by S. Cook
I got out of bed and stepped towards the staircase, paralyzed by fear at the edge of the top step. I watched the slowly rising water as it came closer and closer to the middle of the staircase.
“Leah! Don’t be afraid! Come to me!”
Mustang pleaded with his hand stretched out towards me. His cries were useless. I was frozen in fear and couldn’t move.
“Come towards me! I’m right here.”
I finally looked at Mustang, blinking my eyes to clear the fog that had grabbed me. I shook my head rapidly back and forth, too terrified to even speak. I started to back away from the water instead of going towards Mustang.
“No! Don’t go back up,” he yelled. “Hurry this way!”
He broke out the rest of the window glass with his bare hand and crawled through, landing with a splash and going underwater for a second.
I screamed.
As he came up from below the brown, muddy water, my heart began beating again. Mustang clawed his way over to the staircase and climbed toward me, clutching his bleeding hand to his chest.
“Come here, sweetheart,” he urged as he reached the top step, breathing hard, “we have to get out of here. I’m going to hold onto you and it will be fine. Just close your eyes and don’t turn me loose.”
He pulled me with him before I had a chance to protest and purposely threw me towards the ice-cold water, giving me no choice. I dug my nails into the fabric of his shirt sleeve as he dragged us through the water to the window.
This time he was able to unlock it and slide the bottom half of the now-empty frame open to push me through. He immediately followed, swimming in front of me and pulling me by the wrist through the thick dirty water. I kicked weakly, instinctively trying to help even though I’d never learned to swim.
Mustang let the movement of the water carry us away from the house, knowing that if it came loose, it would push us under and we would drown.
He did his best to keep my head above water, even as the churning water pushed him under.
We were shoved along violently by the current of the flood until Mustang smacked his head painfully against something very solid. The impact caused him to lose his grip on me.
I screamed as I was dragged away, and it was enough to bring Mustang back to his senses.
He pushed himself away from the solid object and flung himself through the water in my direction. His hand connected with my upper arm. He dragged me back towards him when we were suddenly shoved against a tree limb. Mustang managed to get one arm around the thick limb.
“You have to hold on!” Mustang yelled to me above the deafening roar of the water. “Hold onto me and put your other arm here!”
I did as I was told, grabbing Mustang around the neck and wrapping my free arm around the limb.
“Now climb up!”
He pushed on my backside to give me enough leverage to pull myself up out of the water as far as the thick branch. I had a wide enough perch to be able to hold my head up out of the quickly moving water.
Mustang followed me, placing both hands on another branch high above his head. He did a chin-up to reach it, giving him enough room to slide his leg up and over the limb until he dangled over the water.
My erratic breathing began to slow down as I saw Mustang’s dark outline get out of the water. I knew he would be pulling me up higher soon, and that he would hold me close and keep me safe until this was all over.
Suddenly I heard a sickening, cracking sound.
I screamed as his tree limb broke.
“Mustang!”
All I heard was a loud splash directly below me as he fell back into the dark, swiftly moving water.
“Mustang!” I screamed again and again.
I strained my ears to listen for his reply.
Nothing.
I struggled to see out into the darkness for any sign of movement, while calling for him until my voice was hoarse from yelling.
Mustang couldn’t be gone.
He was strong, a survivor.
A sniper who couldn’t be killed.
There was no way he would be taken from me now.
Not when we’d only just found each other.
Life wouldn’t be so fucking cruel.
I leaned onto the trunk of the tree and pulled my legs as close as I could to the limb, lowering my head to my elbows and crying.
Mustang was gone.
Chapter 19: Mustang
In the Army, I’d spent countless nights in the freezing cold and rain. Not by choice, but because we were forced to learn how to survive outside in the elements.
Sleeping in the rain, and even in the snow was not a big deal to me.
I’d experienced sandstorms, gale force winds in the dessert, a snow storm, and a few floods on the ranch, but nothing quite like this.
The rain poured down and the water level rose with every passing minute. To say that the water was freezing would be a massive understatement.
The crack of the tree limb when it broke had surprised me as much as Leah. I didn't expect to fall back into the rushing water.
I thought I had the perfect reflexes because they’d never failed me before.
Maybe I was off my game because this time I wasn't just saving myself. I was saving Leah too, making sure that she was safely perched on the limb of the tree.
I’d chosen a thicker limb for her, to make sure that she wouldn't fall off it, or that it wouldn't break.
Like mine.
In hindsight, it might’ve made more sense for her to sit on the thinner one since I was much heavier. The thicker limb was the safer one though, and that’s where I put her.
Now I found myself caught deep under the black water, my shirt tangled in the branches of the limb that was supposed to keep me out of the freezing water.
Far above me, I could hear Leah screaming out my name. My lungs were on fire as I struggled to free myself from the branches. By the time I reached the surface, the water had taken me far past her.
“Leah!” I called out.
The rain and rushing water made it impossible for sound to carry. I swam against the current to an overturned tree and grabbed onto the branches, testing whether it would be strong enough to hold me.
Thank God I’ve always been a strong swimmer. I prayed Leah was too.
Of all the things we talked about, why didn’t I ever ask her if she could swim? Flash floods could come up at any time.
I was worried out of my mind about her. I hoped that she was still hanging onto that tree limb as tight as she could.
I reminded myself how strong she was, a fighter.
I grabbed another branch which seemed stronger, making sure that I wouldn't be pulled away again by the strong current.
“Leah!” I yelled out her name again.
My numb lips trembled from the cold as I clung to the branch, desperately hoping that the rain would stop soon.
The last flood that ripped its way through the area wasn't nearly as bad as this. For one thing, the flooding happened during the daytime, not the middle of the night. When it happened there were helicopters hovering overhead, ensuring that any ranchers who were stranded were picked up.
I knew if I could hold onto the tree limb until morning that I’d soon hear the whirring of helicopter blades.
Every second felt like hours, not knowing if Leah was still okay.
I was terrified to close my eyes. I kept them glued to the water in case she came floating by and needed me. Though I knew if she came by in the water, she wouldn’t be alive.
I’d never been a praying man. At that moment, I prayed harder than I’d ever prayed in my entire life.
I wasn't even sure if I did it right.
It didn't matter.
All that mattered was Leah’s safety.
I felt myself drifting off to sleep, and no matter how hard I tried to stay awake, I just couldn't.
Everything went blurry around me and eventually it all faded to black as exhaustion took over my
body.
I had no more fight left in me.
Chapter 20: Leah
The sound of whirring helicopter blades pounding through the air woke me.
I was halfway perched on a branch in the tree with most of my lower body still swaying in the frigid water.
I looked around, dazed, and saw the new roof of my house barely sticking up out of the water nearly a quarter of a mile away.
The rest of that distance now was brown water dotted with floating debris. I looked up, too exhausted and too heartbroken to even wave for help.
The helicopter circled overhead for almost twenty minutes, then I heard its blades grow louder as it descended closer. A voice shouted instructions down to me, but the words were just noise to my grief-stricken brain.
Everything was gone.
Everything that I wanted out here had been taken away by one bad storm.
My home, my ranch, and Mustang.
Mustang.
I couldn’t bear the thought of what must have happened to him. I closed my eyes and hoped I could slip away, carried off by the water like he was.
There’s no reason to hold on anymore.
I could just let go and it would all be over soon.
It would all be over soon.
Those words resonated in my head like a warning message, causing me to sit up and take a deep breath.
What kind of thought was that?
What would my father have given for just a little more time?
What did Mustang fight so hard for overseas if not to keep living?
He could’ve given up any minute of any day, and his pain would have been over. But he didn’t.
He fought, and so would I.
For him and for my dad.
Heavy tears blurred my vision, making it almost impossible to see. A harness, lowered on a cable from the helicopter, splashed down into the water near me.
I tried reaching for it with one arm. I was so weak from holding on through the night that as soon as I took one hand off the limb the rest of me started to slip below the surface. I quickly grabbed the limb with both hands in a panic.
I tried pointing one leg out toward the cable, hoping to bring the harness closer to me by catching it with my bare foot, but it was too far out of reach.
I crept down the limb towards the harness and tried again, scraping my legs on the churned-up fragments that the flood had washed up against the tree.
Finally, I realized what I had to do.
I had to let go with both hands.
There was no way to hang on to what I was holding and still move forward, a thought that made me close my eyes against the fresh tears that spilled down my cheeks.
I took a deep breath and released my hold on the tree. I grabbed the bright red harness, spearing it with one arm just as the moving river almost carried me past it. My arm jerked back with a tearing pain ripping through my shoulder as the harness went taut.
I rested for a moment, letting the current stretch out my body while I held on to the large harness, my arm linked through it and holding on with my free hand.
Soon, I gathered the last ounce of my strength and pulled myself against the force of the water, inch by inch, until I had both arms through the harness.
The last step was to push against the current and get my head and shoulders through the harness.
Five minutes later, I still struggled futilely in the water.
I couldn’t find leverage as I kicked in the water, with my feet not finding solid objects to push against.
I fought the urge to cry and give in. I forced myself to look hard within myself to find not only the strength that I needed to do this, but also the will.
To fight.
To live.
Doubt crept back into my mind as I looked around me, realizing that all I really had to do to end this was just let go.
I was so very tired and defeated.
My numb, frozen fingers began to lose their grip on the harness.
A loud splash nearby startled me, as did the pair of hands that grabbed me roughly by the wet, torn fabric of my shirt.
I turned in surprise and stared into Mustang’s face.
“Mustang?” I yelled, confused and disoriented.
“It’s me, baby. I’m right here,” he answered grimly in a voice that sounded far away, so far that I wasn’t sure I heard it so much as felt it.
“You’re alive?” I whispered, unable to stop the tears now as they flowed unchecked down my face.
Am I dreaming?
Could I already be dead?
“How did you get here?”
“There’s no time to talk, you have to hold on,” Mustang said. “Hold onto the harness.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can, and you will.”
“No, my hands are frozen. I can’t feel them. I’m too weak,” I argued.
“You can do it.”
“I tried, I really did.”
“I know you did, but you’re not done. Come on. Do it again. Do it for me, don’t let it end like this. You don’t have a choice here.”
I felt his touch on my arms and was shocked by how warm he felt against my icy skin.
He felt alive.
He was real, and he was here to save me.
I tried for him, just as he’d asked me to.
I nodded weakly.
“I can do it.”
“That’s my girl. Hold on tight. They’ll get you out of here.”
This time, feeling Mustang lift me up, I slid through the harness and got my arms through its opening.
Mustang waved a hand in the air to signal the helicopter pilot.
I was immediately lifted up by the cable out of the horrible water. Looking down, I saw Mustang in the water below me.
He was smiling at me.
One of those beautiful smiles that lit me up from the inside.
I would never forget it.
Chapter 21: Mustang
Seeing Leah being rescued was the greatest sight in the world.
I watched her as she was lifted into the helicopter, and a short while later, the harness came back down again.
Grabbing it, I slid my arms through the harness, secured the belt around my waist and soon I was being hoisted up into the air by the helicopter too.
Once in the helicopter, I began to shiver uncontrollably.
“Are you all right, sir?” the medic asked me as I sat down on the floor of the helicopter across from Leah, who was wrapped tightly in a warm blanket.
“Yes,” I said, my teeth chattering. “I’m fine.”
“Is there anyone else on the property, sir?”
“No, it’s just the two of us.”
The medic nodded and checked my vital signs. I patiently waited until he finished.
“Leah,” I said.
She tried to open her eyes and failed. She was too weak.
“Leah, it’s me. Can you open your eyes for me?”
She managed to open them this time.
“Hey, there you are,” I whispered with a smile as I touched her cheek.
Her hands were under the blanket, and I didn't want her to take them out. She needed to keep them warm.
“You’re alive,” she whispered, her beautiful eyes filling with tears.
“Of course, I am. It takes more than a little water to kill me,” I said with a smile. “You should know that I’m not going anywhere. Not unless you’re with me.”
“Where did you go?” she asked. “I was so scared when you fell.”
“Save your strength. We can talk later.”
“It’s not going to make a difference,” she muttered and looked me squarely in the eyes. “Where did you go when you went into the water?”
“I was pulled under by the branch, and my shirt got hung on it underwater. I was able to get free and swim to the surface.”
She nodded and started drifting off again.
I shot a look at the medic.
“Is it ok
ay if she sleeps? She’s not going to slip into a coma, is she?”
“No, sir. Her vitals are fine. She’s just exhausted,” the medic answered confidently. “So are you.”
“You’re right.”
“You’ve been through quite an ordeal.”
“Yes, we have, but we made it,” I answered and glanced down at her. “We’re okay.”
“We are?” she muttered drowsily with an effort.
“We’re okay,” I repeated and watched as she closed her eyes in relief. “We’ll always be okay from now on.”
“I love you, Mustang,” she whispered.
I smiled and brushed a strand of wet hair off her face.
“I love you too,” I whispered in return, not sure whether she heard me. “Go to sleep. I won’t leave you.”
“Promise?” she whispered again.
“I swear.”
I looked out the side of the helicopter at the darkness around us, the rain still falling heavily. The house was underwater with only a tiny part of the new roof sticking out. The barn had probably been completely washed away.
Thank God the horses weren’t inside and most likely ran to higher ground before the storm hit. They had survived for years running loose around the ranch and I wasn’t worried.
Everything could be replaced and fixed.
The most important thing to me on the ranch was lying next to me in the helicopter.
Leah.
I’ll never let her down again.
Chapter 22: Leah
When I awoke, I was warm and dry, wrapped in a soft blanket.
A beeping sound nearby came from a small array of machines that kept track of my vital signs. I opened my eyes to the sterile whiteness of a hospital room. My body ached with every breath. I cringed when I tried to turn my head to watch a woman in hospital scrubs record my information on a clipboard.
She glanced at me over her shoulder and smiled.
“You’re awake.”
“Where am I?” I asked, my voice a hoarse whisper that burned its way out of my throat.
“You’re in Paxton Memorial Hospital,” the nurse asked brightly, coming over to check my IV line. “How do you feel?”