Chapter 19
Graham smoked with increasing frenzy, watched in heavier silence, and donated anonymously with obsessive intensity, as if these acts could prove something–could hold together the fragile thread of hope teetering on the edge of collapse.
He noticed Evelyn gradually warming to Nathan Reed, no longer keeping him at arm’s length.
He saw Nathan escort her to the entrance of her apartment building, the two lingering for a few words before parting.
Each time, Graham stood behind the icy window of his Crestwood Suites room, enduring a pain
that cut like a thousand blades.
Evelyn seemed to be moving toward a new life–one that didn’t include him.
The truth hit harder than any hail of bullets he’d ever faced, filling him with despair and a fear that
gnawed at his core.
He felt like a caged beast, seeing the light of escape yet trapped by the bars he’d built himself, tormented by endless agony.
This silent, grueling tug–of–war had stripped him of the last remnants of sharpness and pride,
leaving only boundless regret and an endless, humbling wait.
The South’s rainy season was long and brutal.
That summer, a hurricane swept through, bringing a once–in–a–century downpour.
For days, torrential rains pounded the land, swelling the river until it shattered the long–neglected floodwall.
Floodwaters roared like a beast set free, carrying mud and splintered wood as they swept through the low–lying old town.
In an instant, streets became an ocean.
Cries for help, screams, and the deafening crash of collapsing homes tore through the curtain of
rain.
When the news reached the Crestwood Suites, Graham was staring at a military map, lost in thought.
The report jolted him upright. “Multiple residential buildings near the community high school are flooded. People are trapped.”
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He shot to his feet, pale as ash. His coffee cup tipped over, scalding water soaking the map, but he
didn’t notice.
Evelyn! She lived on the first floor of an apartment in that area!
Fear gripped his heart like icy claws, almost choking him.
He didn’t think. Like a wild animal, he bolted out the door, ignoring rain gear, plunging into the torrential downpour and waist–deep, murky floodwaters.
The current was swift and freezing, the water a chaotic swirl of floating furniture, debris, and jagged branches.
His military jeep was useless, stalled in the flood.
Relying on raw strength and soldier’s instincts, Graham swam and climbed, fighting both the current and the panicked crowd, desperate to reach Evelyn’s apartment building.
Rain blurred his vision, but one thought consumed him: he had to find her.
The familiar streets were unrecognizable, swallowed by the deluge.
When he reached her apartment complex, his heart sank.
Several old buildings teetered, their first floors submerged, water still rising.
Rescue boats struggled through the chaos, horns blaring, cries echoing in a frantic din.
“Evelyn! Evelyn Hart!” Graham’s hoarse shouts were lost in the storm.
He grabbed a rescuer. “Have you seen a woman named Evelyn Hart? She teaches at the community high school and lives on the first floor!”
“The first floor’s flooded! Everyone’s been moved upstairs!” the rescuer shouted. “The buildings are unstable–could collapse at any moment! We’re organizing another evacuation!”
Collapse? Graham’s blood ran cold.
He didn’t hesitate. Taking a deep breath, he dove into the murky water, swimming toward Evelyn’s building entrance guided by memory.
Underwater, barely able to see, he groped through a shattered window, icy water flooding the room as furniture bobbed and collided around him.
“Evelyn! Evelyn Hart! Are you here?!” he yelled, voice raw, searching frantically.
No answer. Only the roar of the flood and the terrifying crash of water against walls.
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Despair coiled around him, threatening to drag him under.
Just as he prepared to surface for air, his foot brushed something soft.
He dove down, reaching out-
It was a human leg.
Chapter 19
