Page 54 of Twister

“I’m also tired of everyone taking and taking from me,” he said spitefully. “Now I’m going to take what I want, and nobody is going to stop me. Not even your precious Twister. You’ll be mine.”

“I’ll never be yours, Neil,” she said, her voice strong and sure in her conviction. “I love Shane, and nothing you do to me will ever change that.” In her heart, soul, and mind, she knew it was true. She loved him unconditionally, the love she felt true and deep.

He turned and started to swim, kicking his fins hard, dragging her. She pulled and twisted, trying to get loose, but he was relentless.

Twister cameto in the dark, a lethargy weighing him down, the blood loss a remembered feeling. He forced himself to move, even as his shoulder protested with a surge of excruciating pain that ran between the wound there to the one near his clavicle. He kept moving, the urgency to get to Sadie burning like a fire through him, his head throbbing and his ears ringing. The bastard had not only shut off his headlamp, but he’d taken it. He was lost in the dark in the sub. But the usual chest-tight feeling didn’t overcome him; in fact, there was nothing but determination, anger, and a killing urge to get free of the sub and get his hands on Neil. No panic attack was going to stop him.

He felt around and discovered that he was at the bulkhead, guessing that the crew’s quarters were behind him. With measured, methodical movement, he ran his hand above him tothe sub’s ceiling until he reached the depression in the metal, discovering that Neil had closed the hatch—thefucker. A beep started pulsing, the notification that he was running out of air in his tanks. They should have already been halfway to the surface. Even with his axillary tank, he wasn’t sure he could make it with the decompression stops.

He gritted his teeth as he tried to turn the latch, his breath catching on the deep, clawing pain, a groan rumbling in his throat, the movement opening the wound and releasing even more blood, his head swimming and pounding. He dug deeper for the energy and mustered everything he had, knowing the pain was going to flare even worse. But he bit down, endured the agony as the hatch gave way, opening up into the ocean.

With his energy flagging, he swam through, mustered what he had left, and with adrenaline kicking into his system, he looked around. Above him, two bodies were wrestling, and without hesitation, with every fiber of his being locked and loaded, he reached down for his dive knife, nothing on his mind but dealing death, saving Sadie before he succumbed to his injuries, and lack of air. He had to give her a fighting chance—even if he didn’t make it, she would. That was all that mattered to him. In that instant, he realized that he loved her…this visceral feeling, this need to make sure she was safe all washed over him in a stunning wave.

For the first time in his life. He was in love.

Sadie brokefree and realized it was because Neil had to face Twister. He’d come out of nowhere. Twister brought up his dive knife, slicing at Neil’s inner thigh. He was going for the femoral, but Neil twisted his body, and the knife sliced into the side of histhigh. He brought his own knife around and slashed at Twister, but he blocked Neil’s swing.

Sadie lunged toward Neil, grabbed onto his hoses, and with a yank, pulled them out, then with her legs, she kicked him away. His face was pinched and shocked at her betrayal, and like a lost little boy’s as he frantically tried to find his hoses. She swam down to Twister, grabbed him around the waist, and started for the line to guide them back to the ship.

Twister weakly gave her the signal that he was running out of air. She found her dangling umbilical near the line, retrieved it, and Twister treaded water while she plugged it back into her helmet, shutting off her reserve.

With communication restored, she said, “Neil attacked us. He’s wounded Twister. I don’t know how bad. We’re coming up.” She was intent on getting him out of the water and to medical attention. She couldn’t lose him. He was the only man who really saw her, pushed her to stand up for herself, protected her, and gave of himself to her in an open and authentic place. It made her understand that her whole life had been about taking care of other people, but it wasn’t a sin to take care of herself. The thought of that felt so freeing, and she found the courage to be who she was no matter what. She understood that the emotional benefits she’d received from nurturing herself were far greater than fulfilling her need for indispensability. It was all she needed to find a balanced life. And that life was going to be with this man. She was damned determined about that.

“Copy that. Divers in the water on their way to you. Hold on.”

She asked Twister through gestures how much air he had left.

He flashed his five fingers twice. “He’s got ten minutes. That’s enough for one stop.” She held onto him at their one and only stop, then she finned hard, the closer they got to the surface, the more buoyant they were.

“He’s bleeding pretty badly and is almost out of air.”

“Sadie, you know the emergency protocols. We’ll be ready for you.”

“Copy that.” She looked at Twister through his face mask. He signaled he only had minutes of air. She nodded, indicating they were going to do a rapid ascent. He nodded. They both knew what to do.

As they ascended, they had to exhale all the air out of their lungs. It may or may not result in the bends, decompression sickness, but they had a dive doctor on board, decompression chambers, and plenty of oxygen. What they didn’t have was time.

She pressed her face mask against his, trying to infuse him with everything she was feeling, fear for him, so much love, and that she wouldn’t let him down.

She signaled to him that she was ready, then counted to three. They headed for the surface. When she could see the light bouncing off the rippling waves, she noticed two divers swimming strongly toward her and the dark blob of the boat bobbing in the water.

It was Tex and Bondo. Tex took Twister, and Bondo supported her as they all finned to the surface. She started to feel dizzy, dry-mouthed, and her body started to shake. It was uncontrollable as they hauled her aboard. Twister was crying out as they administered oxygen to him, then someone slipped a mask over her mouth and nose. She wanted to go to Twister, but she couldn’t as tingling started in her spine and continued to get worse.

The man at the helm gunned the boat, and they rapidly approached the USNSGuardian. She waited as they transferred Twister up. The dive doctor went up after him, then her. Twister was on the deck, the doctor working over him. They headed right to the hyperbaric chamber with her, sliding her inside.

She had no idea what was happening with Twister. There was a communication link, and she pulled the mask away from her face. “Twister,” she rasped out.

“He’s being transported to the hospital. Now stop talking and rest,” her dive master answered.

“Neil?”

“We have divers searching for him now. Seriously, Sadie. Stop talking.”

She closed her eyes, breathing easier knowing that Twister was in his team’s hands, and those men would never let him down. They had run through hostile territory, defended him, and got him to the airport on time to save his life. He was going to survive, and she was going to give him her answer in person.

Twister stirred,feeling as if an elephant had stomped all over him. All he could remember was a lot of movement, the sounds of metal banging, and later, the caress of warm, soft hands.

He opened his eyes and turned his head. He was in the hospital, the lights low in the room, the windows dark with night. Dagger’s strong hand rested on his shoulder.

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