A/N: Hey. This story is progressing slower than I had expected but it is finally getting to the part where everything is put into motion. Enjoy.
Ch 7
Saving the Day
Now, that kind of fall won't kill you. Actually, most kids jump off of that cliff for fun. The thing was, that kid looked really small. I really wasn't sure that he could swim. No matter what I thought for an excuse, I still couldn't totally justify why I jumped into the water. I guess it was battle reflexes.
Remember how I said that no one went into the water because it was cold. It was more than just cold but I swam out anyway.
The edge of the cliff rose from the water about thirty feet from the beach, but the little boy was going farther out to sea. I kicked harder to reach him.
The boy was splashing around. He was trying so hard to keep his head above the icy water.
I got a hold on him. He held me around the neck in a death grip, his teeth chattering. I tried to swim forward. The problems weighed in my mind: the boy was weighing me down, I only had one hand to swim with, and I felt an undertow pulling at my legs.
I heard sirens in the distance. People were yelling from the shore.
I felt my feet touch the bottom. The little boy was taken from my arms. I attempted to walk foreword and almost face planted in the water. Embry grabbed my arm and helped me back up.
"That was really cool," he whispered to me. "Really stupid, but cool." He helped me walk toward the parking lot.
I saw the little kid being loaded into the back of an ambulance. "How old was he?" I asked.
"Three," Embry answered back quietly. "His mom was going crazy. She was saying that he's afraid of the ocean and has barely ever been in the water."
"He's not going to be too thrilled with it now."
Embry snorted. "No. Probably not."
I was lead to my own ambulance. They gave me a towel and checked temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate.
"You're okay," the EMT person said. "But we should probably take you to the hospital anyway."
"No hospital," I said firmly. "I was about to go home. I feel fine. I'll just be on my way."
They shrugged. I wasn't sure if they were allowed to shrug something like that off but they said I was fine.
I went over to my car. A news crew was coming. Must have been a slow day. They rushed past me, oblivious. I just drove away.
~*~
My house was dark when I got there but, as soon as I opened the door, the kitchen light came on.
There my parents were, standing in the middle of the kitchen. Mom had her arms crossed and looked angry. Dad looked disappointed, I think that was worse.
"Hey," I said, trying to smile. I think it came out kind of fake.
"I can't believe you," mom said, shaking her head. "I specifically told you not to leave and go to that party and what did you do."
"How do you know I went to the party?" I mumbled, feeling very aware of my soaked clothes.
"We both know that you can't lie," she said bluntly. "There's a storm coming in so the water is freezing."
"Mom," I said, trying to stay calm.
"You should have known that," she went on like she hadn't heard me. "And yet you went into the water anyway."
"Mom," I said a little louder.
"You could have gotten pulled out by a riptide, you could have gotten pneumonia, you could have-"
"Margaret." It took me yelling her first name, which I never did, to get her attention. "What did you want me to do? Let that little kid drown." She was about to argue when I cut her off again. "Who did you want me to wait for? The police, the ambulance, the Coast Guard. They wouldn't have gotten there on time and you know that."
She looked like she was about to explode but dad put his hand up. "Let me talk to her for a minute," he said, talking to mom. She didn't look like she would leave but after half a minutes she did.
Dad sighed. "Dawn," he said sadly, shaking his head. All the anger rushed out of me. "Sit." He pointed to a stool across the counter from him.
He wasn't commanding but I was compelled to obey anyway. I sat and looked at him from across the counter. I saw that his eyes looked so tired and sad.
"You know, she was really worried about you when we heard what you were doing."
"How did you find out?" I asked.
He smirked. "Don't get mad. Holly only did it because she cares. I've been round her enough to know that."
"I'm not mad at her."
I'm not mad, either," he said, seeming to read my mind. "I'm disappointed but I understand. I did things like that when I was your age."
"Really?" I asked curiously. I couldn't imagine my dad at 16. It just didn't work out in my head.
He nodded. "But I didn't have to go through everything that you do. That's why I got in a lot more trouble than you do. That and you're more cautious because of your experiences. It was still wrong, you know that?"
"Yeah," I said. "I'm not sure what I was thinking."
"I don't enjoy punishing you," he said, "but you need a little bit of discipline. I'd say you'd learn from a week without your car."
I frowned but nodded. The way he acted so calm made me calm. I couldn't be mad at someone who wasn't yelling and I couldn't disagree with him. I wasn't sure how I would survive without my car but I would have to deal. I wasn't going to argue anymore.
