Chapter 246: Captured by the River
Regardless of what Elmo had thought might happen, having Jonas thrown into him was not anywhere on that list.
It wasn't until he'd breathed in a mouthful of water that he even came to his senses and struggled to climb to the surface. He couldn't think of anything beyond that, but as soon as he reached the surface of the river, he realized that Jonas didn't come up with him.
He wasn't sure how long it was before he was able to clear his lungs of the water that had invaded them. Only that he wasn't able to think of anything else until he managed to clear them. Though, his lungs still let him know about their displeasure even when they were clear of the water.
Looking around, he felt a surge of panic as he tried to figure out where Jonas was. He didn't understand why Jonas wouldn't have surface when Elmo had felt like he'd been hit by a freight train when Jonas had collided with him. Elmo could only be thankful that he hadn't had the wind knocked out of him and wondered if maybe that had happened to Jonas.
Taking a deep breath, he dove hoping against hope that he'd be able to find Jonas in the murky water. He didn't know what to expect, but desperately kept his hands stretched out as he floundered in the water, trying to move deeper as the current continued to sweep him forward.
Whether it was luck or something else, his hand briefly grazed something that didn't feel like it belonged in the river. He couldn't say what it had felt like, just that it was out of place in the water.
Using that as a direction to focus on, Elmo started to move in the direction with more deliberate strokes than he had up to the point. With being unable to see in the water, Elmo could only hope that it was Jonas and wasn't Kim or Elin who might have been knocked into the river as well.
When Elmo encountered what had felt in that brief moment a minute later, he could feel that whatever it was, it was humanoid at least. So, he threw an arm of whoever it was around his shoulders and held the person with his left arm and struggled to swim with the dead weight towards the surface, his legs kicking furiously.
Elmo didn't know how deep he'd gotten, but it wasn't until he started to try to surface that he realized his lungs were starting to burn with the strain of holding his breath. Not to mention the pain he still felt from having breathed in water earlier.