Chapter 14—Rivers of Death

After yet another sleep, Horatio opened his eyes. This time he took a deep breath and focused on his surroundings. Now he could feel the cool dampness and the mud under his shirt. This time he was alert enough to hear the rain and even feel Emmie's silent despair.

"Emmie?"

No more excitement. No more crying. Emmie numbly lay on her side and looked into Horatio's bloodshot eyes. They were tired and unaware. For the first time since the accident he seemed more alert. "Sir, how are you feeling?"

He groaned and slowly picked up his body, bit by bit, leaning himself against the cold, wet wall, cradling his head. Instinctively he held out his reddened hand. "Give me the radio."

Gingerly she placed the speaker in his hand, where he slowly clasped it. "The local police patched us through to the crime lab. Everybody's there."

"Frank? You there?" he said weakly.

Frank jerked his head up. "Yeah! Hey! Horatio! How are you and Emmie holding up?"

He breathed deeply and held his head. "I think I'm coming around. How's everybody at the crime lab? Over."

"We're all doing fine, H" Delko nearly yelled at the radio. "Been watching out for Emmie. She's been holding ground while you were out."

"Charlotte County pinpointed your location" Frank said. "Now it's just a matter of getting to you. You and Emmie need to keep talking. Over."

Horatio had no sooner pushed in the talk button when he and Emmie heard what sounded like roaring surf. The Hummer now shook violently, causing Horatio to fall on his side. The handset flew forward again and rested on the driver's seat. Emmie fell face down and shrieked in pain.

Horatio's weak eyesight was greeted by a gush of brown water that had now seeped into the Hummer. Emmie picked up her head and whimpered in terror as water had begun to slosh in through the cracks of the doors and through the hatch. Instinctively dug her fingernails in and tried to crawl up away from the water, to no avail. Despite his weakness, Horatio rolled over and held himself over her. "Hold still, Emmie" he reassured into her ear. "Don't move. I've got you."

Adrenaline shot through Frank when he heard only silence. "Horatio? Emmie? You there? Over!"

As the Hummer groaned and bounced beneath her, Emmie could feel even more water underneath her, soaking her clothes, choking and coughing as it ran into her nose. Quickly Horatio snaked his arm under her neck, pulling her head up, keeping her from drowning. He could look up enough to see more water splashing in through the broken window. It was now swallowing them up.

Now it felt like the Hummer was drifting.

Fear gripped them now as Alexx, Ryan and Frank stood by. "Emmie? Horatio?" Frank bellowed. "Answer me!"

Only silence.

The Hummer now swayed and creaked as the flood waters began to move, sweeping it along.

"Hold on, Emmie!" Horatio yelled above the noise. By now there must have been two inches of water beneath them. She closed her eyes and wailed, holding his arm more tightly.

Now the whole world tilted. The heaviness of the Hummer's engine caused the nose to tip down into the water, causing them to slide toward the cab. Instead of the usual pounding rain, Horatio saw dirty brown water pound angrily on the windshield. They were sinking.

The Hummer finally came to rest against a cluster of trees with a thump. Horatio glanced around quickly, knowing he would have to do something. "Emmie, face me! Hold tightly onto my waist!"

The scared, shivering computer tech slid around, clenching her teeth when pain shot through her broken leg again. She obediently wrapped both arms around his waist, holding on as though in a death grip, nearly suffocating him. As weak as he was, he knew it would be up to him to save them both. He knew that to stay in that Hummer would be to drown.

Horatio quickly unhooked the cargo strap that hung over them and quickly tightened it around them, pulling up inch by inch, until he could hook onto a tree limb. In his mind Horatio knew he could pull them both to safety. But as he pushed them closer to the edge, his weakness almost caused him to give way. His feet began to slip, but he then held more tightly onto the strap. But he knew there were no other options. It was either get out of that Hummer or drown.

He yanked along the cargo strap, one pull at a time, into the cluster of branches that he knew would support them, well above the creeping brown water, above the alligators and floating garbage. The rain blinded them both. Emmie held her face into Horatio's shoulder so the rain wouldn't drown her. He braced himself and Emmie between the branches.

Horatio looked up through the driving rain when he heard another horrible groan and creak. The Hummer now slowly disappeared nose first into the brown river, sending up air bubbles, wrappers, plastic water packets, and more clothes. It could have been them.

Frank closed his eyes. "Horatio? Emmie? Answer me, dammit! Over!"

Silence.

All eyes were on the overhead speaker. Without a word he laid down the handheld. Alexx quietly walked out of the room. Calleigh dipped her head and folded her arms.

"Please be alive" Frank begged, his eyes still on the speaker.

In his weakness Horatio knew he couldn't support the both of them for long. "Grab a branch and hold on" Horatio shouted over the roaring water. "I'm not gonna let us go! I promise!"

Emmie obediently reached for the nearest branch, looking down as the brown water raced along just inches below her foot, threatening to swallow them up. Horatio settled them onto a fork.

Without warning Emmie could feel the branches dip and groan. "No!"

Horatio stiffened up as the tree began to sag, threatening to dump both of them into the river of death just below. Emmie held even more tightly to Horatio and began to sob. She pondered that for the both of them this would be it. She felt her whole world tilt upward, as though Horatio was trying to stand. He'd been able to grab another cluster of branches. The one that had held them before now snapped and fell into the brown water and floated away.

It only seemed as though she had held onto him a few minutes when she could hear a boat motor from behind them.

"See that? They found us!" he yelled into her ear again. "We're going home!" Horatio waved with his free hand. "Over here, gentlemen!"

Emmie could only hang onto him and cry uncontrollably like a frightened little girl.

The small rescue boat pulled alongside as Horatio quickly pulled the cargo strap off his waist and threw it to the orange-vested police officer.

"Lieutenant Caine? Emmie Stockburne?" he yelled above the noise.

Horatio began to pry Emmie loose from his shoulders. "You better go first."

She slowly loosened her grip as he eased her down to the gray rescue boat. With her good leg she let herself slide down to the rain-soaked bench. The orange-vested officer reached and grabbed her around the waist.

"Come on, Ma'am. Careful."

"I think my leg's broken" she sobbed as he carefully lowered her to the rain-drenched seat.

Horatio wasted no time in stepping down from the branches, carefully into the boat. He was still weak and disoriented from his head injury, and he quickly sat down. "Good to see you, Gentlemen" he yelled, bending down and holding his head.

"Charlotte County Rescue" one of them said. "We've been looking for you!"

One orange-vested rescuer steered the boat carefully through the current. Emmie shivered and clutched her arms defensively as she lowered her head in the rain. Horatio put a hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry we took so long" the man said. "Been one hell of a night. Tracked down your police radio waves, and we were able to find you."

Horatio looked at the scared, shivering computer tech. "You were using the police radio?"

Emmie nodded, not really able to say much. She hung onto Horatio's arm as the rescue boat bobbed in the wind and the brown waves.

Frank stared vacantly at the hissing speaker in the computer lab, not sure what else to do at this point. Ryan leaned his head in his hands, while Calleigh simply stared at the wall.

Frank perked up when his phone chirped. "Yeah. Great!" He put his hand over the mouthpiece. "They got 'em!"

Ryan held his fist up while Calleigh smiled.

"Charlotte County General. Great. Thanks, Sergeant."

"So what happened?" Calleigh wanted to know.

Frank breathed a sigh of relief. "Rescue boat picked up them up about half an hour ago. Horatio's conscious, but he's got a head wound. They're on their way to Charlotte County General to get checked out right now."

Ryan stepped to the doorway of the computer lab and breathed a sigh of relief. Calleigh stood by him.

"See? I told you they'd make it" she teased.

He simply stared. Now he smiled for the first time in days.

"What is it?"

"Rain stopped."