i paced back and forth in the waiting room, sending prayers to god and trying not to let the fear take ahold of me.
did she get out of there in time? was i too late? i'll never forgive myself if i was. what if she dies? oh, god, please don't let her die, i love her too much for that.
arielle's parents were sitting in chairs, comforting one another.
"please, ryle, sit down," mrs. robinson pleaded.
so i sat.
"how did you find her?" mr. robinson asked. he looked worried sick, a far cry from the stern, intimidating man i had met when arielle introduced me to him.
i gulped. the story was hard to tell.
~~~
i was walking around after school, an umbrella over me, trying to clear my head. it was pouring rain, bad day for a walk, but my parents were getting divorced, and so i'd tried to stay out of the house a lot.
i was almost to the lake when i heard screaming and a huge splash, then some girls cackling. i ran over, because i recognized the laughs.
that's when i saw asley and two other girls running away.
asley shouted back at me, "where's your precious girlfriend now, ryle?!!" and they laughed some more as they disappeared into the school.
i looked down into the lake and had a horrible premonition that something had gone wrong. so, without even thinking, i dove into the water.
our school lake is manmade, and not that deep, so i soon hit the bottom. i started feeling around with my hands for... something, whatever asley had threw into that lake, and i prayed it wasn't a someone.
then i heard the sound of someone yelling underwater next to me, screaming, even. and then the sound faded away as a soft thump arrived from next to me.
please, no, i thought as i put my hand there.
it was another hand.
i felt around to the back of the person and pulled them up and out of the water. after i rubbed my eyes, i saw arielle with a rope necklace of bricks, and i screamed.
everything in me started to die as i untied the rope and started to run to my car.
~~~
after the story, there is silence.
"thank you... for doing what you could," mrs. robinson finally spits out, tears running down her face.
"mr. and mrs. robinson, and ryle port?"
we all turn to see a nurse standing there, anticipation on our faces.
the nurse finally smiles. "she's awake."
i fall to my knees and actually start to cry with relief. she is not dead. i will not die inside.
then the nurse sighs sadly, and we look up again.
"but.... she's got some brain damage from lack of oxygen."
