Page 40 of Hold Your Breath
Wilt, obviously not getting her reference, blinked quizzically. Turning back toward the reservoir, Lou focused on getting the two men to safety. Callum had boosted the victim onto the ice and was holding him in a bear hug from behind. The ice was cracking and sagging beneath their combined weight, threatening to drop both of them back into the frigid water. With Derek’s regular command of “Pull!” they hauled on the rope, dragging the two men across the ice until it held solid beneath them.
The ambulance had arrived, but the EMTs had wisely left the vehicle on top of the slick slope and made their way to the shore on foot. As they helped Callum wrap warmed blankets around the victim and buckle him into a Stokes basket, Derek hooked a rope around Wilt. Confused for a moment, Lou realized with a flash of guilt that she’d completely forgotten about the dog.
Looking at the original hole in the ice, she didn’t see anything except water, and her stomach clenched. She joined Derek on the rope as Wilt headed out on the ice. Lou strained her eyes, trying to get a glimpse of the dog in the harsh light and shadows created by the truck’s headlights. Her breath caught when she thought she saw a muzzle poking out of the water.
It was torture, watching Wilt make his cautious way across the untrustworthy ice. Although she wanted to scream at him to hurry, she knew it would only delay the rescue if Wilt were to unintentionally go into the water too far from the dog. The ice must have been threatening to crack beneath his feet, because he started crawling and then slid to his belly after moving just a few feet farther.
When he finally reached the opening where the dog had fallen through, Lou realized she was muttering, “Oh please, oh please,” under her breath. Wilt swung his feet around and dropped into the hole. He reached beneath the water, feeling around for what seemed like ages, and finally hauled the dog to the surface, propping its front half against the ice so he could secure the harness around its middle.
She was so caught up in the drama of the rescue, Derek had to shout, “Pull!” before Wilt’s gesture registered.
“Sorry!” she yelped, before yanking hard on the line. Even with them down one person on the rope, it was easier this time. Wilt’s dry suit slid easily over the ice, and, although the dog was fairly large, it still weighed considerably less than its owner. As they drew closer, Lou could see the dog’s wet fur was already beginning to whiten as the water froze, and her throat clenched at the stillness of the furry body.
“I should’ve driven faster,” she whispered, thinking of all the places she’d hesitated instead of speeding up. If they’d gotten there just a little earlier, maybe the owner wouldn’t have tried his own rescue, and Callum could’ve gotten the dog out right away. Gritting her teeth, she gave a final haul on the rope that brought Wilt and the dog to the shore.
Callum hurried toward them with a second Stokes basket and several warmed blankets. The dog’s owner was gone, and Lou realized that the EMTs and Callum must have hauled him up the icy slope to the ambulance while she’d been focused on the second rescue. Dropping the rope, she rushed over to where Callum was taking the dog from Wilt. She hovered over them, feeling desperately unhelpful as she watched Callum and Derek wrap blankets around the too-still animal.
“Is he okay?” she asked, crouching down fairly close but out of the way of the rescuers. Although she didn’t want to distract them, she couldn’t take another second of not knowing if the dog would live.
“Heartbeat is faint, but present,” Callum responded, helping to lift the swaddled dog onto the stretcher. “Respiration slow and shallow. I can’t take his blood pressure. Our equipment doesn’t fit.”
“Are they going to take him in the ambulance?” she asked.
He nodded. “It’s going to take too long to get either of our vehicles up the hill. Dispatch has the Connor Springs emergency vet on call heading to the hospital. She’ll meet the ambulance there.”
“Good.” Her smile was shaky. “Think they’re going to be okay?”
His gaze was steady, so confident and trustworthy that she knew she would believe anything he said at that moment with all her heart.
“Yeah. I do.”
* * *
Callum and Wilt were stripping out of their dry suits, the ambulance having headed toward the hospital in Connor Springs, when the County road-maintenance truck they’d asked dispatch to request arrived to coat the icy reservoir road with sand and salt. After that, Callum’s pickup made it to the top of the hill in one try, although the dive van took two.
Trying to control her shivering, Lou waved at Wilt and Derek as they pulled away in the dive van. She headed toward the driver’s door of the pickup, only to stop short before she ran into Callum, who was headed toward the same destination. Relieved, she changed course to the passenger side. Now that the adrenaline was leaving her system, she was shaky and exhausted—so exhausted that she would probably fall asleep thirty seconds after sitting down. It was likely best if she didn’t drive.
“Aren’t you tired?” she asked through a yawn.
He glanced over at her. “Not too tired to drive. You can sleep if you like. I’ll be fine getting us home.”
It was a sign of her fatigue that Callum calling her cabin “home” didn’t send her into a state of panic. In fact, it warmed her insides.
“Thanks.” Now that sleeping was an option, she didn’t feel as tired. Blaming that on her contrary nature, she rested back against the seat, watching Callum’s profile. “That was crazy—in an amazing way. I mean, they both would havediedif we hadn’t been there. It’s hard to wrap my brain around that.”
“Yeah. It is amazing.” Callum turned his head to smile at her. “Best feeling in the world.” He looked happy—tired, but happy. It was just how she felt. Her eyes drifted shut as she relaxed against the seat, trusting Callum to get her home safely.
She must have dozed, because it felt like the trip back to her house took no time at all before Callum was backing in next to her truck.
“Sorry,” she apologized, sitting up with a jerk.
“Why?” He frowned at her as he turned off the engine. “I told you it was fine if you slept.”
“I don’t know.” Tilting her head to the side, Lou stretched her neck and yawned. “Just an automatic thing, I guess. Plus, I feel bad about making you drive us home while I snored, when you have to be just as tired as I am.”
“It was fine.” He got out of the cab and circled the truck to open her door.
She blinked, staring at him. After the long evening and her too-short nap, everything felt fuzzy and unreal. Callum opening her door as if they were on a date was just…strange. Shaking off the weirdness of the moment, she climbed out of her seat and thanked him.
