Hope Remains: A Hope Springs Fanfiction

Chapter 31

There were few times in Finbarr's life that he had ever been beyond himself with terror, and this was one of them. In one moment, he had been clinging to the wagon for dear life as they tried to get it and the supplies it held out of the storm, and in the next, he was thrown from the wagon as the wheel got stuck in a wooden plank. Shockingly frigid water rushed over him, hitting him violently in the face, and yet, his fingers continued to hold fast to the side of the wagon.

He gasped as water smashed over his head, filling his ears with crashing rage. He couldn't see anything! He couldn't hear. His fingers started to slip as the water continued to crash into him. But as hard as he tried, he couldn't fight against the current. It was too strong. And he was starting to panic.

His grip failed him and he lost hold of the wagon, but he didn't get swept away as a firm hand grasped his forearm and pulled him to the surface. He gasped in a lungful of air, clinging to the person keeping him from getting pulled beneath the water.

"I've got you, Finbarr," Patrick said. "I've got you. Just hold on."

"I can't!" he cried. The water entered his mouth, and he coughed it from his lungs all while trying without success to grasp onto Patrick with his other hand. "Don't let me go, Patrick." His lips hardly worked when he was near to shivering.

"I need help over here!" Patrick called. "Forget the supplies! I can't hold on for much longer."

"Finbarr!" Emma screamed, and for a moment, he was terrified for the woman he loved. Absolutely terrified. "Somebody get a rope!"

He heard splashing legs coming in his direction, though he could hardly hear the sound over his furiously pounding heart. Patrick's grip started slipping, and along with it, his panic surged. He would surely die if Patrick let go. He couldn't face this current without his sight.

A burst of water smashed into him, and with it, Patrick lost his grip completely.

The current dragged him under, tossing him to and fro beneath the riverbank. He struggled to push his way to the surface, but he couldn't see which way was up and which way was down.

The force of the current pushed him upward, and the moment his head broke the surface, he gasped in air. Water continued to crash into his ears. Deafening him. Blinding him. He grasped for anything to help pull him to the shore, but without his sight, his fingers closed around nothing but water before the current pulled him under again.

Icy water soaked him to the bone, his legs scraping against the bottom of the river. The loose rocks gave him a firm foothold to propel himself to the surface once more. His head broke the water, and with it, he heard the distant sound of barking.

His dog was following him down the river.

"Grady!" Finbarr gasped. He attempted to swim toward the sound, but the current wildy buffeted him around, making him lose all sense of direction. Water crashed against his ears, drowning out Grady's barks and his only hope to escape the raging current. He couldn't hear anyone else. Just Grady. Grady was likely the only one who could see him.

"Grady!" he screamed again. Desperately. As if his life depended on his dog to save him because he couldn't do it himself. He choked on the water that rushed into his mouth, and his panic alone nearly undid him.

The dog barked distressingly, seeming to know that Finbarr was in deep trouble.

Air became water as he was flipped upside down. He desperately made a grab for the loose branches also taken by the current, but they weren't large enough to keep him afloat. He tried to plant his feet against the bottom of the river, but he was like a ragdoll against the unforgivable current.

Lightheadedness made an appearance when he was underneath the water for too long this time. His body became weaker, unable to fight against the raging water any longer. He stopped fighting, his limbs becoming limp. And then the current smashed him against something hard, the blow to the head almost knocking him unconscious. He was only just aware of the current pulling him further down the river, the sound of a sloppy splash, and then something sharp sunk into his arm and tugged him in the opposite direction.

His darkness became even darker, and the last thing he was aware of was blinding, shivering cold before he knew no more.