Resent Reject Regret by Aqua Summers novel Chapter 296

Brendan woke up with both a sore throat and a body as heavy as lead. Jolts of chill and heat cycled through his veins, cluing him in on the possibility that he had a fever. The last time he had been sick like this was about a year ago, and Brendan had a faint idea of where the medicine kit was.

Deirdre had placed it in the cabinet near the headboard.

He coughed and pulled the door to the cabinet open. Every medicine bottle had a post-it note with scribbles on the dosage and its expiration date. It was just who Deirdre was—she had always been very meticulous with whatever she undertook.

Brendan tore the note away and felt his chest somehow get torn open.

A few days had passed with no sign of his sickness availing. Still, he went to work, battling his coughing fits and general sickness as he thumbed through paperwork. More days passed, and he was beginning to think his memories were fading into white noise.

Then, suddenly, he received a call from Sam.

“Mr. Brighthall, we found the car!”

He cast everything aside and drove to the Southern Bridge. Sam was talking to a group of people as they undressed in the bitter cold. They were about to dive, apparently.

The wintry gale nipped at Brendan’s temples, and his headache worsened. Panting, he approached them and asked, “How’s it going?”

“We’ve pinpointed the exact location of the vehicle, sir. This will be the second time these divers go down. They have their tools with them this time,” Sam explained. “The goal is to break the windows and… pull Miss McKinnon out of it.”

Brendan felt the world blurring before his eyes for a second. “I… I see.”

He thought his heart had grown numb, but it suddenly tightened. Every part of his chest was filled with little needlepoints of stinging pain because… he was scared. He was terrified of seeing Deirdre’s corpse lying sprawled before him.

At the same time, part of him felt relieved. He was relieved to finally be able to bury Deirdre instead of leaving her spirit locked inside that sunken car at the bottom of the icy sea.

The team began to put on their diving gear. “The average body extraction agency has rejected our request, Mr. Brighthall,” Sam explained further. “These divers were the only ones who would accept the job, though even assembling this team took a long while. No one wanted to take this on. It’s cold this month, and people don’t want to get sick from the expedition. Also… Most people simply shun jobs that involve the dead, sir.”

Brendan understood their reasoning, so he replied, “Once they are back on shore, tell them they are getting $71,500 for their effort.”