Chapter 22

Having sucessfully taught Henry how to swim the summer before, Gilbert and Henry had been granted permission to take Mr. Harmond Andrews dory out. Henry, wanting the opportunity to see Jane Andrews, had convinced Gilbert to go with him to borrow the dory. Unfortunately upon arrival at the Andrews he received the dimsal information that Jane was out with friends, Henry's own sister precisely.

"Anne could have mentioned it to me that she had plans with Jane today," Henry grumbled as they sat in the boat out on the water.

"Better luck next time, mate," Gilbert said cheekily. And then added smirking, "Now you know how a certain fellow feels when you fail to mention prominent information about Anne's plans."

"I'll be sure to be more forthcoming with Charlie in the future," Henry said with a responding smirk.

"Anne would kill you," Gilbert said undeterred. "But maybe next time you know Anne is being sent by Marilla to return my mother's dish, you tell me before we are in the water a good clip away. The first time Anne actually enters my house and I'm over at Barry's pond half naked teaching you how to lose a swim race. It was cheating to slip that information in just to try and trip me up so you could win."

"Anne," Henry said in a strangled voice, his face going white.

"Look mate, I didn't mean it like that," Gilbert said quickly, thinking Henry was upset he had used the words about him being half naked and Anne in the same sentence.

"No you idiot. Anne," Henry said again urgently, his tone upset, pointing behind Gilbert.

Gilbert craned his head to look and spotting what Henry had already seen he gave a strangled cry and began rowing furiously toward the bridge where Anne clung to it, partially submerged in water, her grip clearly slipping.

"She can't swim," Henry said hoarsely. As the boat got near enough to call to her, Henry called her name. Anne glanced toward them with wide eyes. Both boys tried not to focus on how her grip kept slipping. The dory was few feet away still when Anne's grip gave way. Henry gave a strangled cry, but Gilbert, the better swimmer of the two, had already abandoned the oars and jumped overboard.

Henry looked into the murky depths willing his best friend to find his sister. He gave a jubilant cry off relief when Gilbert's body broke the surface of the water, clutching Anne to him.

"Help me get her on board," Gilbert called to Henry. Henry eagerly grabbed for Anne and the two boys managed to pull her on board. Then Gilbert heaved himself onto the boat. Gasping for breath he said urgently, "Shore."

Henry took to rowing while Gilbert gapsed for breath and tried to see if Anne was alive. She was deathly still and when he touched her head his hand came away with blood on it. "Anne," he cried brokenly.

Henry abrubtly stopped rowing and turned toward his sister, but Gilbert said with relief, "She's still breathing. Its faint, but she's breathing. She must have hit her head on the bridge when she went under and got knocked out. Just get us to shore," Gilbert plead unwilling to believe the girl he loved whole heartedly could die before he had a chance to let her know or live his life out with her.

While Henry rowed for all he was worth, knowing Anne's life could be on the line, he tried not to listen as his best friend plead with her to be okay, brokenly telling her he loved her and needed her. Any thoughts of his crush on Jane Andrews disappeared, never to return. Gilbert was honestly and truly in love with his sister and he knew someday he wanted something similar. For now though he rowed and prayed.

"She will be okay," the doctor told the group assembled in the kitchen at Green Gables. Looks of relief spread across the faces of those gathered. Gilbert, clutching the blanket Henry had thought to drape around his sodden friend, finally relaxed, his whole body releasing the fear that it had been infused with. Marilla wiped at her eyes, as tears of relief welled up. Matthew uttered a quick silent prayer of thanks his fingers finally stilling on the cap he had been twisting and mangling. Tommy was on his feet ready to race to Anne's room, but Henry his own relief apparent stopped him, finally recalling in himself how to function.

After rowing to shore, Henry had looked stupidly at Gilbert for a split second, panicked and unsure, but Gilbert had already scooped Anne up and began moving as fast as he could towards Green Gables. Henry understanding, had raced ahead to get Marilla and Matthew. Seeing Gilbert stumble from exhaustion as he ran back towards him and Anne, Marilla at his heels and Matthew already racing for the doctor, he had taken Anne from Gilbert for the last few feet to the house and up to her room. Marilla on his heels. Marilla hadn't even bothered to shoe him out of the room before she began removing Anne's wet clothing. Henry had promptly spun around and raced back down the stairs to be confronted with a wet dripping, terrified Gilbert. Henry had thrown a blanket around Gilbert's shoulders and then stared stupidly at him again. The two would have likely continued to stand there if Tommy hadn't taken one look at them and declared they need something warm to drink and led the two older boys to the kitchen.

Before the doctor could arrive, a hysterical Diana, Jane and Ruby had arrived. Neither Gilbert or Henry were up to dealing with the three females and Tommy handled the situation declaring that Gilbert and Henry had found Anne and brought her to Green Gables and the doctor was on the way. Hearing this the girls began to cry even harder. Marilla had heard the three wailing girls and come down to order them home, saying she would send word, but that their cries would do Anne no good. Gilbert had shrank into his blanket hoping to avoid Marilla's notice and a similar fate to that of the girls. He simply couldn't leave Green Gables without knowing how Anne fared. Whether it was because Marilla had forgotten him, overlooked him seated in her kitchen, or thought that as part of the team that had rescued Anne he had a right to be there, she said nothing to him before hurrying back upstairs to Anne.

...

Anne awoke slowly. She remembered seeing Henry and Gilbert rowing towards her as she clung to the bridge, and then losing her grip, being swept under, dark water, a hand grabbing for her and then before she could grab it, pain and then nothing until now.

"You gave the folks downstairs a right good scare," a voice said seeing Anne was awakening. Anne turned her face slightly to see the doctor with his medical bag closing it up. "I'll be going down to let them know your all right. It was a good thing Gilbert Blythe got to you as soon as he did and pulled you out of the water. I reckon he saved your life."

"Gilbert saved me?" Anne asked in disbelief.

"Aye and he is downstairs dripping all over Marilla's kitchen. I understand he jumped in after you and you were unconscous when he handed you up to Henry on their little boat and between the two of them they each took a turn carriying you all the way here."

"Oh," Anne said breathlessly as the doctor left the room. She had assumed the hand that reached for her had been Henry's since Gilbert had insited on teaching him to swim last summer. She didn't know what to do with the information that Gilbert had been the one to jump into the swirling waters for her.

At the doctor's orders, Anne was kept in bed for the remainder of the week. Henry, Tommy, and Diana were frequent visitors to her room, but there was no sign of Gilbert Blythe. Anne both dreaded and welcomed seeing him. She knew she wouldn't have to face him until she could leave her room, but it was time she bury the hatchet so to speak and thank him. She was absolutely certain he would laugh at her and tell her he didn't want to be friends with some red headed carrot girl, but she was determined to let him know she was grateful he saved her and didn't hate him.

While Anne may have seen no sign of Gilbert Blythe the rest of Green Gables did. And so did she, she just did not think to ask, where Henry had gotten the pretty flowers he had brought in to fill her bedside jug every day. Gilbert stopped by the very next day with the flowers for Anne, and every day after.

Henry had given his friend a masculine hug hello that first day, overcome with gratitude that Gilbert had saved her. Before Gilbert could say anything, Henry had announced, "I want you to help me teach Anne how to swim as soon as she can leave her room. She is always getting into scraps, and if she would have known how to swim for this one," Henry said trailing off. Then picking back up, "She always says she never makes the same mistake twice, but the waters a dangerous thing if you can't swim properly. If we hadn't been there. If you hadn't jumped in-"

"Are you sure you want my help? Wouldn't it be more proper if you taught her?" Gilbert broke in nervously.

"Hang propriety! " Henry exclaimed. "I don't care if my sister sees you half naked and if you're that worried about it you can leave your shirt on, you swam just fine fully clothed yesterday. I'm more concerned about my sister not drowning ever again. Your a better swimmer than me. She needs to learn. I was a miserable failure at teaching Tommy until you stepped in to help."

"I'll do it," Gilbert said quietly the image of Anne going under causing him to shrudder involuntarily. Last night, once the euphoria that Anne was safe had worn off and he had fallen into exhausted sleep, he had a nightmare that he hadn't been able to jump in and save her, that Anne went under and didn't resurface and his legs would not work. He had woken up screaming, his mother's hand on his brow, checking for a fever. She hadn't said a word about the fact that her son had been screaming Anne's name in terror. She had occasionally considered that her son was sweet on Anne, but had never been certain if it was that or if she was just his best friend's little sister to him, having rarely seen the two interact. This confirmed in her mind though that her son was more than just a little sweet on the girl and she wondered how she had missed the fact that he had grown up and fallen in love.