| |
After several days dealing with the crowded beaches, James suggested that they head over to Limestone Lake and take advantage of the little-known getaway.
“Limestone Lake?” Anne asked. “I’ve never heard of it and I’ve been here with my aunt for years.” She glanced over at Derek, aware that each time she returned she hoped that she would run into him.
She had no way of knowing he was torturing himself by doing the same thing in her hometown.
“Visiting,” James pointedly stated.
Bee rolled her eyes. “Don’t listen to him,” she interjected. “He wouldn’t have known about Limestone if he wasn’t here when we took the kids there one-day last summer.”
James went still when he remembered the purpose of that visit.
“Now,” Frank added, “Remember not to jump off of the diving pier. We’ve had an unusually dry season and the water levels are lower than usual. So, no diving.”
“You aren’t coming with us?” Isa asked, dismissing his warnings.
“Unfortunately, I have to go to work,” Bee answered. “Somebody had to take off half of her shift for an appointment and I volunteered to cover for her.”
“And somebody has to watch this zoo,” Frank gestured towards where the neighborhood children had already gathered in his backyard. “I feel horrible on the days that I have to lock the gates. Most of these kids don’t have any place else safe to play and it takes a load off of their parents' minds.”
Leaning forward, Bee pretended to whisper, “They bring food and beer to pay for his unofficial child care services. One time a parent had four pizzas delivered for lunch as a surprise during summer vacation.”
––––––––
––––––––
The first time Isa called out to Derek to catch her from where she was standing on the deck, he was able to act quickly. “Isa!” he scolded her. “If I didn’t catch you in time anything could have happened.”
“I trust that you’ll catch me,” Isa said, snuggling in his arms.
Anne, sitting nearby at one of the picnic tables with her sketchbook in hand, glared at Isa’s back. A moment later, she started shaking her head and went back to sketching out the tire swing that was being ignored because of the low water level warning signs plastered all over the place.
It had taken every single one of them to stop Isa from climbing on the swing and jumping out over the lake. But, jumping off the diving pier and forcing Derek to catch her appeared to be fair game in the nineteen-year-old’s head.
“But it isn’t safe,” he protested, dropping her out of his arms and into the water. Instead of dealing with Isa, he climbed out of the lake and joined Anne at the table, keeping a safe distance from her book.
“Derek!” Isa called out. “Come back.”
“I’m not going back in that water until you stop making me catch you.”
“I only did it once!”
Drawing in a deep breath, Derek shook his head.
“You make him catch you all over campus,” Etta helpfully added.
“And on the stairs at home,” Charles agreed.
Mary, rolling her eyes, added nothing. Instead, she flitted around from table to table, chair to chair, looking for a more comfortable place to sit.
“Seriously, guys!” Isa protested, her eyes cutting in James’ direction. “I’m not that bad.”
“Yes, you are,” Charles and Etta voiced.
Thirty minutes later, Derek had forgotten his promise and returned to the lake to cool down. Anne, snapping her book shut, shortly followed him. They were floating near the diving pier, treading water while holding onto the floating platform, strategizing about what they were going to do in a few days.
Without any warning, they heard the sound of running feet and felt the dock rocking. “Derek! Catch me!” Isa called out.
Swimming backward, he struggled to get back to where he needed to be.
“Isa! Stop!” Anne cried. “It isn’t safe!”
“Isa!” Etta shouted. “No!”
“Catch me!” Isa repeated.
The floating dock wasn’t stable enough for Isa’s mad dash across it, causing her to stumble. When she landed, her head hit the edge of the dock and Isa ended up rolling off the dock and into the water five feet away from Anne.
Anne, diving quickly, struggled to pull Isa out of the water until Derek reached them and helped by getting on Isa’s other side.
Emerging from the water, gasping for breath, they tried to pull Isa towards the shore until Derek could scoop her up and carry her to land.
Mary, having witnessed nothing about what was happening, started screaming and sobbing out her distress.
Etta, having witnessed everything from the lake, had gone pale and silent.
Charles, having not witnessed what was going on since he was with his wife, started pacing as he watched them carrying Isa’s body out of the lake. He’d start towards them and then walk back to Mary, before taking several more steps back towards them.
“Over there!” Anne directed Derek to where somebody - James - had spread out a beach towel.
Mary’s screeching did nothing to help the situation, but it seemed to echo throughout the area. In fact, after Derek placed Isa where Anne had directed him to, Mary’s panic seemed to impact Derek as he started rambling, asking is Isa was okay, if Isa was alive.
“Oh, do be quiet, Mary!” Anne snapped. “You aren’t injured!” Anne turned to James. “Calm Derek down. Charles, take care of your wife.” Shaking her head, she started to mumble, “James, call 911.”
“I’ll do it,” Derek replied, looking pale and shaky, but his color was considerably better than Isa’s.
He’d told her not to jump off the pier!
“There’s no bleeding,” Anne mumbled to herself.
“I’ll do CPR if you can do the compressions,” James volunteered. “I was an EMT before I signed up.”
“911. What’s your emergency?” came over the speakerphone of Derek’s cell.
“We’re at the pier...”
“The diving pier at Limestone Lake,” Anne supplied. “I know how,” she commented to James. “I’m better at compressions than with the breathing anyway.”
“When one of us jumped off, she hit her head on the landing and fell into the water,” Derek finished.
“There’s no bleeding,” Anne added loudly, continuing the chest compressions to the rhythm of the Bee Gee’s Staying Alive. It had been her mother’s favorite and she knew it by heart. “And she’s not breathing on her own.”
“It somebody doing CPR?”
“Yes!” Anne replied. “Mary, calm down,” she commanded her sister as Mary’s wails increased in volume. “Charles, take her over to the picnic tables. I can barely hear the 911 operator.”
“And ambulance is on the way. Make sure you stop when she starts breathing on her again.”
“I told her not to jump,” Derek worriedly said to Anne. “The signs are everywhere that the water levels are down.”
“Isa is a very determined girl,” Anne pointed out. “You did once say you liked a girl who knew her own mind,” she distractedly reminded him. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t the time or place to remind him of his own words; Anne’s filter had been dropped.
“She’s breathing! It doesn’t sound like she swallowed any water,” James interrupted, pulling back from breathing into Louisa’s mouth.
“That’s good,” the 911 operator stated. “Stop CPR unless she stops.”
Derek sat in the waiting room alone while Charles and Etta visited with their sister. James had disappeared and Anne had managed to convince Mary to go downstairs to the snack machines.
“This is all my fault,” he said to the empty room.
Charles joined him later, leaving Etta with her sister for a while.
“How is she?”
“Still out,” Charles answered him. “Somebody needs to take Etta home and tell my parents.” Shaking his head, he added, “We don’t want to tell them over the phone.”
“I can do that,” Anne answered. “We both know Mary will pitch a fit if she’s asked to leave.”
“Why would I be asked to leave?” Mary asked, her hands full of chips and candy.
“I thought you were going to stay downstairs?” Anne tried to redirect her sister’s attention.
“I got bored. And lonely.” Pulling a bottle out of her purse, she passed the soda to Charles. “Drink?” she asked Derek.
“Water?”
Wrinkling her nose, she pulled a bottle out. “Anne told me to get some.” Turning back to Charles. “Now, why would anybody ask me to leave?”
“Well,” he drawled, “waiting hours will be ending soon and only two people are allowed to stay, and only one of them in the room.”
“Who is staying?”
“Me and Derek.”
“Why Derek? Who is he to Isa?” Mary sneered. “Certainly not a family member.”
“He’s her boyfriend,” Charles stated as if it was fact.
Derek blanched at the words. He’d certainly never made things official with her. Everybody else saw what they wanted to see. And, he glanced at Anne, didn’t see what negated their agendas.
“Derek can’t be anymore more useful than Anne is,” Mary dismissed her sister as well, forgetting that Anne had helped save Isa’s life not five hours before.
“Hey!”
“Hey!” Glaring at his wife, he added, “Anne had enough presence of mind to calmly know what to do. She remembered to call 911 and those CPR classes she took after we learned about Charles Jr.”
“Whatever,” Mary dismissed. “She can’t do anything now.”
Closing her eyes, Anne handed a bag of Skittles to Derek, concerned about his blood sugar levels once she’d noticed how pale he’d gotten.
“I’ll take Etta and Derek home,” she sighed, “and tell your parents.”
“I can drive,” Derek protested, handing the bag back to her.
“Not until you eat something and the food court is closed.”
“We’ll stop by and get some fast food on the way.”
Pushing the candy at him again, Anne gave him a look. “I’m driving until you look better.”
