She was barely aware of someone grabbing her on the back, pulling her up by the harness she was still wearing. She was then moved horizontally and placed on something flat. She still felt the rocking of the water, though, lightly back and forth. She stared up to the night sky, the shape of the Wards Island Bridge jutting out darker than the night off to her left, and after a while both shades of dark were replaced by something a bit deeper and much more calming.

***

Rachel? Rachel, hey, come on now…

Her eyes fluttered open. Harsh lights sliced through her eyes, so startling that she sat up with a gasp. She took in her surroundings and realized that she was in the back of an ambulance. Jack was crouched in an awkward half-bent shape over the gurney she was sitting on. She was covered in a thermal blanket, and her wet clothes were still on, though the bungee harness had been removed.

How long? she asked.

Maybe fifteen minutes. You were pulled out of the river by a city maintenance boat on patrol to record river levels.

And what about Lisa? she asked, already slipping off of the gurney to go back outside. She kept the blanket around her shoulders.

Shes alive. Shes been formally arrested, and Branson is currently taking her to the precinct. But you…well, you need to rest. I dont know what the hell you were thinking, but...well, damn. It was crazy, but it worked. She says you saved her life.

Rachel, having slid off of the gurney, hunched over to walk to the opened back doors of the ambulance. Two medics rushed to her right away. A surge of panic raced through her as she wondered if theyd be able to tell that something was wrong with hersomething aside from the trauma shed just endured and her absolute lack of strength from fighting the river and Lisa at the same time.

Im okay, she said. Just tired.

Im sure you are, one of the medics said. She was a younger woman, maybe in her late twenties, who was currently looking at Rachel as if she were a certified badass. Rachel considered what she had just done and wondered how long it would take for word of it to spread around the bureau. She smiled tiredly as she thought of how Anderson would likely react.

Rachel, are you really okay? Jack asked.

Yeah.

Jack looked to the medics and, through an appreciative smile, said: Can we get a second?

The medics walked away, giving them a respectful distance. One of them went to the front of the ambulance to place a call.

Jack sat on the bumper of the ambulance while Rachel reclaimed a seat on the edge of the little gurney. She held the thermal blanket tight around her shoulders not because she was cold from the river water but because it was cozy and secure.