Ah, but she also recalled that split second of falling. She recalled leaping off of the bridge feeling weightless and absolutely free.

She felt Lisa pushing her down and Rachel simply stopped. She stopped fighting, she stopped trying to swim and get out from under Lisas weight. Maybe this is better, she thought as her lungs started to twinge. Maybe I just die here, away from family, without having to explain anything to anyone. Without having to go through my diagnosis with Peter and Paige, without having this cancer steal my life away, without having to go through that pain and suffering. Maybe it just ends here on my own terms…

Again, Paiges face filled her head. She thought of Peter accidentally telling Paige about Grandma Tate. She thought of how Paige looked when she woke up first thing in the morning, of how Peter always tried cooking breakfast on Sundays and the pancake batter wasnt quite done in the center. She thought of his embrace first thing in the morning, and of Paiges laugh…

Her feet started kicking before she was aware of it. On her way to the surface, she grabbed Lisas right arm. She twisted it and yanked up as she broke the surface. She gasped for air, her lungs aching with relief. Lisa tried to fight against her, but the arm lock made it impossible and she

She was still so disoriented that Rachel didnt see the bright light just ahead of her. At first, her heart dropped because she was sure it was all in her head, a result of the tumor. But then she heard Lisa gasping, the fight going out of her, and then the loud roaring noise.

It was a boat. A small vessel of some kind was heading their way and the driver apparently did not see them because it was bearing down right on them. The light grew brighter, pointing off just to the right, and the engine noise was just loud enough so that she could not hear Lisas screams as it closed in on them.

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

The boats light was just barely to the right of them, forging ahead and carving through the water. Now that it was nearly on top of them, Rachel could see that it wasnt a very big boatlittle more than the size of a standard fishing boatbut that didnt matter; if it hit them, they were both dead. Already, she could feel the water being disrupted by its passage as the boat closed to within ten feet, then eight. The engine was like thunder, still drowning out Lisas screams.