I’m hauled against a hard body and all but thrown out of the water and onto the side of the pool. I cough, water spewing from my burning lungs.
“I’m so sorry, Emma. I’m so sorry.” Dylan is there, rolling me onto my side and gently patting my back. “I’m so sorry,” he says again, tone panicked. Water drips from his hair onto my face while I suck oxygen into my lungs.
“It’s okay,” I choke out. “Wasn’t your fault.”
“It was my fault. Why didn’t you stay in your room?”
“I heard the glass break and Delta bark. I thought Heath was here, that you were hurt.” I roll over onto my hands and knees, then push up to sitting. My entire body is shaking violently from the rush of adrenaline and the chill of the pool.
Dylan is staring at me—a tortured look on his face. His eyes are dark, his bottom lip trembling. “I’m so sorry,” he whispers. “This was a mistake. I should have known better.”
“No.” I crawl over toward him, then place both hands on his muscled shoulders. Tremors rack through his body. “Growth has setbacks. Don’t pull away from me because of this. Please, Dylan.”
“I nearly killed you.”
“No, you didn’t. I fell into the pool. You came after me. If I knew how to swim, this wouldn’t have even been an issue.”
“I pushed you.”
“No, you didn’t. I jumped backward.” I run my hands up onto his cheeks, shoving my own fear aside because I see the terror in his hazel gaze, and it breaks my heart. Unsure what else to do, I close my eyes and bow my head. “God, please be with us in this moment. Please take this fear from Dylan, let him see that he doesn’t need to be afraid. God, please. Please,” I add with a whisper. “Let him see that I’m okay. That You’re here. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.”
Dylan’s hands come to my wrists, and he squeezes gently as he lowers his head to mine.
We sit there, foreheads touching, water dripping down around us, bodies trembling. Mine from the adrenaline, his from fear. Together, we remain there, kneeling for who knows how long.
But with every second that passes, Dylan’s body grows steadier. Until he pulls away from me and leans back, sitting on his heels.
“You could have died, Emma.” His voice is steadier now, his tone sharp.
“But I didn’t. Next time, I’ll avoid the deep end of the swimming pool.” I glance over my shoulder, and a shudder runs through me. “Maybe I should learn to swim. Even if I’ll need to special order floaties in my size.”
Dylan plants both hands on the concrete and shakes his head. “You amaze me.”
“How so?”
He looks up at me, expression dark but less tortured. “You’re cracking jokes.”
“What else is there to do? I’m alive, and you’re yourself again.”
His expression darkens further. “I told you to stay in that room. You shouldn’t have come out.”
“I’m not going to hide from you. Maybe that’s the problem, Dylan. Maybe you’ve been hiding for so long that you forgot how to live.”
“I won’t find myself at the risk of losing you.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Dylan. We’re not going back to what we were before, with you avoiding me every chance you get. I hope you know that. When this is all over, if you try to hide from me again, I’ll track you down.” I smile, hoping to ease some of the tension.
“I can’t go back to the way we were either,” he says. “But this isn’t safe.”
“We’ll figure it out together.” I try to stand and suffer a painful reminder of the injury to my foot. Hissing, I lift the foot. “Ow!”
Dylan’s eyes go wide. “You’re hurt. What happened?” he crawls over toward me, remaining on his knees. As he lifts my foot, I plant my hand on his shoulder for support. Something I do without thinking. Thankfully, he seems so focused on my foot that he’s unbothered. “This is bad, Emma.”
“I stepped on some glass.”
“You’re going to need stitches.” Standing, he lifts me into his arms and carries me into the house. “Blieb, Delta,” he orders his dog, who takes a seat near the door.
As he flips on the light, I note the blood trail I left behind. There’s a significant amount of it smeared all over his floor, and I’m surprised I didn’t realize how badly I was bleeding. Then again, with how dark it was, I couldn’t really see much.
