Page 47 of What Remains

“Listen,”Driver said, cupping his hands around a mug of steaming broth, “I gotta ask about something that’s been on my mind since the hot spring.”

“Yeah?” They were done for the day, and John was doing what he normally did: slowly defrosting in front of their tent heater. If at all possible, he would’ve hugged the thing. By day’s end, he was always stunned a little stupid from cold and fatigue not to mention high altitude hiking with a heavy pack. The tent would never be cozy, but thanks to their military-grade portable heater, they wouldn’t freeze either. Driver figured they had enough fuel for a full week of travel before they ran dry. He hadn’t said what they’d do if, after a week, they stillneededa heater, but details.

“What’s on your mind?” But his mouth was still numb and so this came out as gobbledygook:Washunermine?

“Same thing you asked when you first saw me. You hit that water, man. I saw you go under.” Driver blew steam from his mug and sipped. “So, how come you’re not dead?”

“Lush.”Luck

“Got to be more than just that.”

“Reflex.”Reflush.

“What do you mean?” When he didn’t reply, Driver said, “Hey, don’t just stare at your mug. The sooner you get something hot in your stomach, the better you’ll feel. We also might have a mutually intelligible conversation.”

Sound medical advice.But when he tried raising his mug, his hands shook so hard that liquid sloshed over the rim. He couldn’t even work up the energy to curse.

“Hey, it’s okay. It happens. Here.” Driver slid a hand under the mug to hold it steady. “Take it slow. A sip at a time.”

He did, and as the liquid traced a warm finger down the center of his chest, the tension bleed from his shoulders and his shuddering eased.

“Better?” Without waiting for a reply, Driver refilled John’s mug with more broth. “Keep drinking. Plenty more where that came from.”

He was on his third mug when Driver said, “Okay, no more room service. Now tell me how come you’re alive.”

“I told you. Reflex,” he said, his tongue now cooperating at producing recognizable words. “When water hits the back of your throat, your windpipe snaps shut. It happens all the time when you swallow, right? You can’t both swallow and breathe at the same time. So that reflex is doubly strong when water is cold.”

“You mean all those people who fall through thin ice into a lake actually suffocate instead of drowning?”

“A fair number. Most adults can’t be resuscitated. Some can, though, mostly because in very cold water, your metabolism slows way down, and blood is shunted to your brain and heart. The reflex is really strong in children. That’s why we always went all out for any kid who’d fallen through the ice and brought in clinically dead.”

“Hunh. Well, that explains why CPR worked for you.” Driver let a beat pass. “Seeing as how you’re a kid.”

“Oh, ha-ha.”

“What do you actually remember?”

Roni’s face as I fell into that whirlpool.“Hitting the water. The cold.” He let a beat slip. “Figuring I was a dead man.”

“But then you weren’t.”

“But then I wasn’t. Next thing I know, I’m in the ICU at Ramstein, connected to a ventilator and more IV lines than can possibly be good for a person. Dunno how I got there.”

“Flowers.” At his look of surprise, Driver continued, “Mac told me. He ordered everyone to clear out, but he and Flowers waited. Then, maybe thirty, forty minutes after everyone else is gone, you wash out on a big wave and Flowers CPR’ed your ass.”

“Why did Mac wait?” Then he remembered Driver frantically shouting into his Harris. “He heard you?”

Driver nodded. “I don’t know why I didn’t get his reply. Then, when neither Roni nor I appeared, Mac decided you were the only survivor and left. Drove like a bat out of hell. You stopped breathing a couple times before the medical transport Mac called for met them halfway. The chopper had a couple PJs onboard.”

“Hunh.” The American Air Force’s pararescue personnel were normally used in special operations. Given that Mac organized off-the-books missions, however, having the PJs along for the ride made sense. “Helps to know people in high places, I guess.”

“Yup. Mac said the PJs shocked your heart twice before they got back to Kabul.”

“Well, that would explain why I woke up thinking I’d been kicked in the chest by a pissed-off horse. No one at Ramstein would give me a straight story.”

“It’s possible they didn’t know. Remember, Mac is a spook.”

Present tense.Meaning Driver was still in touch? “Doyouknow what happened? Why the wall collapsed?”

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