Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“You can assign me a buddy.” The words came out quickly but not without certainty. I’d just promised Holden I’d come back. And it wasn’t an empty promise. I meant to do everything in my power to keep it, and that meant accepting that there were limits to my skill set. And that the comfort and feelings of others I cared about mattered.
“You don’t have to prove a point,” Holden said in a low voice as Rob summoned the other volunteers over. “Not to me.”
“Maybe I’m proving one to me,” I whispered back. My gaze shifted to the missing diver’s tearful friend group. They hadn’t followed good diving protocols, and they’d have to live with that if the worst happened. I wasn’t about to make Holden live with what-ifs and might-have-beens. “Assign me someone experienced, please. Let’s bring this kid home.”
“Absolutely.” Holden nodded sharply, and we all spent the next few minutes hammering out a plan and a search grid as dive boats were readied. Holden scrawled volunteer info on a notebook he’d retrieved from his car before handing out assignments. Coming over to me, he pointed at the closest boat. “I’m sending you out on the first boat. And I’m giving you Heidi.” He held up a hand when I would have groaned. “She’s got certifications several of the more recreational divers don’t. And she’s ready to go, while others are still gearing up.”
“Let’s do it.” I forced a bare smile as Heidi strode over. We had no time to waste. By all calculations, the missing diver would be well into his emergency air supply, and if Holden trusted Heidi, that was good enough for me.
As we descended near the submerged train engine, the deepest part of the lake, the water grew murkier, visibility at a premium. I used both hand signals and the com set to talk with Heidi as we worked the search area we’d been assigned.
“Whoa.” She narrowly avoided snagging her suit on a jagged piece of the engine’s smokestack. I stifled a curse. I’d agreed to a buddy for Holden’s sake, but keeping Heidi safe was one more thing to keep track of while also battling pea-soup visibility levels.
“Careful. Go slow.” I kept my voice as even as my breathing. I didn’t want to waste any of my own air supply or our precious seconds.
“Cal. Go low.” Heidi barked a sharp, surprisingly authoritative command, narrowly saving me from an overhang of twisted metal and debris.
“Thanks.” Okay. Maybe there were advantages to a dive buddy. I tried to keep my mind on the search, but images of Ev kept flashing in my brain, all the countless times we’d saved each other, over and over, until the one time I couldn’t. Did that one awful ending negate all the times we’d had each other’s backs? All the good I’d found in teamwork? The family I’d found in the SEALs? Had I really needed to dismiss all of that, erase all the benefits simply because…
I hurt.
I’d been wounded, laid low, like an injured wolf, determined to heal my pain alone.
And then I met Holden.
He’d seen my pain, fought his way past it. Now, for the first time in five long years, I wanted to be part of a team again. A family. And I wanted to be a leader again, trust that part of my skills as well. I’d been a damn fine chief. I summoned those long-shelved commands and let my instincts guide Heidi and me.
And then we spotted him.
The diver was caught in a fine mesh metal net near the engineer’s compartment, hopelessly entangled.
“Found him. Stand by for injuries.” I relayed our coordinates back to command before Heidi and I worked in quiet, efficient tandem to free the diver with our dive knives. His body was distressingly unresponsive, but I detected the barest hints of pulse and respiration.
Alive. I had to cling to that chance as we prepped him to ascend with us.
“Thanks,” I mouthed to Heidi. And I meant it. Her presence and ability to follow my lead had bought us precious minutes, quite possibly making the difference between a rescue and a recovery.
As soon as we were on the boat, Heidi and I continued our joint efforts, stripping back the diver’s gear to better assess his vitals. Biting her lip, Heidi shook her head.
“I felt something below. I did.” My voice scraped against my sandpapery throat. “Start CPR.”
“Absolutely.” To her credit, Heidi didn’t waste a second arguing with me, even though her eyes said she’d already called it.
We started CPR together, her on rescue breaths, me on chest compressions.
“Switch,” Heidi ordered as we sped to the shore. The man piloting the boat kept glancing back at us over his shoulders, expression grim.
Trust. I had to trust she could do compressions as well as me. My exhausting myself served no one. There was nothing to be gained by being a martyr, a lesson I could have used dozens of dives ago, but here we were, held together by trust and hope and sheer determination to help this young man cheat death.