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Back The Lighthouse Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. PART ONE
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. PART TWO
  13. 12
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 18
  18. 19
  19. 21
  20. 22
  21. 23
  22. 24
  23. 25
  24. 26
  25. 27
  26. 28
  27. 30
  28. 31
  29. 32
  30. 33
  31. 34
  32. 35
  33. 36
  34. 37
  35. 38
  36. 39
  37. 40
  38. 41
  39. 42
  40. 43
  41. PART THREE
  42. 44
  43. 45
  44. 46
  45. 47
  46. 49
  47. 50
  48. 51
  49. 52
  50. EPILOGUE

The voice surrounded Amy, growing louder and louder, and as it did the pressure inside her body became immense. An unbearable pain shot out from her chest, up into her throat, then something else stirred inside, something infinitely cold and rigid, like ice crystalizing around her heart. Then she no longer felt the movement of the water, no longer felt much at all. The chill inside her spread out across her body, curling around every muscle, numbing every limb, until the only thing she had left was a vague, distant sense of consciousness.

•••

There was nothing more Kevin could do. Despite his desperate attempts to revive her, Amy remained unresponsive. He felt his own life draining away at the sight of her body lying flat on the floor, limp and cold and chillingly pale.

But then, just as Kevin’s last scrap of hope was fading, as his agonized cries were ricocheting off the tiled walls of that tiny room, something impossible happened, something miraculous—it was ever so faint, barely perceptible, but Amy’s skin was beginning to stir with color.

“Amy!”

Kevin bent down, breathed in more air, then put his ear to her mouth and listened—and there, from the depths of her throat, he heard a faint gasp.

“That’s it, Amy! Come back, come back to me . . .”

Her skin warmed even further, her eyelids twitched, then her lips moved, and she gave a little cough. Then, with sudden, violent force, she arched her back in the air and coughed much harder, causing water to come bubbling out of her mouth and splutter across the floor.

“Amy, Amy . . .” Kevin rolled her onto her side and rubbed her back, desperate to help expunge the water. “Can you hear me? Are you all right ?”

Amy remained on her side for a minute, coughing uncontrollably, holding her hands on her chest, taking quick, short breaths. Noticeably groggy, she sat up and took a long, confused look around the bathroom, and at those standing by the door. She coughed again, grimaced a little, then turned to Kevin, who couldn’t do or say anything except cry with hysterical relief and wrap his little girl up in his arms.

“Dad . . . what happened?”

PART THREE

PART
THREE

44

44

The paramedics arrived not long after Amy regained consciousness. Even they were visibly stunned when they heard what had happened. They performed a few quick checks—listened to her heart, took her blood pressure—then loaded both her and Kevin into an ambulance and drove them to the nearest hospital in a larger town two counties over.