Awakening

Zac lay motionless on the cold hard floor. His heart beating like crazy. He opened his eyes to the commotion of the police station.

"Wake Up.. sleepy head!" , the sergeant said. "Your bail has been made..."

Zac opened his eyes suddenly and felt a warm rush of adrenaline run through his spine. Despite the thrashing he received last night, he felt no pain.

"You there!" , said the seargent pointing his stick at Zac, " The Cap'n wants to see you..."

Zac stood up clumsily and reached for the door.

"What's this strange energy I feel inside..." he said to himself.

The jail door opened and Zac walked out and immediately saw Roxanne waiting for him with her arms crossed.

"Oh crap! Not her again..." Zac thought.

"So you've been busy..." said Roxanne as Zac walked towards her scratching his head.

"Sign here!" , said the Captain "and I don't wanna see you back here again..."

Zac reluctantly signed on the affidavit swearing not to engage himself in any illegal activities again . Roxanne grabbed his arm and almost dragged him out of the door.

"What the hell is wrong with you?", she said dragging him out of the precinct.

"I told you, if you ever need anything- you call me- do you even realise that I had to leave my work and come down here to save your ass!"

"Sorry!" ,Zac could only say so much- embarassed as he was.

"That ain't gonna do it, I need you to move in with me, so I can keep tabs on you"-she said holding her hand.

Zac was barely listening to her. He felt a strange echo inside – Help!

"Huh?" Zac exclaimed.

"You even listening to me?" , she asked again.

"Heellppp.. meee ... !" , Zac heard it again but this time closer.

"Zac!" , she said.

"Something's wrong...", he replied looking around .

A cool breeze blew across his face. She was still holding his right hand but his mind was frantically searching for something – that voice! Where is it coming from? He knew instinctively that someone was calling out for help. But who and where?

The road outside the Precinct was almost empty, across the station was the Hudson river, beyond which the skyscrapers lit the night sky . Zac heard the voice again and slowly started to walk the river. Roxanne stood there for a second quiet puzzled at his strange behaviour.

Zac kept walking towards the embankment as if he were drawn towards the voice.

"The river- there's something in the river- no someone!"

The water was pitch black – there was nothing except a singular boat floating aimlessly, untethered.

"Wait, Zac!", Roxanne came running after him.

Zac stood right on the edge of the embankment staring hard, scanning the waters. His eyes fixated on the boat.

"Please.. help!" the strange voice echoed in his head once again.

"That's it... Something is wrong with that boat!", he said to himself. "Someone's in trouble... Calling for help...needs my help..."

Roxanne came rushing towards him. She thought he had lost his mind. But Zac couldn't help himself. He was in a trance-like state. He felt drawn towards the waters – he had this strange urge to help someone. A sudden rush of adrenaline ran through his spine; he felt invincible. He took a deep breath and dived headlong into the dark waters. Roxanne stood there dumbfounded trying to process what had just happened...

Half an hour later-

Zac sat shivering by the embankment covered in a shock blanket. A paramedic was checking his pulse- two police cars and an ambulance along with a media van had arrived. He had just rescued a drowning woman. Roxanne sat there by his side still trying to understand the fact that her boyfriend had somehow rescued a drowning woman when he barely knew how to swim. The moment she saw him jump she came to her senses and ran back into the precinct and somehow persuaded the sergeant to help her. Within a few minutes, search and rescue teams came rushing along with the media people. Before they could begin the search, Zac came back swimming like a fish with the unknown woman in his arms. It was nothing short of a miracle. The sergeant walked towards him with suspicion in his mind. He had a lot of questions but the medics said that Zac was too hypothermic to speak- he needed to be in a hospital...