Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84407 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84407 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“I didn’t fucking touch her!” I shouted through the pain, using my good arm to scramble away, choking back the vomit in my throat. “My fucking arm!” I tried to tell him, but Luke wasn’t listening. He bent down, reaching for me again, but this time I pulled my knees back and kicked both feet into his stomach, sending him flying backward.
That’s when I first felt it. The ice wasn’t thick enough, and it splintered beneath us. It felt like it happened in slow motion, but in reality, we’d only been fighting for seconds. I tried to drag myself toward the edge, but my arm was fucking useless.
Luke yelled as the ice finally gave, and he gripped the edge. His eyes were wild as they locked onto mine. He started to hyperventilate, frantically trying to pull himself over the edge.
Sarah was sobbing now, running toward us, screaming her brother’s name.
“Sarah! Do not walk onto the ice. Call nine-one-one,” I instructed, and she halted where the snow-covered shore met ice, fumbling for her phone. “Luke, try to stay calm.” I kept my voice steady in spite of the excruciating pain that radiated through my entire arm. I remembered hearing somewhere that more often than not, it’s the cold shock that causes sudden death. Not drowning.
I knew I didn’t have long to act. I flipped onto my stomach, one-armed army crawling toward a thrashing Luke. Each time he tried to pull himself up, the ice broke off, submerging him even more. Once I was finally within reach, I extended my good arm—the right one—and told him to grab it.
His hand gripped mine, just like we did when we arm wrestled many times before, and I gritted my teeth, eyes squeezing shut as I mustered all my strength to pull him out.
“Get me out, get me out, get me out!” Luke chanted, completely panicked as I got his top half above water. He lifted a knee onto the ice, and before I could so much as blink, it cracked, giving way under his weight, sending us both under.
The cold was something I never could’ve prepared myself for. It took my breath away, and my heart sped up so fast I thought it would burst out of my chest. I paddled my way toward the surface, using the top half of my broken arm like a wing, as I kicked my feet. As soon as I broke through, I gasped for air, looking around for Luke.
“Where is he?!” I didn’t get an answer. Sarah was wailing, so full of fear and despair that I knew I’d never forget the sound if I lived to see another day. I tried to calm my erratic breathing, knowing that staying calm was crucial, while also knowing it was futile.
Sarah dropped to her knees, digging around in the snow-covered ground, looking for something. I could feel time slipping away, and I did the worst thing I could’ve done in that situation. Taking a deep breath, I dove back in. I opened my eyes underneath the water, searching for any sign of Luke. I moved under the ice, hardly seeing a thing, but finally, I made out a large blurry form.
I went back up for one more deep breath before going back under, moving to Luke as fast as I could. My body felt heavy, but my adrenaline kept me going. Before I could reach him, he started to sink.
No. No, no, no.
Summoning the strength and speed I didn’t know I had, I jetted toward him, managing to clench the hood of his jacket with my fist before he slipped out of reach. I was slow, so fucking slow, pulling him to the surface. His weight threatened to pull us both down and my lungs felt like they were going to burst, but somehow, I managed to get back to the hole we fell through.
“Dare!”
I heard Sarah’s muffled screams as I got closer to the surface, and when I finally broke through, she was lying flat on her stomach with a long branch extended toward us.
I heard the sirens, and I knew I just had to hold on a little bit longer. I tried to push Luke’s limp body onto the ice, but I only succeeded in tiring myself out. I felt like I was fading. Shutting down. Like my life was slipping away. In a last-ditch effort, I clutched Luke’s head to my chest and hooked my broken arm over the branch. I struggled to keep us both above water, my eyes closing, my muscles giving out.
“Just a few more seconds,” I told Luke.
And those were the last words I’d ever say to him, though he never heard them.
Lo’s sniffling brings me back to the present. I can’t meet her eyes, afraid of what I’ll find. “What happened after?” she asks, her voice a broken whisper.