When the Smoke Clears

Chapter 6

The water was cold, and the current was alive; angry. Fortunately, so was Frank. He'd jumped into the river without hesitation the second he watched Karen go in and swam with the energy of a crazed man. His muscles burned. Each breath he took filled his throat with just as much water as it did air. The river seemed endless, but Frank didn't quit. He wouldn't let Karen slip away from him. Nothing would stop him, not the pelting rain nor icy current threatening to sweep him away. They only served to drive him harder, to swim, and swim...

Until finally, finally his hands found her.

Frank's stiff, aching fingers wrapped around Karen's arm and pulled her to him. He flipped her onto her back and did what he could to push wet hair from her face. Her head was bleeding. He didn't know if she was breathing, but he couldn't take time to look, not until they were out of the water. He prayed to whatever god, alien, or anyone else listening that Karen would be alright, that she would hang on, just a little longer. Then, he willed another surge of adrenaline to swim back to the river's edge.

He wasn't sure how long it took for his feet to find the silty slope of the bank. Something else had taken over during the desperate rescue, leaving Frank blissfully unaware of things like time and the screaming protest of his muscles until he laid Karen on the shore and collapsed onto his knees beside her. Only then did he feel it, the ache; the emptiness. The hollow feeling reverberated all the way to his core when he looked down at her pale face and purple lips.

"No. No, no..."

Frank pressed his ear to Karen's chest. Her heart was beating, but her chest was still. She wasn't breathing. Another wave of panic-born adrenaline coursed through him. In a moment, his lips were on hers, fingers pinching her nose as he breathed air into her lungs. He leaned back, kept her head tilted, waited; breathed again.

"Come on, Karen. Come on!" Tears welled in his eyes, and his entire body trembled. He couldn't lose her. He wouldn't.

Another breath.

"Come back to me," he pleaded. "Please."

Karen's body lurched. A cough sputtered out of her. Frank quickly turned her onto her side as water expelled itself from her mouth. She coughed and gasped violently, sucking ragged breaths into her lungs until some semblance of normal breathing returned to her body.

Frank's shoulders sank with relief. He gently rolled Karen onto her back and propped her up in his arms. Blood still trickled down her face from the cut on her head. A trail split loose and dropped onto her eyelid, prompting them both to flutter open. Her eyes rolled up to look at Frank, the blue of her irises especially bright against the paleness of her face. She looked half-awake, wrinkling her brow like she was confused. Frank held his breath, unsure of what to do; what to say. Then, her eyes closed, and her body went slack as she lost consciousness. He spent a moment just staring, waiting, but Karen remained asleep, breathing normally.

Feeling confident enough to move her, Frank slid his arms beneath Karen's slender figure and hauled himself to his feet. Holding her against him, he made his way up the riverbank and back to solid ground. He headed to the car as fast as his stiff legs would carry him, sticking to as many back areas as he could along the way. He was all too aware of the trouble still happening at the protest and the fact that the son of a bitch who did this to Karen could still be out there. He was also aware of the sound of approaching sirens. The last thing he needed was a run-in with the cops.

His thighs and knees quaked and his arms trembled from the continued effort, but Frank maintained a steady hold on Karen as he headed for the car. When he finally made it back, he laid her in the backseat as quickly and gently as he could. With nothing to cover her, Frank had no choice but to slide into the driver seat, start the car, and crank the heat. He peeled away from the lot and, as if on autopilot, started driving toward the only place he could think to go.