The Life You've Imagined: A Novel by Kristina Riggle

Author:Kristina Riggle [Riggle, Kristina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General
ISBN: 9780062006882
Google: Lj9yUgC4aZkC
Amazon: B003P2VNYM
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: 2010-08-17T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 30

Anna

I’m on my hands and knees whispering Hail Mary, full of grace . . .

I started CPR, but a doctor from the crowd rushed to her, elbowing me aside. Now I crouch, shivering, whispering the only prayer I can think of as he grunts over Maddie, still and white on the sand. The party crowd stands in a gaping horseshoe around us, their faces forming a wall of shock: all mouths open, hands over their faces.

Over the doctor’s noises and the relentless splashing of the lake, I try to silence my own ragged breathing to listen for sounds from that little girl.

Hail Mary, full of grace . . .

And then sounds come. A cough, then more coughing, and a vomiting sound, and a wail that’s heartbreaking and beautiful because it’s human and alive. I drop my head on the sand and breathe: Thank you.

Now I hear pounding on the wooden stairs, fast and uneven; they’re skipping several steps. I look up to see Beck, wild in his running, his parents behind with blankets, all their faces pulled tight with fear.

I pull up to my feet, my body aching with cold and effort and tension.

The wailing continues from Madeline as the adults bundle her and Beck cradles her, soothing, yet crying himself. I can see him shaking, even at a distance, and watching him I feel just a taste of his fear, and I feel faint with it.

Beck and his family move up the steps still urgently, but now smoothly and with care. A siren grows louder as it nears the top of the hill.

Beck and his parents have gone to the hospital, where they must have called Samantha, and here in a guest bed in the Becker house, I clench my eyes tight against imagining what it would be like to get that call.

Beck’s sister, Tabitha, finally noticed me, shivering on the sand. She thanked me in such a formal and serious way it was hard to imagine she was once the dorky kid in spectacles we all called Tabby Cat. She attended to my practical needs by leading me to the guest room with an adjacent shower, sink, and bathrobes. As always, it was stocked with soap and shampoo, in both manly, spicy scents and girly, fruity stuff. This is a family who attends to details. How do they miss a little girl walking into a lake?

Of course, I missed it, too. Some lifeguard I turned out to be.

I pull the bathrobe closer on my body, hugging a pillow and staring at the dark window, trying not to think about all the times Beck and I had sex in this room when his parents were out of the house. It felt risky doing it at home, but it wasn’t, really, not with the door locked, and the house was so big that by the time someone walked throug the huge, creaky front door and came upstairs, there was ample time to scramble our clothes back on and dash out into public spaces again.

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