Mason swallows, his ears tinged with pink. “Oh, right. I, uh… got my acceptance letter for re-admission next semester. Already signed up for classes.”
My eyes widen, excitement surging through me. “Seriously?! That’s amazing!”
Without thinking, I reach across the table, sandwich his face between my palms, and kiss him. He tastes faintly of peppermint and smells like that bodywash that’s so distinctly him—fresh pine with a hint of bourbon.
Maddie gags dramatically. “Ugh, get a room.”
Mason smiles against my lips, flipping her off without breaking the kiss.
***
I wake up in Mason’s bed to the sound of shouting.
At first, I think I’m still dreaming—stuck in some kind of nightmare where I can’t move—but then the voices sharpen, frantic and real. I jolt upright, my chest pounding.
The space next to me is empty, the sheets still warm with the memory of Mason’s body heat.
“Mason?” My voice cracks.
No answer. The shouting rises again, muffled through the thin walls.
I stumble out of bed, bare feet landing on stained carpet, and follow the noise down the hall.
The door to Anna’s room is wide open. Inside, Maddie leans against the wall, sobbing so hard her whole body shakes. Anna lies motionless on the floor. Mason kneels beside her, phone jammed between his ear and shoulder.
“Her pulse is slow,” he says into the receiver, fingers pressed to her wrist. He pauses, listening to the dispatcher’s questions. “I don’t know what happened. She said she was feeling weak and her vision was going black, and then she fell.”
My stomach knots as Anna’s mouth works around each shallow breath, lips pale and cracked. She stirs faintly, a wet rasp escaping her throat. When she tries to speak, the words stumble out broken and slurred, her tongue refusing to cooperate.
Maddie collapses against me as I step beside her. I wrap an arm around her trembling shoulders, helpless as she sobs into my chest.
“Mom, hey, stay with me,” Mason urges, brushing damp hair from Anna’s face. “You’re okay. Just keep looking at me.”
Her eyes roll side to side, unfocused. She mumbles something incoherent, then her head lolls against the carpet.
“Mom!” Mason shakes her gently, panic ripping through his voice. He bends low, ear hovering over her mouth. His whole body goes rigid. “She’s not breathing.”
The phone slips from his shoulder and hits the floor. He switches the call to speaker mode, fingers shaking so hard he almost drops it again.
“We’re still a few minutes out,” the dispatcher’s voice crackles. “We’ll guide you through CPR—”
“No,” Mason cuts them off, voice breaking but fierce. “It’s fine. I’m a lifeguard—I’ve done this before.”
He laces his hands together and starts compressions, his whole body driving into the rhythm with brutal precision. The sharp crack of ribs gives way beneath his palms, the sound slicing through the air. My skin prickles.
Maddie whimpers and buries her face in my neck. I curve my arm around her head, shielding her as best I can, though there’s no hiding the sharp thud of Mason’s palms hitting bone and his frantic, ragged breaths.
“Come on, Mom,” he pleads between counts, sweat dripping down his temples. His own breath wavers with every push. “Come on, come on…”
He tilts Anna’s chin back, seals his mouth over hers, and breathes. When her chest doesn’t rise, he repeats the cycle helplessly, whispering to her as he gives her more compressions, tears sliding down his cheeks.
The wail of sirens cuts through the quiet morning air. A moment later, the door rattles open as paramedics flood the tiny trailer. Mason doesn’t stop until one of them kneels beside him and lays a steady hand on his shoulder.
Mason stumbles back, chest heaving, hands trembling. One medic takes over compressions without missing a beat. Another pulls out an oxygen mask, the tank hissing as they fit it over Anna’s mouth and nose.
“Still no pulse,” someone calls out.
Electrode pads are stuck to her chest, the small monitor flickering to life with a sharp electronic beep. A flat line wavers across the screen.
