Page 113 of The Life We Almost Had

I watch in horror as the yacht begins to sink.

This is it.

I throw myself forwards, not caring that I might drown trying to reach him. Not wanting to live without him. Hands are on me once more, but not the girl’s.

Oliver’s.

He has brought me back and over my own choking sobs I hear it. The continuous beep.

Adam is flatlining.

Chapter Seventy-Five

Adam

For the second time there’s a blow to my skull. The taste of blood in my mouth. Colours bright and dull. Light and dark. A kaleidoscope of pain.

Water, in my mouth and eyes.

Water, in my nose and ears.

My arms and legs flail. I’m sinking deeper and deeper. Dizzy. Disorientated. My lungs burn, chest feels tight.

The water turns from blue to grey to almost black. I’m spinning. Twisting in the sea. Everything feeling like it’s about to explode. My skull. My rib cage. Body burning.

Anna.

It is the thought of her that prevents me fighting for air. Stops my legs kicking their way to the surface.

I’m sinking. Heavy. A mass of pain and fear but not regret. Not this time.

If you love someone, set them free.

I’m heavy and weightless and here but not.

Anna.

Drifting. Drifting. My arms and legs are splayed.

A feeling of calm washes over me.

Anna begins to fade away.

And then I feel nothing at all.

Chapter Seventy-Six

Anna

We are yanked out of the scanner with force. Sofia pulls me from the table so Oliver can reach Adam. Blood is streaming down my face. My head is splitting, the continuous screech of the machine screaming what I already know.

Adam has gone.

Anxiety grips me tightly. I watch Oliver shake Adam by the shoulders. ‘Adam, Adam, can you hear me?’ But of course Adam doesn’t answer.

He can’t.

Oliver is going through the motions like he’s performed this a hundred times but the pallor of his face, his hesitation, tells me he hasn’t. Oliver gives a cursory check of Adam’s airway while Luis cuts open Adam’s T-shirt and begins chest compressions. Sofia runs to the trolley and picks up two paddles that look like irons and passes them to Luis.

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