Page 95 of A Twist of Faith
It didn’t matter if she’d lost what little sense she still held, as long as she lived. He would have kissed her until sheknewhe wasn’t an angel, if she hadn’t looked fragile enough to break in half.
Reese adjusted his flashlight so the glow shown less directly. The fact she talked to him, even if she talked crazy, was a good sign, but as her image came further into light, his stomach wrenched tight. Water covered her to the collar bone on her right side, a glob of blood puddled on her forehead, and her nose looked busted.
And her crazy talking would have been fine on a normal day, but not after sitting in freezing creek water for over half an hour. However, crazy or not, talking was a whole lot better for her than sleeping.
“I’ve never been mistaken as an angel before, darlin’.”
“Calling me darlin’ sounds so sweet. Makes me think you like me.”
Her voice sounded strange, drowsy and distant. He had to get her out.
“Like you?” His hands went to the door handle and he pulled on it without success. “Why on earth do you think I’d get all gussied up, shave my favorite beard, and overlook you standing me up for our date, if I didn’t like you?”
Dee shivered. “I didn’t st … stand you up.” Her teeth chattered. “I tried n ... not to hit a d … deer.”
Reese pulled at the door one last time and gave up. He had one more hour, at the most, to get her out of here before the water raised high enough to cover her face. But the freezing temperatures would kill her first.
His gut twisted. Dee wouldn’t die.
Not if he could stop it. How long until the ambulance he called arrived? Too long from the look of it.
“Dee, can you climb out this window?”
She shrugged her left shoulder, almost like she wanted to lift an arm, but couldn’t. Then she yawned. “No. My foot is stuck. I think it might be broken or something.” She shook her head as if to clear it, her speech sluggish. “I’m rrreally cold, Reese, but I’m not sad about it.”
Reese felt his brows rise and reached in to shine his flashlight round the inside of the car. “Of course, you’re cold. You’re in river water in November.” He stuck the flashlight under his chin and cupped her face with his hands. Her cheeks were ice cubes.
“I’m real glad you’re not sad about it, darlin’.” He pushed back her hair, sticky from the blood on her forehead. “Lots of people would be scared to death down here all alone.”
“B … but I’m not alone.”
Her words came softer, fading. She was losing consciousness. He worked to keep the conversation going, even rubbed her cheeks and neck, while eyeing the inside of the car for his next move.
“And just who was down here in the freezing river with you?”
“God.”
Her simple answer nearly made him break down and cry like a baby. Was God going to take her too? Like his father and grandfather. Even like Jana? Please, not again.
Sirens blared from the distance. His phone call at work. Her head dropped forward.
“Stay awake, Dee. Come on, darlin’, talk to me.”
She murmured an incoherent phrase.
He ran his hands up her shoulders and face, trying to increase the circulation on skin not submerged in water. She nodded, but her eyes dragged closed.
“Dee, honey, wake up.”
Old fears strangled him. He’d cut off her foot before he’d let her die in this car. The sirens blared through the night, still minutes away.He didn’t have minutes.
“Dee, help is here.” He shook her. “Dee, I’m going to get you out, darlin’.”
No response. Her face shone pale as death.
“Dee.”
Nothing. Previous talks from Nurse Meg warned him not to move a patient, but past experience overrode the warning. He wouldn’t watch her die.
