“Luke! What the hell are you doing?” I screamed. But my words were lost in the blast of noise as the car hit the metal barrier with a deafening crack. I gripped the edges of my seat, watching with wide, frightened eyes as the protective side of the bridge just crumpled under the force of the crash, part of it splintering up and hitting the windscreen hard enough to shatter it. Small lumps of glass spattered across my lap, stinging my exposed skin. Everything seemed to happen too fast for me to comprehend. First the glass smashed, and then the car hurtled off of the side of the bridge, heading for the dark, watery depths that I knew were below.

Chapter 29

My stomach lurched up to my throat as we seemed suspended in the air for a second before we were plummeting down the thirty or so feet towards the river below. The sounds of Luke still gunning the engine were all I could hear as the car tipped forward slightly so I could see the water as it rushed up towards me. I couldn’t even scream. It felt like I was paralysed as every muscle in my body seemed to go stiff with fear. I watched in horror as the water got closer and closer, filling my vision in a swirling mass of light brown.

The front of the car broke the surface first. A loud crunch, a twisting of metal and a deafening roar of water filled my ears. My seatbelt pinned me back into my chair, seeming to cut off my breathing as pain exploded everywhere at once, so much pain that I couldn’t even distinguish where it hurt the most. From the corner of my eye I saw Luke’s body being thrown forward from the force of the crash. He put his arms up to protect himself, but it was no use, the momentum of falling and hitting the water made him defenceless. His head collided with the steering wheel, and his body went limp almost instantly.

That was when the brown, murky, icy cold water started gushing in through the windshield so fast that it made a loud roaring sound as it pooled around my legs, getting higher and higher with each passing second. It was so piercingly cold that it felt like I was being stabbed with a thousand tiny needles everywhere it touched. For a couple of seconds I didn’t know what to do. I just sat there, watching as death flowed in a relentless stream, filling the car quicker than I thought possible. I was numb. My brain just wouldn’t work; my mind was blank as the shock of what had happened took over. Luke had just driven us both off of the bridge because he couldn’t bear the thought of being without me.

As soon as my thoughts turned to Luke I seemed to wake up out of the trance I’d somehow slipped into. Whipping my head around I saw him slumped forward over the wheel. Water gushed down on the top of his head, plastering his hair to his face. I screamed, thrashing, trying to unbuckle my seatbelt, but it was stuck. I reached out and grabbed his shoulder, squeezing hard as the water reached my stomach.

“Luke! Are you okay? Luke?” I screamed, shaking him. He didn’t answer; his head just rolled lifelessly on his neck as blood tricked down the side of his face, diluted by the constant stream of water that flooded in.

The car was still moving, slower now as we sunk deeper under the water. Panic took over completely as I screamed and screamed for help, pulling Luke’s body towards me as the water started to rise up to my chest. I tilted his head back, praying he was just unconscious instead of dead. I fought desperately against my seatbelt, wriggling, trying to get free. The dark, murky water swirled around me, now up to my chin as I fumbled with my belt, fruitlessly pressing the release button over and over so I could get out and drag myself and Luke to safety.

“Help us!” I screamed hysterically. “Someone help us!” I couldn’t get my seatbelt loose, I was trapped, and Luke was no help at all. I shook him roughly, trying to wake him up. “Luke! Wake up, please wake up, please!”

The water rose higher, it seemed to be filling the car so quickly that it was almost impossible. The car was completely submerged now. I twisted in my seat, looking out the back window, seeing the daylight fading as we sank lower and lower into the river that seemed bottomless.

“Luke, wake up! We need to get out quickly!”

I had no idea what to do as my body was pinned into my seat. The water rose higher, so high that I had to tilt my head right back to keep my mouth above the surface. Luke’s body was floating lifelessly next to me, his arms weightless as his clothes billowed out around him. I whimpered as the water went into my mouth, and I knew that my air was fast running out. Pretty soon the water would rise so far that it would go over my mouth. I gulped in lungful’s of air, thumping my hand down on my seatbelt release, trying in vain to get it off, but it was no use.

A couple of drops of water trickled into my mouth, so I strained my neck, pushing up against the restraining belt as hard as I could. I screamed for help again, choking as water flooded my mouth. I whimpered and took one last deep breath just as the water rose over my lips. Panic surged over me now that I was submerged and trapped. I straightened my arm, keeping Luke on the surface of the water for as long as possible in case help came, but the water was almost touching the roof now, so I knew he would be out of time too.

Almost instantly the icy cold made my whole body ache as my arms and legs took on a weightless sensation. The only thing keeping me in place was the strip of nylon that was designed to save my life but was actually now sentencing me to death. I squinted through the dirty water, looking around frantically for anything that could help me get free.

My lungs were hurting. I needed to breathe. My body seemed to react immediately and without my conscious permission. I sucked in a breath, immediately choking as water flowed in. Swallowing, I clamped my lips together as my panicked tears mingled with the cold river water. I was going to die. The water was everywhere, there was no escape. This was it. Seconds passed, maybe minutes, I had no idea of time, no awareness of anything other than the fact that I was surrounded by freezing cold and that the light was slowly fading around me where we continued to sink.

Help us, please help us! I screamed the words over and over in my head, but no help came.

I had to breathe again. I couldn’t hold it anymore; I had no other choice as my lungs actually ached from the lack of oxygen. As I choked in another round of water I could literally feel it in my lungs. I could feel it filling me up. It felt like I was being crushed from the inside out, my chest felt full to bursting point.

I squeezed my eyes shut. My body had obviously taken more than it could and I was sick, expelling some of the water again. Even that wasn’t a relief though, because as I panicked, I sucked it straight back in again. The dim light from the back of the car was life, it was air, it was home. It was so close, so painstakingly close, but I could do nothing to get to it. I stopped struggling; I stopped fighting and thrashing because I knew it then. I was going to die. I accepted it. In a way I almost welcomed it because the cold water inside me was more painful than anything I’d felt before in my life. It was so cold it felt almost as if it was burning me, which was a strange sensation. This was it, this was how it ended. At eighteen years old I hadn’t even really had a chance to live, yet it was over. I was going to drown, and there was nothing I could do about it.

A sense of foreboding settled over me as I forced my eyes open again, seeing that Luke’s lifeless body had floated away from me a little. I reached out for him, stretching, gritting my teeth in frustration as my fingertips brushed his shirt. My body felt weak and heavy, but with one last herculean effort I pushed that extra inch against my belt and managed to snag his sleeve enough to pull him over to me. His body twisted in the water, his face coming into view. He looked so peaceful, so beautiful as he floated there, eyes closed, almost as if he was asleep. I envied him, not having to go through this pain and fear. Silently I wished that I’d hit my head too and not worn my seatbelt because my lungs felt like they were on fire as I fought desperately against the urge to breathe in any more of the dirty water.

His blood from the cut on his head was slowly mixing with the water, floating there for a split second, almost looking like strands of fine red hair before they dispersed and more took its place. I gripped Luke’s hand tightly in mine, not wanting to be alone as I became so disorientated that I wasn’t even sure which way was up anymore. All I could see was darkness and shadows. As I sat there, holding his hand, waiting for it to be over, I thought of my parents, my brother, and my friends. I squeezed my eyes shut as emotional agony joined that pain that ruled my whole body. They would be devastated when they learnt of my death; my mom would be a wreck, I could practically see it. And Alex, my stupid twin brother, I didn’t even know how he would cope at all; if our roles were reversed I would feel like a piece of me had died if he did. I choked on a sob, heaving again against the water that seemed to fill every available space in my body.

Everything seemed to be fading out now; my picture of them in my head was becoming less clear. I couldn’t be certain of anything other than three things: the blinding pain in my lungs, the seatbelt restraining me, and Luke’s hand in mine. I looked at him now, not even blaming him for putting me through this. I looked at his face that I loved so much and I was kind of glad that we’d gone together like this; it was almost poetic in a horrifying, twisted, mortifying way. I blinked once, twice, three times, but when I tried to open my eyes after the third time I just couldn’t.

Chapter 30

An incessant beeping was the first thing I noticed, not loud, but just loud enough to catch my attention. My eyelids felt like ton weights as I registered another sound - soft snoring. I swallowed and then instantly wished I hadn’t because my throat was so dry that it actually hurt. My tongue felt too big for my mouth as I tried to lick my dry, cracked lips. My whole body felt heavy, like my limbs had suddenly turned into lumps of concrete. As I turned my head towards the snoring sound, pain zipped like lightening down across my shoulder and chest.

I groaned and squeezed my eyes shut tighter, fighting against the urge to cry. Confusion built up as I cracked my eyes open, blinking against the fogginess that seemed to have settled over me. Above me was a foam tiled ceiling. I frowned at it, trying to work out where I was. My hand moved, fingering the scratchy cotton blankets across my body. I swallowed painfully again, and ignored the pain in my neck this time as I turned my head to the side.

Immediately my gaze settled on Alex. He was slumped awkwardly in a chair, his head resting on his hand as he snored quietly. He looked a mess, his clothes were rumpled, his hair sticking up at all angles, and dark shadows resided under his eyes. I tore my gaze away from my twin, flicking my eyes around the room, taking in the white walls and the blue curtain that hung on a rail around my bed, separating off the room. I had a sudden feeling that I was in a hospital, but I had no idea why. I wracked my brains, thinking of anything that would cause my body to feel like I’d been hit by a train.

All at once it came back to me. The bridge, the water, the cold. I gasped and tried to sit up as my thoughts turned to Luke. A yelp left my lips as I fell helplessly back down to the pillows as pain burned through my chest, seeming to make my lungs constrict. The feeling of drowning washed over me as visions of the rising water filled my brain. A deep terror set in that was like reliving a nightmare as I fought against myself to get my breathing under control.

“Maisie?” Alex croaked sleepily.

I squeezed my eyes shut as my lungs burned with the memory of being filled with the murky, freezing water. It was all rushing over me again, like a flashback, little bits stabbing at my mind. Visions of the water rising, the light slowly fading out, the blood trickling down Luke’s forehead as he slumped over the steering wheel, his clothes floating around him as the water got too high, all of it filled my mind, almost making me lose grip on reality as if I was back there again.

I was vaguely aware of a loud moaning sound. It sounded like death, like someone was dying slowly and painfully. There was a pressure on my shoulders that made my neck ache as I was shaken gently. My name was being repeated over and over in a voice I recognised, but I was trapped, still trapped in that car with Luke. I knew the moaning sound was coming from me, but I just couldn’t stop it.

“Maisie, for goodness sake calm down!” Alex ordered, pulling me roughly so that my back rose off of the bed. His arms slipped around me as he crushed me against his body. One of his hands gripped the back of my head as I tried to fight the drowning memories. The pain that burned through my ribs as I moved was enough to jerk me out of the car and drop me back into the hospital bed.

I still couldn’t open my eyes as my twin’s warmth flooded my system, warming my cold and shocked body. His breathing was also laboured, as if he was struggling to remain in control too. My arms were like ton weights, but somehow I managed to get them up and wrap around his shoulders as the shock slowly sank in and relief built up inside me. I didn’t think I would ever see him again, but here he was, clinging to me like his life depended on it. I was alive. Somehow I hadn’t died in the car. I’d never been more grateful for life than in that moment. No more would I ever take anything for granted, because that experience just proved that it could all be taken away from you in a matter of seconds.

I pulled back slightly and kissed his cheek, seeing that he was close to tears as his blue eyes seemed to be memorising every inch of my face. “You frightened the shit out of me. Don’t ever do that to me again,” he grunted, shaking his head as he stroked my hair back softly.

I nodded, instantly groaning because it hurt to move even an inch. “What happened?” I choked out, my voice hoarse and barely above a whisper.

“Here, let’s lay you back down,” he murmured. Frown lines covered his forehead as he gently helped me lay back into the firm pillows. Once I was settled, he sat on the edge of my bed, taking my hand and holding it too tightly for comfort, but I was too grateful that he was here to complain about it. He didn’t look at me as he spoke, “Luke’s car went over the side of the bridge. You nearly died. Actually, you did die for a while, but some people saw it happen so they climbed down the verge and dived in after you. They pulled you out, and luckily one of them knew basic CPR so he got you breathing again,” he said quietly. He swallowed loudly as his eyes met mine. “You were lucky. The doctors said that if you’d been without oxygen for any longer then you wouldn’t have been able to be revived, or if you were revived then you might have had brain damage.” He shifted on the bed gently, making the pain more prominent in my ribs as the mattress dipped. Alex winced apologetically. “You have broken ribs and bruising across your stomach from the seatbelt. You have whiplash too,” he explained.