by Anna Blakely
“No,” she pulled back on his hands. “I mean I can’t. My foot’s stuck.” They both looked down to the floorboard near the center of the car. “I was thrown forward when we hit the water. My foot got jammed up in there. I can’t get out.”
Nate wanted to howl with frustration, mentally cursing the fact that they faced yet another road block in getting her to safety.
Pushing it back, he made his way fully into the car and forced himself to sound calm.
“Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to go under and get your foot unstuck.” He glanced back at the open window’s edge. The water only a few centimeters away now. “In the meantime, if you see the water is going to get above your head before I’m back up, I want you to take the deepest breath you can and hold it. Just like that day at the cliff.”
“Nate, please. Just go.” Her bottom lip quivered and a tear fell down her cheek. “There’s no reason for us both to die today.”
“Gracie, listen to me. No one else is dying today, you hear me? You can do this.”
Nate leaned up and kissed her one more time before dipping his head beneath the water. He saw where her left foot was trapped, but try as he might, he couldn’t get her loose.
Unwilling to give up, he continued his attempts to work her free until he saw black dots flashing before his eyes. Knowing he’d be no use to her if he passed out, Nate shot back up for another quick breath.
Terror gripped him when he realized the water was about to come into the car from the window. Once that started, it would only take a few seconds before the entire car became completely submerged.
“Nate!” Gracie shouted his name. Her fear was palpable as she looked at him with wide, panicked eyes.
Water poured in through the driver’s window. Because Nate was free to move about, he was able to get his head up next to the car’s ceiling. With Gracie being stuck, hers was at the same level as the seat’s headrest.
Gracie tilted her head as far back as she could, but it made very little difference. The water was already hitting the bottom of her chin.
“Take a deep breath!” he ordered from above her, his eyes fixated on the rapidly rising water.
“I don’t know if I can!” Tears fell from her eyes. “I feel so weak.”
“Goddamn it, Gracelynn, just do it!”
“I love you, Nate!”
His eyes flew to hers as she inhaled deeply then closed her eyes and mouth.
“Gracie!” he shouted back. “I love you, too!”
But water was already above her head. She hadn’t heard his precious words.
They were words he swore he’d never say to any woman, his mother the only exception. Now, as the interior of the car became flooded and they began to sink at a much faster rate, Nate found himself praying for the chance to say them to her again.
Ignoring the yelling coming from outside the car, Nate filled his lungs, and went back to work trying to pull the plastic panel trapping her foot free.
It moved an inch or two, but Nate lost his grip on the damn thing when the car jolted, coming to a rest on the lake’s shallow bottom.
He started to pull again when he felt something tapping him on his shoulder. Looking up, Nate realized Gracie was waving her arms through the water, trying to get his attention.
Not really having the time to do so, he pushed himself up closer in order to see her face more clearly. The love in her eyes both filled his heart and shattered it, all at the same time.
She shook her head back and forth. Her hair swirling around her face, but he could still make out what she was trying to tell him.
Silently, through dark water, he read Gracie’s lips.
I’m sorry.
Panic filled Nate to his core. Before he could think of a way to respond, she took his face into her hands and mouthed the words, I love you.
And there, surrounded by water, Gracie pressed her lips to his and kissed him goodbye.
For a fraction of a second, Nate kissed her back before pushing her away and furiously shaking his head.
Praying she could see what he was trying to tell her, Nate mouthed back, I’m not leaving you!
Please. Her eyes begged him to go. To save himself.
Didn’t she know? If he lost her now, he may as well be dead, too. Well, fuck that. Their story wasn’t ending today. Not like this.
With his finger, Nate told her to hold on a little longer. He raced back down to where she was stuck and tried again. He was still pulling when a second set of hands came into view.
Startled, he looked through the water to his left, grateful to see Gabe at his side.
Nate swallowed against the need to breathe—a trick he learned in the Navy. It fooled your brain into thinking you were able to breathe and could buy him an extra twenty, thirty seconds underwater. He needed those extra seconds, now.
Both men pulled as hard as they could. They repeated their efforts a second time. Finally, blessedly, on their third try, the plastic snapped and Gracie’s foot floated free.
Through the dark, murky water Gabe used his hands to let him know he was going out first and would help him pull Gracie from the car. Nate understood and nodded in agreement.
Once Gabe was out of the way, Nate made his way back up to Gracie. A feeling of profound relief hit when he saw Gabe reaching beneath her arms to pull her out of the driver’s window.
That relief was replaced with devastation when Nate realized her head had slumped forward and her arms were floating motionless at her sides.
Chapter 19
Refusing to believe she was already gone, Nate pushed against Gracie’s hips and legs to help Gabe get her out faster. Kicking as hard as he could, his thigh muscles burned as they made their way through the cool water.
Nate’s lungs felt as though they were on fire as they screamed for some much-needed oxygen. His vision blurred and darkened around the edges just as his head broke through the surface. He opened his mouth wide and gasped, filling his lungs over and over again.
Struggling to catch his breath, Nate helped Gabe swim an unconscious Gracie to the nearest shoreline. It was only a few feet away, but felt like the length of twelve football fields as the two men fought to get her there.
Having arrived in the second Jeep with Fletch, Zade yelled something at him as they made their way down to the rocky bank.
Nate didn’t listen. His entire focus was on getting Gracie to shore.
Gabe reached the rocks first. Nate held on to Gracie while the other man got out of the water and secured his footing. As soon as he was steady, he grabbed beneath her arms and slid her back with him.
Laying her down onto a large, flat rock, a dripping Gabe stepped back as Nate climbed up onto the rock and made his way beside her.
He fell to his knees and followed his training, laying his head onto her chest even though he already knew she wasn’t breathing.
Raising back up, he pressed two fingers to the side of her neck. A feeling of despair washed over him when he didn’t find a pulse.
“Ah, God.”
With his fingers beneath her chin, he tilted her head back to open her airway and made a tight seal with his lips and hers. Blowing two, strong breaths, Nate then crossed his palms over each other in the proper area of her chest and locked his elbows.
He began the compressions.
Remembering to push to the beat of the song he’d been taught during his initial military training, Nate kept his pace at one hundred beats per minute, counting to thirty as he went.
Don’t leave me, baby. Please don’t leave me.
Those same thoughts repeated themselves over and over in his head as he got to thirty, stopped to give two more breaths, and started the chest compressions again.
“She won’t,” Ghost assured him from somewhere to his right. “You got this, buddy.”
Shit. Nate hadn’t meant to say the words aloud. Not that he gave a rat’s ass.
“Come on!” Nate growled, the muscles in his arms burning.<
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The pain in his injured shoulder worsened with each compression, but he didn’t stop. He wouldn’t stop.
Another thirty in, he filled her lungs again and went right back to pumping her heart.
“Come on, sweetheart,” he pleaded. “Don’t give up on me now.”
He’d made it to fifteen compressions during the fourth round when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Nate, man.” It was Matt. “I-I think she’s gone.”
“No!” Nate shook him off and continued pressing. “Gracie can hold her breath for a really long time. She showed me when we were at the lake together. She’s going to be fine.”
His words were strong, but the weight on his heart was crushing. He continued fighting for her, refusing to accept what he already knew.
“Goddamn, Gracie!” he yelled as he finished that cycle. “Breathe! You will not leave me today, you hear me? You have to breathe, baby. Fucking breathe!”
Two more breaths, thirty more compressions.
“She was put through hell, Nate,” Zade tried to reason with him. “She looks really worn down.”
“Shut the fuck up!” Nate yelled at his teammate.
“Come on, Carter,” Gabe grabbed his bicep. “At least let me take over for a bit.”
Nate threw the other man’s hand off. “No one else is touching her.”
Beads of water and sweat dripped from his hair and the tip of his nose as he kept pushing against her chest. It would take a team of wild horses—or every man here—to pull him away from her now.
He’d keep pumping her heart until it either started again or his own heart stopped. Nate ignored the statistical numbers running through his head telling him if she didn’t have a pulse by now, chances were, she’d never have one again.
Giving in to the visceral need to feel the life flowing through her body once more, Nate stopped the compressions. He reached up, pushing the pads of his shaking fingers to the delicate skin covering her carotid.
His shoulders fell, his soul dying a little more with each second that passed.
“I’m sorry, brother,” Ghost spoke solemnly from beside him. “You did all you could. Her body just couldn’t hold out.”
“Wait!” Nate’s own pulse spiked. “I think I feel something.”
Praying his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him, Nate pressed against her neck with a little more force and waited. He felt it, then.
A slight, rhythmic thump.
“She has a pulse!” He announced loudly, blinking back tears. “It’s faint, but it’s there. I can feel it.”
Whoops and hollers surrounded him, but they’d only won half the battle. Her heart was beating again—thank you, God!—but, she still wasn’t breathing.
Tilting her head back again, Nate pressed his lips to hers and began breathing life back into her.
It took several tries, but eventually, the function in her starved lungs returned. Gracie coughed and sputtered, Nate turning her head to the side so the water she’d inhaled could be expelled.
“That’s it, baby.” He almost cried with relief. “Let it all out.”
“I’ll be damned,” Matt exclaimed. “You did it, man. You fucking did it.”
Several other at-a-boys were spoken and Nate received a few pats on the back, but his concern for Gracie wasn’t over.
She’d been without a pulse for a while, and her brain had been deprived of precious oxygen for several minutes. She was breathing on her own again, but her eyes remained closed and her only response to his voice was a mumble and slight squeeze of his hand.
“You’re going to be okay, Gracie. You hear me? I’m here, and you’re going to be okay.”
“The rest of my guys are en route via chopper,” Ghost told him. “I contacted them the minute the car went under. They’ll take Gracie and your team to a jet that will be waiting at a private air strip not far from here. There will be medical equipment on board, and with Matt’s background, he’ll be able to monitor her until you’re back home. McQueen’s already made arrangements for Gracie to be transported to Homeland’s private medical facility after you land in Texas.”
“What about Rasat and Barry?”
“Let me worry about them.”
Nate was taken aback by it all. Not only had Ghost, Fletch, and Coach helped with getting Gracie back, they’d clearly been busy while he’d been working to keep Gracie with them.
In addition to that, Ghost’s other men—men Nate had never even met before—were dropping everything to help get her back home.
He was damn near speechless, which was saying a lot for him.
“I-I don’t know what to say.” Nate looked up at the Delta leader. “Thank you.”
Ghost grinned. “You can thank us by taking good care of your girl.”
And that’s exactly what he did.
Before long, three more members of Ghost’s Delta Team—their nicknames Beatle, Truck, and Hollywood—arrived with the chopper. They landed it in a large, open area just on the other side of the bridge.
Handing an unconscious Gracelynn off to Gabe, Nate climbed up into the bird then helped Gabe load her onto the pallet of blankets Ghost’s men had made for her. Gabe, Matt, and Zade all piled in behind them. After making rushed introductions to Ghost’s guys, the chopper took off.
Feeling like he could breathe for the first time in days, Nate sat on the floor next to Gracie. Gabe, and Zade each took one of the small cargo seats while Matt remained on the chopper’s floor opposite him.
The former corpsman gave her a shot of antibiotics to fight off possible infection from the lake’s murky water. Then, using the other supplies Ghost’s team had provided, Matt began cleaning and dressing the bullet wound he’d found on her arm.
Once again, Nate was beyond grateful for Ghost and his men. They’d stepped up in a huge way, and he knew he’d never forget everything they’d done to help.
Nate’s own men remained quiet, but Nate was fully aware each one was there for him. No matter what happened.
They were his team. His family. His brothers.
Glancing down at Gracie, Nate used a finger to gently wipe away the damp strands of hair that were sticking to her beautiful face. Unable to keep from it, he leaned in and kissed her softly before settling himself back down onto the metal floor.
With her hand in his, Nate stayed like that the entire way to the airport. He absentmindedly rubbed the gold band still on her left hand as he kept vigil over her. Though it wasn’t a real symbol of their love, he couldn’t bring himself to remove it.
For the first time since finding her, Nate allowed himself to really look at her. His eyes swept over her body, taking in every injury he could see.
Fierce outrage raced through his system as he studied her bruised and battered face. He cringed, his teeth grinding together when he noticed the raw, torn skin on her wrists.
Back at Yavuz’ farmhouse, he and Matt had realized something was off and finally busted into the room where she’d been held. His teammate had stopped him from tearing the place apart when he saw the metal cuffs and chains attached to the bed’s headboard.
The bastards had kept her bound, but she’d fought hard to try break free.
His eyes rested on the rise and fall of her chest. Nate found he was terrified to look away for fear she’d stopped breathing again.
Squatted across from him, Matt assured Nate, “She’ll make it, brother. You got her out and got her breathing.”
He tore his eyes from her and looked up at his friend. “I almost didn’t.”
“But you did. And she’s strong. A fighter.” Matt looked down at Gracie’s unmoving form. “Wouldn’t have made it this far if she wasn’t.”
From their seats, both Gabe and Zade muttered words of agreement, and Nate realized they were right.
Glancing back down at the woman he never wanted to live without, he reflected on the strength and wit it had taken for her to stay in hiding after her apartment had been broken into.
There was no doubt Gracelynn McDaniels was a fighter. More fierce and brave than any woman he’d ever known.
She’d kept it together, even when she believed there was no way out of that sinking car. Had looked at him with calm, clear eyes when she’d kissed him goodbye, begging him to save himself.
Tears welled in his eyes and his nose began to burn, but Nate pushed it all back. He had to remain strong. For Gracie’s sake.
Between the short trip on the chopper, a fourteen-hour flight into Dallas, and then getting Gracie from that airport to Homeland’s medical center, the last few hours had passed by in a blur.
And Nate never left her side. Until now.
The doctors and nurses assigned to Gracie had been waiting at the doors for them. Before letting her go, Nate had given her a kiss on her forehead, whispering his promise to be back with her as soon as he could.
That seemed like forever ago.
Logically, he knew there were several tests that had to be completed before he’d be allowed to see her again. The emotional side of him wanted to scream with the need to be with her. To touch her.
“She’s gonna be okay.”
Nate turned to find Gabe standing next to him. He was holding out a paper cup, steam escaping through the plastic lid’s tiny opening.
The other man gave him a half-smile. “Thought you could use some coffee.”
“Thanks.” Nate took the cup.
The heat against his palm had a bit of a bite, but he welcomed it. That pain meant he was alive. And so, by some miracle, was Gracie.
“You did good, Carter. You never gave up.”
Nate took a sip, the bitter liquid nearly burning his lips.
Swallowing, he shook his head. “I thought I’d lost her, Gabe. Hell, I did lose her.”
“But you got her back. You followed your training, listened to your instincts, and stuck with her even when the rest of us probably would have given up. Gracie’s alive because of you, Nate. You should be proud of yourself. I know I am.”
Any other time, Nate would have jumped at the chance to give Kole a hard time about their team leader bragging on him. Today, he just wanted to be able to look his friend in the eye and tell him Gracie was going to be okay.