Page 70 of Kept

She drops her shoulder.

And she shoves Rizzuto using every ounce of toned muscle and adrenaline in her body.

I run for them as the shock runs over Rizutto.

I see the moment he realizes.

I see the moment they both tumble over the edge.

She’s out of reach by the time I get there. Rizutto tumbles below her, his greater mass increasing his velocity. The door breaks down. I realize there is a pool three floors below this one. I sprint for the door.

“Pool! Three floors down, now!”

I take the stairs three at a time with Alessandro right behind me and bust out onto the pool deck. People are screaming, running. The pool is tinted with blood.

And then I see Martinez pulling Sarah’s limp body from the pool. I rip the tape off her mouth. She’s not breathing.

I start CPR.

Alessandro prays.

Martinez calls 911.

Then, for the first time in my adult life, I pray. On my knees, begging for her life.

Sarah coughs. Mouthful after mouthful of water. I roll her over to make it easier.

“Kitten? Kitten?” I shake her shoulders.

She groans. With a hoarse voice she croaks, “Now I know why kittens don’t like water.”

CHAPTER 38

Sarah

Let the record reflect, jumping off a building is a terrible way to die. You really do think about it all the way down. In my case, I thought about being loved, and loving back. So if you’re going to die, that’s a pretty good way to do it.

Let the record further reflect that getting CPR hurts like a son of a bitch. Worth it, don’t get me wrong. But seriously, ouch.

There is a knock at the glass door to my room before it slides open. I’ve named it the nurse knock. It’s like ‘tap, tap while I open the door because I’m coming in regardless.’

“Hi, Becky,” I greet. It’s been a week, and I now know the unit nurses by name. And the techs. And the phlebotomists, radiologists, and housekeepers.

“Hello, Miss Williams,” she says pleasantly. I cannot get her to call me Sarah.

“Can I PLEEEEAAAASSSSSEEEE go home today?” I beg, giving her my best puppy eyes.

I hear a chuckle and look over at Vincent. When I first woke up, I found him sleeping on the hospital futon next to my bed, his huge frame hanging off it. Apparently, when Vincent woke up, he found Robert sleeping on the floor next to my bed.

So Vincent made them bring in a second hospital bed for Robert. I’m also almost positive I’ve stayed a few days longer than normal just because Vincent made them keep me.

“Don’t laugh at me! I’m all better. X-rays, respiratory therapy, physical therapy, some other kinda therapy, even a psych evaluation because someone told them I jumped off a building.”

“Hey, I never said you were suicidal.” Vincent smiles. It’s nice to see the smile. He’s been kinda off recently. Pensive. Then again, if I were sleeping on a vinyl hospital futon for days on end, I’d be a little cranky too.

“It’s true, it’s just hospital policy.” Becky shrugs.

Everyone is impressed I’m alive. I’m shocked as shit myself. Apparently, as the doctor explained it, the best guess is that Rizutto hit the water first and broke the surface tension before I did. Unfortunately for him, he also landed headfirst and broke his neck.

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