Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Aria
T ravis’s body hit the water first, and Crew followed him. There was a curse, a shout. And I didn’t know if it was them or me. But they sank underneath the water below, and neither one came up.
People were shouting, bystanders making noises I couldn’t decipher in my panic, and out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw Noah.
But I couldn’t focus on them. I could only focus on the river below.
On the fact that Crew wasn’t coming up.
“Crew! Crew!”
I knew I was screaming, and it wasn’t helping anything. If he had hit his head, or worse, he wouldn’t be able to come up .
“Crew!”
And standing on this bridge screaming for him wouldn’t help.
So I did the one thing I could do. Most likely the most idiotic thing I could ever do, and I jumped.
This time it was Noah screaming my name as I jumped into the ice-cold water. The jump wasn’t as far as I thought it was going to be, and the impact slammed into my feet then my knees, but thankfully the river was deep enough. Just the day before I had seen people jump in and be perfectly fine. And the river was deeper than it had been yesterday thanks to the rain. I knew the fall wouldn’t have killed me, but I was damn lucky I hadn’t hit anything beneath the surface. Only I was so fucking terrified that Crew had since he hadn’t surfaced yet. I dove down, holding my breath, and reached out for anyone.
My first pass didn’t touch anything, just rocks and wood. I was forced to go for breath again, and then dove back under, ignoring the shouts telling me to stop.
I needed to find him.
He needed to be okay.
And just as my lungs screamed and I was ready to try to break the surface, my hand caught on flesh. I didn’t know if it was Crew or Travis, but in that moment, I needed to get them above the top of the water. So I pushed on the bottom of the riverbed and pulled whoever it was to the surface.
I sucked in a deep breath as I broke through the water, and looked at Crew, unconscious in my arms.
Tears fell down my cheeks as strangers and my family began to swim toward me. Teeth chattering, I looked around for Travis, but I could only focus on Crew.
Because there was blood on his arm, and he wasn’t waking up.
Someone cursed beside me, and I kicked out trying to get closer to the side of the river. “We’ve got you. Never do that again,” Noah spat as he wrapped his arms around me, and Ford and Daisy took Crew from my arms. We swam to the bank, Noah keeping me upright and above the water.
“Is he okay? Is he okay?” I asked through chattering teeth.
“Let’s get to the bank,” Noah answered without actually answering.
I looked past him and realized that strangers had pulled Travis out of the river, and the man who had tried to kill me and Crew was awake, blood on his forehead, as he shook in the stranger’s arms. I would deal with that later. Travis, the adrenaline, and emotions running in my veins. I’d face it. Face him. But not now .
I just needed Crew to be okay.
We made it to the bank and I couldn’t fully track what was happening, my body shaking.
“He’s breathing,” Daisy said as the authorities came forward, taking over.
And at those words, I leaned into my cousin and burst into the tears I had been holding back since I had woken up in Travis’s hold with a knife to my throat.
“He has to be okay,” I choked through tears against Noah’s chest.
My cousin didn’t say anything. Instead he held me close before the paramedics took me away.
And Crew didn’t wake up.
“Should we call his family?” somebody asked but I didn’t know who. It was hard to think through the fog as I waited to hear that the person I loved more than anyone in the world would wake up. He had to be okay. He had risked everything to protect me. To save the person who had hurt him countless times. And there was nothing I could do.
“No,” Lexington said from my side. He had shown up after I had been admitted into my room, complete with stitches in my forehead, and worried because I had been in the river for long enough it was an issue. I had a few new shots in my arm and they were keeping me warm, watching me in case of infection or shock.
My family was in and out of my room, and I knew others would be doing the same later. All while we waited to hear about Crew. Daisy, Noah, and the others wore scrubs, their hair finally dry, and all looked worse for wear.
“Don’t call them,” I repeated. “We are his family. I’m his family.”
Lex squeezed my hand but didn’t say anything.
We were waiting for the doctor to tell us when Crew would wake up. Not if . I refused to hear that word. It would be when .
Sebastian took Lex’s place soon after and glared at me. “Never do that again.”
I’d already gotten this lecture and while my choices were stupid, I wasn’t going to regret them. I didn’t want to think about how much longer Crew could have been in the water while we waited for others to wade to the center. I’d made the only choice I could, and I’d do it again. “He could’ve died. Of course I was going to follow him to make sure I could save him.”
“I can’t lose my twin. You understand that?”
I swallowed hard, his words hitting hard because I knew it wasn’t just because of this moment. “I’m sorry that you’re here. In this hospital.” This hospital was where everything had changed for him, but he didn’t react other than squeezing my hand tightly for a moment, before letting out a breath.
“I’m here because I love you, twin of mine. Stop worrying about me.”
“I’m sorry for scaring you. For scaring everyone,” I said as I looked over at my parents and my two other siblings.
My mother moved forward and fluffed my pillows. “I’m just happy you’re okay. And Crew will be fine soon, and then I’m forcing you both to stay with us for a little while so I can pamper you and put you in bubble wrap.”
My lips twitched even as I looked at my mom’s watery eyes. “I don’t think Crew would like that.”
“Crew is going to have to deal with me as his new mom.” She held up her hand. “I’m not talking about your relationship. I mean yes, I love you both, but Crew needs a mom and dad right now, and he is stuck with us.”
“That gets a little incestuous,” Gus mumbled.
“Gus Montgomery,” my dad growled.
“I’m just saying.”
“I’m not talking literally.” My mom shook her head in exasperation. “I’m talking about the fact that I love you, daughter of mine. And I love that man who risked everything for you. So I am going to pamper him and show him exactly what a mother should be. Because I want to have words with that woman who calls herself a mother.”
“Your mom is about to curse. Beware,” Dad said softly, and I knew he was trying to keep the banter light.
“Fuck off, Alexander Montgomery. My babies are hurt.” My mother immediately broke into tears as my father held her and I had to look away for a moment before they broke apart and stood next to my bed.
“I just need to see him.” I let out a breath and leaned into my mother’s hold.
“We will make that happen,” she said so fiercely, that I knew if anybody could make it happen, it would be Tabitha Montgomery.
It took another three hours before I was able to see the man I loved.
I had never seen Crew so still before. Even when he slept, he constantly moved as if to protect me. That was just who he was. He boxed, he drove too quickly around curves, he hiked, painted, ran multimillion dollar businesses, and did countless things to keep busy. But he was never still.
Lex came with me first, because we were his family, and reached out to hold Crew’s hand .
“He’s not out of the woods yet,” the doctor spoke softly. “He has much better chances when he wakes up. We just need him to wake up on his own, because he was underwater for a long time, and the river was just cold enough that hypothermia was an issue. But I have all the faith that he will make a full recovery as long as he wakes up soon.”
He continued to say other things, but that ominous warning still echoed throughout my mind after he left.
“I need you to wake up, Crew. I love you so much. I want to see the world with you. I want you to get mad at me when I use the last of the milk and don’t put it on the list. I want you to roll your eyes when I mix your socks with mine because I took over your dresser. I want to watch you paint and make the others laugh because you pretend you aren’t a pretentious artist like the rest of us. We wasted so much time bickering. Now I’m going to keep yelling at you until you wake up. I love you, Crew. Please. You have to wake up.”
Lex, who had returned, let out a sound by my side, but just held my other hand as I looked down at Crew and hoped that the love of my life would wake up.
Because he was my forever.
I wasn’t going to take any other option.