Page 87 of The Secrets We Left Behind
Sand. They were walking on sand!
Cate’s mouth was dry; she would have done anything for a drink of water or to be able to sink to her knees and just breathe, but they had no idea whether they were too late, whether they could have only minutes before the boat left without them, if it was even still there at all.
“Stop,” Jack grunted, collapsing between them.
“No!” Cate gasped. “No! Get up!” She yanked at Jack’s arm but he was a deadweight. “Jack, get up!”
Elise dropped beside him, and Cate stared down in horror, her eyes adjusted to the dark now. She could make out both their shapes, and as much as her body ached and yearned to fall beside them, she wasn’t giving in, not for a second.
“We’re so close, come on,” she pleaded. “Jack, you need to find the strength. Get up!”
But Jack wasn’t moving, and he certainly wasn’t talking. All she could hear was the labored sound of his breath.
“Jack?”
Elise turned on her flashlight, and Cate’s heart dropped when she saw his face. His lips were parted and he was wheezing now, the sheen on his face giving him a strange pallor; even his eyes looked sunken, like someone close to death. He was much, much worse than she’d feared.
“Jack, you can do this,” she whispered, but she knew there was no way he was moving of his own accord.
“We’re going to have to carry him,” she said, staring at Jack’s body and wondering if it were even possible. “There’s no other way.”
“I know,” Elise said, turning off her flashlight. “But even if we have to drag him, we have to try.”
With the light off, it seemed even darker, and Cate had to fumble to take hold of Jack’s legs. Every moan that escaped Jack’s lips sent a sharp pain through her, but the only thing worse than his pain would be being left behind, and Cate wasn’t going to let that happen.
“Down! Get down!”
Elise’s command pierced her as she let go of Jack and fell to the ground, stumbling and then landing heavily on her side.
There’s someone here.Cate’s face was in the ground and she blinked away the sand that clung to her lashes and caked her lips.It’s over. We’ve come so far, and it’s all over.
She heard a whimper, before realizing it had escaped her own mouth.
“Who’s there?”
The call cut straight through her, but not for the reason she’d expected. They were British.They’re British!
Cate didn’t wait. She clawed at the ground as she launched forward, tripping as she rose and lifted her hands as a light cast over her face, blinding her. She squinted, shielding her eyes with one hand as she kept the other high in the air, not wanting there to be any mistaking who she was. That she was friendly.
“My name is Cate Alexander and I’m a British nurse.” She tried to speak confidently but her voice was barely there. “I’m a nurse,” she whispered, before dropping to her knees, the weight of everything, the pain of everything, felling her.
“Cate, I’m Oliver,” one of the men said, rushing forward and clasping her elbows, drawing her back up to her feet.
“There’s more!” the other man said, and she spun around as the flashlight illuminated Elise, on her knees, hands in the air, and Jack’s unconscious body lying in the sand.
“Please, help us,” Cate whispered. “We need to get him on the boat.Please.”
The two men lifted Jack between them, far more easily than she and Elise could have done, and she hurried to his side, keeping up with them with a hand on his body as they lugged him across the sand.
“The boat’s here, we thought you weren’t coming,” said Oliver, the familiarity of his accent taking Cate home, washing over her and making her believe she was actually going to see England again, that it wasn’t just a dream. “You only just made it in time. Ten more minutes and we would have left without you.”
“Elise?” Cate turned and saw that Elise was trailing behind.
“I’m here,” Elise said, but it was so dark that Cate could barely see her.
The gentle wash of water told Cate they were close to the ocean now, but there were no flashlights, so it wasn’t until the cold, wet sea lapped at her ankles that she knew it was real. And then lights flashed, three times in fast succession.
“That’s our sign,” one of the men said.
