The Wrong Direction

Chapter Nineteen

Sienna

Chapter Nineteen

With the raging current hitting me at full force, I stopped trying to fight back.  It was no use.  I was going to drown.

Everything was so cold.  I couldn't see anything.  It made me upset to know that I wouldn't be able to see anything in my last few moments.  I always thought I'd die old and wrinkly in a nursing home.  Now I would never be able to be that stereotypical crazy lady with a cane who chased kids off of her lawn.  How could I miss out on that great experience?  Life is just not fair.

But as I continued to struggle beneath the freezing waters and think about how unfair life was, I felt a hand grab onto my shirt and pull me out of the river.  I would have screamed in surprise if I wasn't underwater.

I was gently placed on the grass next to the river, but I barely processed that information.  I was too busy trying to cough up all of the water that had seeped into my mouth.

"Sienna, are you all right?  Please tell me you're okay," someone rambled nervously.

As I continued to cough up water like my life depended on it, I glanced up to see Louis staring down at me.  He looked so upset and worried.

I wasn't able to respond, but I gave him a weak thumbs up instead.  That'd just have to do for now.

Louis sat with me as I rested for what seemed like forever, but was probably only fifteen minutes.  It didn't take much longer for my coughing to stop, but even after it did I didn't say a single word.  I just felt so weak, like even uttering a word would be too much for me.  Louis must have realized that, because he didn't pressure me once to get up and head back to camp.  I knew it would be me to decide when we left.

Watching the river roar by was relaxing, in a way.  After that ordeal, it really helped to calm down my nerves.  Some people might think the river would have the opposite effect on me after that incident, but I knew I'd be fine just sitting by it.  There was no need to be scared or permanently scarred by my scary experience.

Finally, I decided it would be a good idea to head back to camp.  The longer we stayed sitting here, the darker it would get and the harder it would be to find our way back to camp.  It might still be the middle of the afternoon, but I was so exhausted that I knew it'd take twice as long to get back.

"Louis, should we head back to camp now?"

Louis looked at me in surprise, as if it shocked him that I had spoken.  He didn't reply right away, but finally he shook his head in agreement.  "Yeah, that'd probably be a good idea.  Are you okay to walk back?"

"I should be fine," I replied as casually as I could manage.

Even though I felt so tired, I didn't want to sound weak.

I stiffly climbed to my feet and tried my best to wipe away the dirt that clung to my jeans.  But thanks to my soaked clothes, it only made it worse.

"We need to get you back to camp as soon as possible," Louis said.  "You might get hypothermia or something."

Louis unzipped his red sweatshirt and handed it to me.  I would have protested, but I was absolutely freezing.  Something dry to wear would feel really nice.  I slipped my arms into the sweatshirt and zipped it up.

"Thanks," I said.

Louis nodded.  "Come on, let's get going."

We both started to walk towards the slope that led back to the main ground, where we had come from.  It looked like it would be really hard to climb.