Loan Shark Love

She’s screeching at me, Get Rose, Grey! Grab her!

My whole body seems to scream in response.

Natalie lets out another shriek of terror, and Anderson tries to scramble over the side of the boat without much success. The captain is on the top deck with a few of the other staff, and I can hear their calls and the sound of hurried feet as they fumble down the ladder in their rain-soaked, confused and surprised stupor.

There is no time. The love of my life is sinking beneath the water with bullets being hurled at us.

My Rosie is going to drown down there in the dark. The thought of leaving her in the depths, cold and alone, is terrifying and sickening. I can’t even bear the thought that she might already be too far gone for me to be able to reach her.

Without thinking, I take the dive headfirst into the dark water. There are screams from my sister behind me as I plunge deep into the lake. The water is bone-chilling against my bare chest, shocking my body in the painful way that only really cold water can ever manage. I force myself to stay completely calm, and after my vision has cleared, I look around frantically under the water for the woman I’ve fallen in love with. I can’t see her anywhere.

It’s dark and murky, nearly pitch black in the depths of the lake.

I can see something out of the corner of my eye, and I push my body against the pull of the low current that tugs at me. If she’s caught at the bottom of the lake, I fear I will never be able to find my Rosie again. But soon enough I catch sight of a pale shape in the black water, and my heart thuds painfully at the sight of her.

I pray to whatever gods are listening that she isn’t already too far gone.

I wrap a strong arm around her waist, pulling her to my side in a quick move under the water. My lungs scream for air. Her body, clothed in only my sweatshirt and in a bathing suit top and bottoms, is limp in my arms. From what I saw, she didn’t hit her head or injured herself in any way when she fell over, but it doesn’t matter.

The middle of the lake is a hundred and thirty feet of pulling currents and crashing debris. The whole thing is a nightmare to swim in, which is why no one does without a life vest and especially not when the water is still biting cold. This is probably the worst time to be in the lake at all, never mind the storm crashing over our heads.

If my Rosie is gone, if she can never smile at me again or touch me, I don’t think anything will ever be right again. I will never be right again if she’s gone.

I fight against the pull of the water below me, and both of our heads break the surface of the water. I take in a huge lungful of air before the both of us go under again as our weight pulls me down.

Panic threatens to smother me before I push the feeling down again, bringing the both of us back up into the open air again. The boat is nowhere to be seen, and I look around for it frantically.

How long have we been down there, flailing and grasping in the dark abyss of the lake? The limp woman in my arms makes no sound, and I am more terrified than I have ever been. I can still hear the spark and bang of a gun, but I don’t feel any fear because of it. I’m only worried about Rose, lifeless in my arms.

I’m holding her very life in my hands, and I can’t even find the damn boat. We fall back under the cold water once again, and I sputter, feeling my arms grow weak and tired. There’s something white and orange in the distance, bobbing and floating toward us like a roadmap to immediate salvation – the boat’s buoy.

My strength comes flooding back to me, and as the clouds churned and thunder rumbled overhead, I pull my Rosie through the frigid water and finally hold her against the lifeline of the buoy nearby.

Finally, I’m able to rest my arms and my aching body. I really need to hurry. Rose’s life depends on me to be strong.

Every moment her lungs are full of water is another moment closer to death.

The sandy shoreline is close by. I can see it on the lower edge of the hillside, nestled under the thicket of trees. But it’s far away from the house on the other side of the lake; I’m almost sure. I swim as hard and fast as I can, pushing my body until I start to believe that I might not ever recover from it.