The Thrashers(84)

I’m already dead.

He disappeared in a tantrum of curse words as wet blond hair slapped against her cheeks.

“Julian, don’t! God!” Paige brushed her fingers over Jodi’s cheeks. “Jodi, babe. Breathe.”

“Did everyone get out?” an unfamiliar man shouted from far away.

“Yes!” Paige replied. “Four of us.”

“Is she breathing?” the man said.

Jodi stared into the setting sun. Orange and pink and fuchsia. Yes, she supposed she was breathing.

But Paige didn’t answer.

Jodi turned her head to the right where she heard a soft counting, punctuated by thumps. She stared through wet eyelashes as Zack pumped Kiera’s chest, leaning down to blow into her mouth.

Kiera coughed.

Paige left her side. Jodi turned her head toward the pink clouds, lying alone on the rocky shore of the river.

“Julian!” Lucy called for him, as if he was far away from them.

Jodi listened to Kiera breathe, feeling her own chest ache and wheeze.

“Where is she?” Kiera’s rasping voice asked.

Jodi tilted her head back to the right. Kiera was sitting up, looking at the water. Her eyes wild.

Sirens wailed, bleep blipping.

“Jodi’s right over here,” Paige said.

“Where’s Emily?” Kiera gasped. “I hit her. I hit her with my car. She was in the middle of the road and I hit her.”

Jodi heard the crunch of boots on gravel and turned to see first responders arriving, carrying gurneys down the side of the river bank.

“Where’s Emily?” she repeated.

The pain in Jodi’s chest was too tight. As the boots reached her, she closed her eyes, happy to pass out again instead of listening to the answer.



* * *



Jodi woke up to the familiar popcorn ceiling of Mercy Hospital. A monitor beeped to her left, and nurses chatted just past the curtains.

She tried to sit up, and pain lanced through her chest. Wincing, she shifted against the pillows to get upright.

“Hey, hey. Easy, tiger.” Lucy appeared at her side, guiding her. “Your rib broke during CPR.”

Jodi squeezed her eyes shut. “Now the pleasant wildfire in my chest makes sense.”

“The doctor should tell you, but there’s no cast or anything. It hurts like a bitch and heals on its own in four to six weeks.”

She nodded. “Did they see Paige’s head? She has a concussion—”

“Yeah, they got her. She’s down the hall. Our third concussion this year, collectively.”

“We should go for a record.” Jodi checked the time on the monitor. 8:12. “Where’s Zack?”

“He’s … checking on Kiera.”

Jodi knew she should have been curious about her condition, but all she felt was a hot spike of anger and jealousy coursing through her. Two girls almost drowned today, and he made a choice as to whose bedside to wait at.

“Julian’s nowhere to be found,” Lucy said. “As soon as the ambulance took off, he got in his truck and drove away.”

Jodi scoffed, and her chest constricted in response. “Figures.”

“Is there anything going on with you two?”

Jodi swiveled her head to see Lucy studying her, a coy smile on her lips.

“Who two?”

“You two. You and Julian.”

She blinked at her. “Sorry, what’s the question?”

Lucy smiled slowly. “He was very worried about you.”

“Yeah, he called me a ‘fucking bitch’ when I woke up.”

Sitting back in her chair, Lucy took a breath and crossed her legs. “He met me in the river. I was treading water, trying to keep Kiera’s head above the surface and swim for the shore, and he said, ‘Where’s Jodi?’”

A shiver crested over her shoulders. She tried to look away from Lucy’s deep eyes but couldn’t.

“I tried to give him Kiera, but he just swam down for you. Wouldn’t let anyone else pump your chest on the river bank.”

“He knew I couldn’t swim,” she said quickly. “That’s probably why.”

Lucy nodded slowly, barely accepting the excuse. “Well, I’m gonna try to find him. Let him know he broke your rib, but that you’re completely alright.”

“Yeah, okay. I mean, if you want to.” Eager to change the subject, she asked, “My dad?”

“They called him. Zack made sure they called Rosa, too.”

“She’s gonna force me to live here sooner or later.”

“Yeah, we really need to cut it with the whole traumatic injury thing.”

Jodi hesitated. “Tell that to Emily.”

Lucy’s eyes snapped up to her.

“Did you see anybody in the road?” Jodi asked.

“No. Nothing. Suddenly, she was just braking and swerving. But there was nobody there.”

The curtain pulled back and revealed Zack. “Hey, Jo.” He grimaced.

Lucy stood. “I’m gonna check on Paige.”

“Okay, yeah.” Zack hooked his thumb in the direction of the hall. “They just told me she’ll be good to go soon.”

Jodi looked down at her starchy white sheets. Three girls in the hospital, and Jodi was the last person on the list.