Abigail makes a rude noise and tugs my elbow to get me moving.
“Please don’t go just yet,” Imogene says, her voice a little louder now. “I need to thank you.”
“No need,” I mutter carelessly. “Glad you’re okay.” I walk on past her and down the hallway.
“No, please wait,” she says a little louder. “I’m sorry!” Every person unlucky enough to be in the hallway freezes. “I’m sorry for the way we treated you!” she says again, her voice rising.
Abigail heaves out a sigh and looks at me, asking me what I want to do. I walk back to the pair of them. I’ve seen Derrick hanging out outside my hospital room. I could see him through the window. He stood there, staring at nothing, like he’s contemplating life. But not once did he try to come into my room. Not that my mom or Abigail would have let him, but still.
I come to a stop and stand in front of them, prepared to let them have their say. Suddenly, Imogene clams up.
Abigail rolls her eyes. “You’d be dead right now if not for him.” She jerks her thumb in my direction. “He saved your life, even after you treated him terribly.”
“I know.” Imogene’s voice is so quiet that I can barely hear it.
“Let it go,” I say quietly to all three of them. “It’s no big deal. I didn’t even know who I was helping. It was too dark, there was too much water…” A shudder wracks my body as I relive flashes of that incident, but I shake it off. “It didn’t matter who you were. I had to do what I could. So let’s just forget it and go our separate ways.”
I’m turning away when Imogene says, “Well, just know that I’m grateful to you.”
“Why should he care if you’re grateful or not?” Abigail asks fiercely. Her cheeks are pink with anger, and her back is ramrod straight. “He didn’t do it for your gratitude. He did it because it was the right thing to do.” She huffs out a breath and stares them down.
“I love you so much,” I say to her.
Imogene sucks in a breath, like my telling Abigail I love her hurts Imogene.
“Why did you drive into the rising water?” I decide to ask her. I’ve been curious about that since the night it happened. Her husband is the fire chief. Of course, he’s warned her about the dangers of flooding.
She shakes her head, looking chagrined. “I didn’t know it was that high,” she admits. “I’ve driven across that bridge many times over the years, even with several inches of water over it. I thought that was all it was, but as I got further and further across the bridge, the water started to lap at the sides of the car. Then the engine stalled out and I was stuck. I couldn’t get the windows down without the engine, and then the door wouldn’t open because of the force of the water. It rose so fast…so fast! I couldn’t get out.”
“I went in through the sunroof,” I remind her.
She nods. “You saved my life. You didn’t have to.” She squeezes Derrick’s hand where it’s resting on her shoulder. “But we are so grateful that you did.”
“As I said, I didn’t know it was you until after.”
“Fair enough,” Derrick says. “But you’d have saved her anyway, even had you known, because that’s who you are.” His eyes fill up with tears, and he blinks them back. “The first time Melanie brought you home to meet us, I didn’t like you,” he says frankly.
I try to grin but I’m afraid it’s more of a smirk. “I didn’t particularly think much of you two either.” They were pompous jerks who looked down their noses at me, a working-class guy.
“But then we saw the way you loved her,” Derrick says. He swipes at his nose. “The day I placed her hand in yours at the altar, I felt confident that you would take care of her for the rest of her life.”
Something tugs at my heart. Hard. “I’m sorry I let you down,” I say honestly. And I genuinely am sorry.
He shakes his head. “You didn’t let me down. You didn’t let her down. A tragic accident happened, and I tried to treat you like you did it on purpose, mainly because my heart was broken after my daughter’s death.” His voice breaks as he lays his hand upon his chest. “That’s