as I can toward the surface, and the moment I break the top, I gasp for air and look at her pale face. “God, please,” I whimper. I shout for help and shout for her to wake up as I swim toward shore. The moment I feel sand under my feet, I start to walk through the water with her in my arms, not even realizing people have started to gather along the water’s edge.
“I’ve got her,” an older man says, trying to take her from me, but my hold on her tightens.
“She’s not breathing.” I shake my head, then repeat, “She’s not breathing.”
“I know. I’ll help her.” He places his arms under her limp body, and I let him take her from me, then watch as he runs the rest of the way out of the water before dropping to his knees in the sand and placing her on the ground. My knees wobble as I watch him start to give her CPR.
“Come on, dear.” I look over at an older woman wearing large shades and a big hat as she places her arm around my waist in an attempt to hold me up when I start to fall.
“EMTs are on the way,” I hear someone say, and I look around the crowd, then down the beach, where I spot Amy’s parents still asleep under the umbrella, even with all the activity going on.
“Her parents.” I shiver, even though I’m not cold.
“Pardon?” the woman asks, adjusting the big floppy hat on her head.
I stumble away from her with my entire body shaking. “She needs her parents. They’re sleeping.”
“I don’t understand.” She follows me, even as I start to run.
When I reach where the two of them are lying, I rip their umbrella out of the ground, and they both instantly sit up. “What the fuck, bitch?” the guy snaps, and anger like I have never felt in my life surges through me.
“Your daughter is over there!” I scream while swinging my arm out to the crowd, which is growing by the minute. “She’s getting CPR, because you two idiots weren’t looking after her.”
The woman’s face pales; then she and the man both jump to their feet and start to run. I stumble behind them through the sand, hearing sirens getting closer, and then my legs give out from under me when I hear someone shout, “She’s breathing!”
“You saved her,” the woman who helped me earlier says while resting her hand on my back, and I look at her as my vision blurs. “Are you okay?”
Am I? I don’t know.
“You don’t look so good.”
“I’m okay.” I try to stand, but my body feels weak and my vision seems to be growing dimmer by the second. “I live right there.” I point toward my apartment, which is only a little ways up the beach.
“Let me help you up.” She weaves her arm through mine, and I use her strength to pull myself up off the ground.
“Thanks. I think I’ve got it from here.” I blink, trying to get rid of the stars and darkness that are sweeping over me.
“Darling, I know you think you’re okay, but I think you should sit down and rest for a moment,” she says, eyeing me with concern.
I wave her off. “I just need to get my stuff and go home. After I rest, I’ll be fine.” I take two steps and hear a gasp right before everything goes black.
“Everyone back up!” A deep, familiar rumble drags me through the darkness toward consciousness.
“Is she okay?” a somewhat familiar woman’s voice asks.
“You said she just passed out, right?” Warm fingers touch my neck; then a large hand comes to rest on my chest.
“Yeah, she looked pale but said she was okay, but then her eyes went weird and she kind of toppled over.”
“She rescued that girl,” a male voice says, and I try to open my eyes as everything comes back to me. “She’s probably in shock.”
“She said she lives right there,” the woman adds as I force my eyes open but then close them against the bright light. “She was going to go home.”
“Is Amy okay?” I ask, wondering why my throat hurts and feels like I’ve eaten sand.
“Get me some water.”
Calvin? My muscles bunch, and I open my eyes to find Calvin leaning over me.
His gaze locks with mine; then his fingers slide down my cheek.
“Hey, beautiful.”
“Oh God.” I close my eyes, hearing him chuckle.
“Can you sit up for me and rinse your mouth out?”
I