Suddenly Psychic (Glimmer Lake #1)(7)

Robin spotted Val, who was up and walking around. She was trying to get rid of the young EMT trailing her with an oxygen bottle.

“Will someone please call my mother?” Val said. “Just shut up about me and call my mom so I can talk to my kids. And don’t touch me!”

Monica wasn’t talking, but Robin could see her. She was pale and her eyes were staring into the distance. She was nodding and shaking her head as they asked questions, but she held an oxygen mask to her face like it was a security blanket.

And Robin… felt fine. Her chest hurt, but other than that, she felt fine. Her knee wasn’t even hurting.

Nothing about this made sense. They were near the lake, and Robin’s car was underwater. They’d managed to swim to shore— No, they hadn’t managed. She hadn’t been able to get the door open. There had been someone there. A man had broken the car window with a rock and pulled her out. She’d pulled Val. Val must have pulled Monica.

But she was looking around, and their rescuer was nowhere to be found. Had a Good Samaritan actually swam down to her car, rescued all three of them, and then disappeared?

There were too many lights and sirens and people. She couldn’t think straight.

“Robin?”

Was that Mark?

“Robin!”

A pair of arms gripped her and held her close.

That felt odd. And nice.

“I thought I’d lost you.” His voice was shaky. “They called and said your car went in the lake.” He pressed his cheek to the top of her head. “I thought I lost you. Oh my God, I thought I’d lost you.”

She patted his arm. “I’m here.” Over Mark’s shoulder, Robin’s eyes were drawn to the edge of the forest. There was a flicker of movement. Was it an animal?

“There was a white deer,” she said. “I’ve never seen one of those before. I can’t believe I swerved. That was so stupid.”

“Shhhh.” Mark kissed the top of her head. “You’re safe. You’re safe.”

He was rocking her back and forth. Robin couldn’t take her eyes off the trees. There was something there. Something important. She was halfway expecting the stranger with the dark hair to walk out of the woods, but he was nowhere. No one even mentioned the man who’d rescued them.

“You need more blankets,” Mark said, rubbing her arms up and down. He pulled off his flannel and wrapped it around her. “You’ve got to be freezing. They need to take you to the hospital. They’re taking you to the hospital, right?”

“I feel fine.” Robin lay with her head on Mark’s shoulder, watching in silence as a young girl—maybe twelve or thirteen—stepped out from the edge of the trees. No one seemed to notice her but Robin.

“Honey, you nearly drowned. The police said they had to do CPR. You need to go to the hospital.”

That sounded absolutely horrible. “I just want to go home.”

The girl was wearing an old-fashioned white nightgown. She stepped forward, her eyes locked on Robin; then she stopped and looked around. Her head tilted to the side as if she’d heard something in the distance. She looked back at Robin, put a finger to her lips in a “hush” gesture, then disappeared into the trees.

Huh.

Of all the weird things that’d happened, that might have been the weirdest.





Chapter 3





Emma’s face was as white as the sheets covering the hospital bed. “Mom, I am so sorry.”

Robin had to talk around the oxygen mask covering her face. She was too exhausted to be angry. “Baby, you had no idea my car was going to go in the lake. It’s not your fault.”

Her daughter sniffed. “It’s been months and I completely forgot I loaned that scraper to Lauren. It was when we had that sleepover last winter and there was snow on her windshield and we were late for school and I grabbed it out of your car and—”

“Emma.” She gripped her daughter’s hand. “Not your fault. And I’m fine. Val and Monica are fine. We survived and we’re going to be okay.”

The tears didn’t stop, but Robin’s words seemed to set Emma at ease. She nodded and laid her head on Robin’s hospital bed. “Where’s Dad?”

“I’m not sure.” She was exhausted, and all she wanted to do was sleep, but she didn’t want to leave Emma alone. Mark had picked Emma up and driven her into Bridger City where Robin, Monica, and Val were being held overnight for observation. Her parents were on the way. At Robin’s request, no one had told Grandma Helen.

She’d been battered by tests and all sorts of medical terms she couldn’t keep straight.

Blood oxygen levels.

Anoxia.

Hypothermia.

Brain hypoxia.

Post-traumatic stress syndrome.

She knew what the last one meant, but she was having problems keeping everything straight in her mind.

Someone had saved them.

No, there was no one there.

There was a girl at the lakeside.

The EMTs never saw her.

Someone was in the water with them.

No, it was just them and the blond tourist when emergency vehicles arrived. The car was under fifty feet of water. They had escaped from the car and floated to the surface. Val and Robin had already been breathing when they were found. Monica had to be resuscitated, but she was talking and that was good.