Page 6 of Love Me Dangerous

“Oh my god.” He’s breathing hard, and his eyes are wide. He’s bleeding from a gash on his face, and his left shoulder is limp, like it’s been knocked from its socket.

Something warm oozes past my eye. I swat it away, and my hand comes back smeared with blood. I reach for my seatbelt to help Jesse, but a hot pain erupts in my hand when I press on the release. It takes both of my thumbs to pop the button, but then I’m free.

The water is level with the bottom of the windshield and seeping in through the crack in my window. We’re going to be underwater soon.

Jesse has unbuckled and is yanking on his door handle. “We have to get out of here.”

“How?” The Jeep gives a lurch and tips downward into the water. “Jesse!”

“I’ll push the door open, and we’ll swim out!” He swivels sideways and slams his feet against the door. The windshield is half-submerged now, revealing the inky black depths of the lake.

“No, the window!” I shout because there’s too much water pushing against the door now. I start to roll mine down, but the crank is impossible to turn with my throbbing hand.

“Okay,” Jesse says, breathless, trying to roll his down too. “The water’s going to rush in. It’s going to be hard to get out.”

I see it all play out in my mind—the water blasting us and filling the cab, weighing us down even more.

“Fuck!” Jesse cries, jerking on the crank. “Mine’s jammed.”

I’ve got mine down a few inches. A few more, and the water is going to flood in. “Jesse,” I whimper. My head hurts so bad it’s hard to think.

“We’ll go out yours.” Jesse leans over me to help roll my window down further. “You first.”

“No!” I say as we struggle with the crank. Moving it takes all my strength. “We’ll go together.”

Jesse gives the crank one more turn. In a burst, water spills over the window. The cold lake floods into the cab, hard and powerful, splashing on my lap and gushing down to my feet.

“Take a breath, Sofie!” Jesse shouts.

“I’m not leaving without you!” I fight against the current to grip the edge of the window. The water is up to my waist.

From outside the Jeep, I hear shouts. Someone is coming.

The car starts to roll.

“Go!” Jesse yells just as the cold water engulfs me. Everything goes silent. Jesse shoves me through the window. Heart pounding, I try to turn back, but someone from outside the car grabs me. Pulls me in the opposite direction. I thrash against it but they’re too strong. I surface spluttering and kicking.

“Quit it, or you’ll drown us both!” a guy barks in my ear.

“Jesse!” My cry comes out garbled.

“Fuck, there’s someone else?”

“My brother!” I fight against the guy’s hold. “I have to go back!”

A man in a shearling coat is hurrying toward me, his eyes wide as he splashes into the shallows. I’m coughing so hard that my lungs are burning. My head feels like it’s going to explode. Even though I don’t feel cold, I’m shivering.

“I’ll go back.” The guy carrying me passes me off to the man.

He lifts me into his arms like I’m made of feathers. “I got you,” he says, wrapping me in his coat, which smells like hay.

“Jesse!” I strain against the stranger’s arms. Everything hurts, but I ignore it. I have to go back for Jesse.

The guy who dragged me to shore is splashing back through the shallows, then disappears under the water.

Sirens wail in the distance. Several cars are above us on the road. People are standing, staring, their mouths open. A woman is filming us with her phone.

“Ambulance is comin’,” the man says as he carries me through tall grass, but his voice sounds far away. Another man comes down to help carry me, his arms jostling my broken body. Panting, I squirm to watch for Jesse, but the man is as big as a refrigerator. I’m shivering so hard now that my teeth are tapping uncontrollably.

---