The Year I Stopped Being His novel Chapter 454

At the edge of the lake, Josh was sprawled over the stone railing, half of his body dangling over the freezing water. His fingers dug into the stone crevices so hard they were practically bleeding. His eyes were locked onto the shattered ice, burning and aching from staring without blinking...

She still hadn't come up.

Every second dragged on like an agonizing century. His nerves were stretched so tight they were on the verge of snapping.

Suddenly, the water broke with a massive splash!

Sloane breached the surface, gasping for air. The heavy velvet skirt dragged behind her like a waterlogged anchor. Her lips were a frightening shade of blue, ice crystals clinging to her eyelashes, but with a final, desperate surge of strength, she shoved Piper upward.

Piper's face was paper-white, her eyes clamped shut, completely devoid of color.

"It's Piper!"

"She's got her!"

"Hurry, grab her!"

The crowd on the bank erupted into motion. Josh leaned even further over the water while the students behind him frantically grabbed his belt and jacket to anchor him. Hanging entirely over the lake, he stretched his arms out, grabbed Piper by the collar, and hauled her dead weight onto the stone path with a grueling heave.

Piper was in terrible shape.

She lay flat on the freezing cobblestones, her soaked white dress clinging to her, her chest terrifyingly still.

As a geology professor, Josh was intimately familiar with emergency wilderness first aid.

He immediately dropped to his knees beside her, interlaced his hands over her sternum, and began chest compressions. He tilted her chin back, pinched her nose, and leaned down to administer rescue breaths.

His movements were textbook perfect, but cold sweat poured down his forehead. His jaw was clenched so tight it ached, counting the rhythm in his head with every desperate thrust.

Around him, it was pure chaos—someone was yelling on the phone with 911, people were crying, others screaming Piper's name to wake up.

No one realized what had just happened.

The girl who had pushed Piper to safety was gone. She had slipped back beneath the dark surface without a sound.

He ripped off his coat, hurling it at the railing. He kicked off his shoes. His phone tumbled from his pocket and hit the ground next to Sloane's discarded puffer jacket, the screen still glowing with the unanswered call.

Without a microsecond of hesitation, he vaulted the railing, took a deep breath, and threw himself into the freezing lake.

The biting cold crushed him from every angle, but he didn't care.

His eyes remained wide open under the dark water.

During the years Sloane was "dead," he had forced himself to learn how to swim just so he could be in the pool with Archie. He went from dreading the water to swimming laps in the deep end, pushing himself until he could stay submerged for intense stretches.

He never once imagined that he was learning to swim for this exact moment.

Perhaps it was destiny. Years ago, she had reached into the freezing Antarctic waters and pulled him back to life.

Today, it was his turn.

Garrison dove deeper into the murky abyss, his eyes straining through the darkness. The light faded. His vision blurred. And then, he saw her.