Everything & Nothing

don't let me drown - ii

|nathaniel reyes|

"did you hear that?" i stopped short in my tracks, looking at aamir who slowed down two steps later. the splash was unmistakable.

aamir's eyes widened in worry. "i did... what was it?"

"i don't know..."

i followed the harborwalk a little distance ahead to where i presumed the sound had come from. squinting into the dark waters of the charles river, i spied a large lump, slowly getting smaller as the ripples swallowed it. and then, something that looked disturbingly like an arm jutted up before going back in again. without a second thought, i unzipped my jacket and took it off, crossing the chains to the edge.

"what are you doing?" my friend sounded positively panicked.

"i think someone fell in. turn on the flashlight and show me the way," i commanded, before diving into the water, while in the background aamir let out a string of curses.

inky blackness surrounded me, obscuring my vision. the river was bone-numbingly cold. i surfaced and was about to scream at aamir when suddenly, a patch of whiteness illuminated a space three feet away like a spotlight. in the middle of it, bobbed the last bit of mass before it too was sucked in. i inhaled deeply and went back in, swimming frantically towards the now humanoid-seeming lump. guided by the faint glow filtering into the waters from aamir's flashlight, i reached the person, wrapping my arms around them and paddling upwards with all my strength.

after a brief struggle, i finally got the person and himself to the surface. with one arm holding the body, i swam back towards the harborwalk while simultaneously fighting the river's slow but sure currents. it seemed like forever before I finally made it to land. at the stoned edge, aamir set aside his torch and took hold of the person, pulling them up and dragging them behind the chained boundary before returning for me. "dude! you nearly gave me a heart attack."

i grabbed aamir's outstretched arms and lugged myself onto the surface with his help. every ounce of energy felt drained from my body, my arms and legs ached from all the swimming with an extra load. hauling myself up, i staggered to the person i'd just saved. i turned the body on its back; it was a girl. i put a finger to her nose, discovering that she was not breathing, and my mind turned cold with fear. i frantically looked at aamir. "she's not breathing!"

"stay with her," aamir urged wildly. "i'll go get help."

just then, the girl coughed, sputtering water from her mouth. her hands reached up to cup her throat as the coughs intensified. i heard aamir's loud sigh of relief while my nerves calmed as well. she was alive. five seconds later, her eyelids fluttered open and she heaved in a deep breath.

"are you okay?" aamir asked her, concern evident in his voice. "what happened?"

in the dim and yellow light form the walk's lamppost, i watched her expression shift from surprised to confused, until finally it came to a rest on something akin to realization, but not quite. i couldn't help but ask a bit more urgently, "are you alright?"

"... yes," she finally replied, before another fit of coughing got to her again. the coughs subsided to heavy breathing. "i'm fine... thank you."

"you're lucky we were around," i told her, helping her to a sitting position.

before the girl could respond, aamir piped up, "hey! i know you..."

the girl's eyes widened to saucers. i thought I saw a slight bit of fear along with the astonishment. at that point, another realization made itself known; she was beautiful. even drenched bone deep, her features were soft and rounded, her skin was dark, her nose small, and her irises pale—though I couldn't tell for sure what color they were in the poor illumination.

"you're a drifter," aamir continued, "i've seen you at the haley house soup kitchen on dartmouth. zara... right?"

"zarina," the girl corrected softly. a breeze whispered by, making her shiver and wrap her arms around herself.

i registered the cold too, since the heat i'd worked up in the swim had faded and the chill of my sodden attire and the harsh weather finally bit into me. grabbing my jacket from where i'd tossed it earlier, i put it around zarina and said, "we should get you someplace warm." i stood up, holding out a hand to her. "come with us."

"i'm okay," she protested. "i've got someplace—"

"we just saved your life," aamir interrupted her, "and you still don't trust us? us drifters gotta stick together."

"i—"

"i bet we have better place than wherever you're staying," i added, trying for humor. frankly, i didn't want to leave her here like this. it felt wrong and I knew the same went for aamir; neither of us were the kind to leave someone—especially another drifter—soaking wet in the snow.

to my morality's alleviation, her initial doubt gave away a little to the ghost of a smile. "okay," she said, hesitantly taking my still outreaching hand and letting me pull her to her feet. "but, just for tonight..."

"fine."

the three of us began walking down the cobbled harborwalk. i noticed that she was still holding my hand.

i didn't pull away.