenley’s crisp lashes that were coated with frost flickered for a moment as I glanced down at her face that I had buried against my chest. “Please. Please,” I whispered. “Stay.”
I’d never felt so hopeless. Not even when the bear had tried to attack her, or when Cassidy had been attacked and everything in my life had changed from that accident.
But now? Now this precious woman lay cradled in my arms, her heartbeat so faint against my bare skin. Her own body was frigid, icy to the touch. Annie drove as fast as she could, Keaton keeping the coat around my shoulders while Millie held onto my boots and the rest of my clothes in her lap.
We whipped around the corner, screaming straight for the home that was lit up and warm as Tenley shuddered in my arms. She didn’t wake, so I tucked her as close as I could and pulled the coat from around my own shoulders, cocooning her in between the fabric and my own body.
Annie screeched in front of my parents’ home and threw it into park. “Put pants on first, Weston,” she said and I glanced at her, having completely forgotten I was in nothing but my underwear.
Keaton came around the side and handed me my jeans that I jumped into while running up to the house. I didn’t bother buttoning them as I burst through the front door, holding a now trembling Tenley. Her body had begun to convulse as I searched frantically for anyone really.
