The Rescue - Nicholas Sparks [74]
After he hit the water, the pressure sucked him under and held him for several seconds, then several more. Taylor was spun and twisted like a rag in a washing machine, but he was finally able to fight his way to the surface, where he drew a gasping breath.
When Taylor had come to the surface the first time, he’d shouted that he was okay. After the car hit the water and he’d narrowly avoided being crushed by the hulking wreckage, he’d shouted it again. But by the time he’d swum to the bank, he was nauseated and dizzy, the events of the past hour finally hitting home. That was when his hands had begun to tremble.
Joe didn’t know whether to be livid because of the jump or relieved that the whole thing had worked out. The passenger, it seemed, was going to be fine, and Joe had sent Mitch down to talk to Taylor.
Mitch had found him sitting in the mud, legs drawn up, hands and head resting on his knees. He hadn’t moved at all since Mitch had sat beside him.
“You shouldn’t have jumped,” Mitch finally said after Taylor hadn’t responded.
Taylor raised his head sluggishly, wiping the water from his face. “It just looked dangerous,” he said flatly.
“That’s because it was dangerous. But I was thinking more about the car that followed you into the water. You could have been crushed.”
I know....
“That’s why I swam under the bridge,” he answered.
“But what if it had fallen sooner? What if the engine had blown twenty seconds earlier? What if you’d hit something submerged in the water, for God’s sake?”
What if?
Then I’d be dead.
Taylor shook his head, numb. He knew he’d have to answer these questions again, when Joe grilled him in earnest. “I didn’t know what else to do,” he said.
Mitch studied him with concern, hearing the flat discomfort in his voice. He’d seen this look before, the shell-shocked appearance of someone who knew he was fortunate to be alive. He noticed Taylor’s shaking hands and reached over, patting him on the back. “I’m just glad you’re all right.”
Taylor nodded, too tired to speak.
Chapter 17
Later that evening, once the situation on the bridge was fully under control, Taylor got in his car to head home. As he’d suspected, Joe had asked every question Mitch had and more, walking him through every decision and the reasons for it, covering everything two or three times. Though he was still as angry as Taylor had ever seen him, Taylor did his best to convince him that he hadn’t acted recklessly. “Look,” he said, “I didn’t want to jump. But if I hadn’t, neither of us would have made it.”
To that, Joe had no reply.
His hands had stopped shaking, and his nervous system had gradually returned to normal, though he still felt drained. He was still shivering as he made his way down the quiet rural roads.
A few minutes later Taylor walked up the cracked cement steps to the small place he called home. He’d left the lights on in his haste to leave, and the house was almost welcoming when he entered. The paperwork from his business was still spread on the table, the calculator had been left on. The ice in his water glass had melted.
In the living room he could hear the television playing in the background; a ball game he’d been listening to had given way to the local news.
He set his keys on the counter and pulled off his shirt as he walked through the kitchen to the