Cal was momentarily stunned on impact when his head slammed against the steering wheel but quickly gathered his senses. The car was sinking and fast.
He shot a panicked look toward the passenger side. Gillian was unconscious; an ugly egg shaped lump forming just above her left eye. She head lolled forward, mouth slightly agape.
Quickly undoing his seatbelt, he could feel the water pooling in around his ankles, rising quickly. It was absolutely frigid. Leaning over he struggled with Gillian's belt but it was stuck, completely unyielding. Sweat popped out on his forehead despite the temperature. Swearing loudly, he renewed his efforts to no avail before thinking of his pocketknife. Fishing in his front pocket he pulled the little serrated blade out, thankful that he'd just sharpened it last week. The water was around his knees now as he began sawing at her seatbelt. By the time the belt snapped, water had risen to just below his chest. Turning, he tried the door. It was stubborn but the pressure from the inside and the outside was now becoming equal, giving them a fighting chance. Bruising his shoulder, he slammed into it repeatedly before it finally gave. Water gushed in even faster. Reaching over, he propped up Gillian's face which had fallen forward before pulling on her arm, attempting to waggle her free. Her body started to float upward as he moved closer and wrapped one arm around her upper chest, fingers grasping just under her opposite arm. The car was almost completely filled and sinking quickly into darkness.
Taking a deep breath from the couple of inches clearance at the headliner, he plunged under and pulled with all his strength before they both became clear of the car. Kicking for what seemed forever, Cal broke the surface of the water with Gillian in tow. Hypothermia seeping in at the edges, he fought against his own weakening limbs to propel them to the shore of the quarry. What do they say? Fifteen minutes before unconsciousness and death? He yanked her completely out of the water before immediately feeling for a pulse. Nothing. Her lips were blue.
"No, no, no…" He began chanting into almost a low moan, barely conscious of it. Without delay, he started CPR. One-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand, four-one thousand, five-one thousand. Breathe.
"Come on darlin'. Come on Gillian."
He repeated the process. Nothing.
Eyes blurring, Cal continued. Not giving up. No fucking way. "You need to fight. Come on, come on, come on." Breathe. He tasted salt. It took a moment to realize his own tears had fallen onto her still lips. "Gillian! We've come too far! You…are…not…leaving me…" His voice rose as he fiercely continued, completely unmindful of the cold and his own dropping body temperature.
Somewhere in the background he heard a shout of alarm but he didn't acknowledge. Couldn't acknowledge. He had to save her.
"Please darlin', come on! Please…"
He was shaking so badly, felt half blind and it seemed like he was losing feeling in all of his limbs, yet he continued.
"God damnit Gil! Open your eyes!"
A flood of people suddenly seemed to appear around him. He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Let us take over sir."
Shrugging the man off, Cal continued. One-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand, four-one thousand, five-one thousand. Breathe.
Cal thought he heard a soft gasp before more than one pair of strong hands pulled him away. He felt weak and couldn't fight back. "No, no, did you hear that…?
"Sir, let me help you." This time a female voice passed into his consciousness.
"No, help her. She needs to be okay…"
"I understand sir. They're working on her. We need to take care of you."
Fatigue oozed around him like a persistent mist as sleepiness crept in. He couldn't even get up. The paramedic crouched next to him and someone had thrown a blanket around his shoulders. He didn't remember that happening.
"Sir, you're probably suffering from hypothermia. You can't help her if you don't take care of yourself."
Mutely, he nodded and tried to climb to his feet, but stumbled and went back down. He couldn't feel them. Before he realized it, he was loaded onto a stretcher. Time lapsed too quickly. He couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.