‘Children have larger heads relative to the rest of their body than adults, much larger, meaning they lose heat more quickly. Add to this the fact that children’s temperature regulation systems aren’t as well developed as they are in adults and you have the reason that Jake lived to tell the tale.’
A few of the students looked at each other, confused.
‘Let me put it simply,’ continued Jason. ‘If an adult had gone into that lake for that length of time, they would be dead. However, four-year-old Jake’s body went into suspended animation almost immediately, which meant that his organs and brain were protected and preserved almost immediately, which meant he could stay down there for much longer than four minutes without being brain-damaged, which meant he could be brought back to life.’
There were still a few puzzled expressions.
Jason spoke his next words very slowly.
‘The combination of Jake’s age, the coldness of the water and the fact that when a child is going to drown they usually submerge very quickly means that a cold child drowning has a fifty per cent better chance of survival than any adult in the same situation.’
The woman in the poodle jumper raised her hand in the air again. It seemed that, despite her earlier knock, she wasn’t going to go down without a fight.
‘Mr Thursby?’
‘Yes?’
‘Isn’t it true to say that Jake wasn’t drowning? I mean, if he lived, which you say he did, then he wasn’t drowning was he, he was merely underwater?’
Jason frowned.
‘What do you mean?’
I started to feel nervous. This woman was challenging a fable Jason had clung on to and nurtured for God knows how long. She was saying his story was flawed.
The woman shimmied her shoulders.
‘To say that someone is drowning would mean that the end result is death and so, well, wouldn’t it be more accurate to say a cold child under water has a good chance of survival?’ She sat up a little straighter. ‘To say he was drowning, if you were to look at the meaning of the word, it tells us how things turned out, it tells us that the boy died.’
‘Maybe,’ said Jason, ejecting the DVD. ‘But the official medical definition of the word drowning does not equal certain death.’
He put the DVD back in its case and began pacing up and down the room, a curl of a smile on his face.
‘A cold child drowning.’ He said the words carefully, absorbing the feel of them in his mouth, and then, quoting the definition he’d learnt off by heart, ‘Drowning is the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion in liquid. It does not imply fatality, or even the necessity for medical treatment.’
He moved in close to the poodle-jumper woman.
‘So, you see, the end result is not death. His fate is not already decided.’ His face was glowing, beatific in the late morning sunshine. ‘It’s all still to play for, all of it.’
Chapter Thirty-One
While Jason packed up his classroom, I went to wait in the car. I got into the passenger seat and pulled out my purse. I’d forgotten all about Mark’s business card until he’d mentioned it this afternoon. I found it tucked between my driving licence and Tesco Clubcard.
Jason had just appeared through the double doors of the college when my phone began to ring. Thinking it might be something to do with work, I answered quickly.
‘Heidi Thursby speaking.’
‘It’s me.’
Tommy.
‘I hadn’t heard from you. I wanted to check you were OK?’
‘I’ve been busy.’
‘Heidi the busy bee.’ He laughed to himself.
Jason would be getting into the car at any moment. But then, when I looked, I saw that he was still standing outside the college. He’d been accosted by the poodle-jumper woman from his class.
‘I’d like to see you,’ continued Tommy. ‘Pick up where we left off.’
My breath caught in my throat. I had thought that, after the way I’d behaved the other night, he’d want nothing more to do with me.
I checked back on Jason’s progress. He had his head cocked to one side and seemed to be genuinely interested in whatever it was the woman wanted to talk about.
‘What do you say?’ pushed Tommy, a wobble to his tone I hadn’t picked up on first time around. ‘Shall we arrange another get-together?’ And there it was again, that giveaway lilt. ‘Heidi?’
Jason had extricated himself from the poodle woman and was back on the move. It would be only a matter of seconds before he was at the car. I kept the phone